It was better for him to hang a millstone. bible online
Priest Mikhail Shpolyansky
It must be said unequivocally: the will of God is the only final criterion of good and evil in this world. The commandments of God are not absolute, the commandments of God are in a certain sense statistical. So, in the overwhelming majority of cases, in millions, billions of cases against one, killing is unacceptable from the point of view of Christianity, but this does not mean that one should never kill. We know that our holy leaders, the noble princes Alexander Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy, acquired the Kingdom of Heaven, despite the fact that their swords are stained with the blood of many enemies of the faith and the Fatherland. If they mechanically adhered to the letter of the Law, Russia would still be an ulus of the Genghis Khan or Batu Empire, and Orthodoxy in our land would most likely be destroyed. It is also known that Reverend Sergius Radonezh blessed the battle of Kulikovo and even sent two schemamonks to the army.
These are the most striking and obvious examples, but one can say about almost any commandment of God that there are cases when it is God's will to violate this commandment in this particular situation. Here is the commandment: “Do not bear false witness,” that is, do not lie. Lying is a dangerous sin precisely because it is somehow little noticeable and little felt, especially in the form of craftiness: to keep silent about something, to distort something, so that it would be beneficial for oneself or for someone else. We do not even notice this craftiness, it passes by our consciousness, we do not even see that it is a lie. But it is precisely this terrible word that the devil is called in the only prayer “Our Father” given by the Lord Himself to the disciples. The Savior calls the devil evil. Therefore, every time we are cunning, we kind of identify ourselves with an unclean spirit, with the spirit of darkness. Scary. So, you can’t lie, it’s scary. But let us recall the chapter with the remarkable title “about what must not lie” from the teachings of one of the pillars of Christian asceticism. Among other things, it says that not for the sake of self-interest, but out of love, out of compassion, sometimes you have to tell a lie. But, it is true, the saint makes such a wonderful reservation (remember that this reservation was made in the 4th century after the birth of Christ for Palestinian monks): “he should not do this often, but only in exceptional cases, once in many years.” Such is the measure of the saints.
Thus, we see that the two-thousand-year experience of the Church, the experience of life in Christ, sets as the final criterion of good and evil not the letter of the law, but the fulfillment of the will of God (“the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” -). And if there is the will of God to take up the sword and go to defend your people, your loved ones, then the fulfillment of this will of God is not a sin, but righteousness.
And here the question arises with all its sharpness: “How to know the will of God?”
Of course, the knowledge of the will of God is a matter of all life and no short rules do not exhaust it. Perhaps the most complete of the holy fathers covered this topic with the Metropolitan of Tobolsk. He wrote a wonderful book ", or on the conformity of the human will with the Divine will." "Iliotropion" means sunflower. That is, this is a plant that, turning its head after the sun, all the time strives for light. Saint John gave such a poetic title to his book on the knowledge of the will of God. Although it was written over a century ago, it is nevertheless a surprisingly modern book, both in language and in spirit. She is interesting, understandable and close modern man. The advice of the wise saint is quite applicable in the conditions of a life that has changed dramatically compared to more recent times. The task of retelling "" is not set here - this book must be read in full. We will try to offer only the most general scheme for solving this most important question for the salvation of the soul.
Consider this example: here we have a sheet of paper on which a certain dot is invisibly placed. Can we immediately, without having any information, so to speak, “poking a finger”, determine (in fact, guess) the location of this point? Naturally - no. However, if around this invisible point we draw several visible points in a circle, then, relying on them, we can highly likely determine the desired point - the center of the circle.
Are there such “visible points” in our life, with the help of which we could know the will of God? There is. What are these dots? These are some methods of turning to God, to the experience of the Church and to our soul on the way of man's knowledge of the will of God. But each of these methods is not sufficient on its own. That's when there are several of these techniques, when they are combined and taken into account to the necessary extent, only then we - with our hearts! - we can know what the Lord actually expects from us.
So, the first "point", the first criterion- this, of course, is Holy Scripture, directly the Word of God. Based on the Holy Scriptures, we can quite clearly imagine the boundaries of the will of God, that is: what is permissible for us, and what is completely unacceptable. There is a commandment of God: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind ... love your neighbor as yourself” (). Love is the last criterion. From this we conclude: if something is done out of hatred, then it automatically falls outside the limits of the possibility of God's will.
What are the difficulties along the way? Paradoxically, what makes the inspired Scripture a truly Great Book is its universality. BUT reverse side universality is the impossibility to unambiguously interpret the Scriptures in each specific everyday case outside the colossal spiritual experience life in Christ. And this, sorry, is not said about us ... But, nevertheless, there is a point ...
Next criterion - Holy Tradition. This is the experience of the realization of the Holy Scriptures in time. This is the experience of the holy fathers, this is the experience of the Church, which for 2000 years has been looking for an answer to the question of what it means to live, fulfilling the will of God. This experience is huge, invaluable and practically gives answers to all questions of life. But even here there are problems. Here the difficulty is the opposite - discreteness of experience. For precisely because this experience is so vast, it includes many various options solutions to spiritual and everyday problems. It is practically impossible to apply it in specific situations without the blessed gift of prudence - again, in modern life exceptionally rare.
Some specific temptations are also connected with the bookish teachings of the holy fathers and elders. The fact is that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the advice of the elders refers to a specific person in the specific circumstances of his life and can change as these circumstances change. We talked about the fact that God's providence for the salvation of man can be different. And why? Because, as a rule, a person does not follow the direct path - the path of perfection - due to his weakness (laziness?). Today he did not do what he was supposed to do. What is left for him? Perish? Not! In this case, the Lord provides for him some other, perhaps more thorny, long, but equally absolute path of salvation. If he has sinned, and after all, a violation of the will of God is always a voluntary or involuntary sin, then this path of salvation necessarily lies through repentance. For example, today the elder says: “You must act in such and such a way.” And a person evades the fulfillment of a spiritual mandate. Then he again comes to the elder for advice. And then the elder, if he sees repentance in him, says what he should do in a new situation. Says perhaps the opposite of the previous word. After all, the person did not follow the previous advice, acted in his own way, and this radically changed the situation, created new - primarily spiritual - circumstances. Thus, we see that the individuality of the advice of the elders in specific cases of life is an objective obstacle to simply saying: "Read the advice of the elders, follow them - and you will live according to the will of God." But this is the point...
The third criterion is the voice of God in a person's heart. What's this? Conscience. It is surprising and comforting that the Apostle Paul says that “when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, having no law, they are their own law, they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience testifies ... »(). In a sense, one can say that conscience is also the image of God in man. And although the “image of God” is a polysyllabic concept, one of its manifestations is the voice of conscience. Thus, the voice of conscience to a certain extent can be identified with the voice of God in the heart of a person, revealing to him the will of the Lord. So, it is very important for those who want to live according to the will of God to be honest and sober in hearing the voice of their conscience (the question is how capable we are of this).
One more criterion, the fourth (of course, not diminished in importance, for in a circle all points are of equal value) is prayer. A completely natural and obvious way for a believer to know the will of God. Let me give you an example from my life. There was a difficult period for her: so many problems were concentrated, so many sophistications - it seemed that life had come to a standstill. There is some kind of endless maze of roads ahead, where to step, which way to go - it is completely incomprehensible. And then my confessor said to me: “Why are you wiser? Pray every evening. No extra efforts are needed - every evening say a prayer: "Lord, show me the way, I will go to it." Say it every night before bed bow to the ground“The Lord will definitely answer.” So I prayed for two weeks, and then an extremely unlikely event occurred in the sense of everyday life, which resolved all my problems and determined later life. The Lord answered...
The fifth criterion is the blessing of the confessor. Happy is the one whom the Lord allows to receive the elder's blessing. Unfortunately, in our time - "the elders are taken away from the world" - this is an exceptional rarity. It is good if there is an opportunity to receive the blessing of your confessor, but this is also not so easy, not everyone has a confessor now. But even in the first centuries of Christianity, when people were rich in spiritual gifts, the holy fathers said: “Pray to God to send you a person who will guide you spiritually.” That is, even then finding a confessor was a certain problem, and even then it was already necessary to especially beg for a spiritual leader. If there is neither an elder nor a confessor, then you can get a blessing from the priest. But in our time, the time of spiritual impoverishment, one must be sufficiently sober at the same time. You can not follow the mechanical principle: everything that the priest says is necessarily from God. It is naive to assume that all priests can be confessors. The apostle says: “Are all the apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? Does everyone have gifts of healing? (). It should not be assumed that the charisma of the priesthood in itself is automatically the charisma of prophecy and insight. Here one must always be careful and look for such a spiritual leader, communication with whom would bring obvious benefits to the soul.
The next criterion is the advice of spiritually experienced people. This is the experience of the life of a pious person and this is our ability to learn from a good (and maybe negative - also experience) example. Remember how in the movie "Shield and Sword" someone said: "Only fools learn from their own experience, smart ones learn from the experience of others." The ability to perceive the experience of pious people, with whom the Lord has given us fellowship, the ability to listen to their advice, to find in them what you need and use it rationally is also a way of knowing the will of God.
There is another very important criterion for determining the will of God. The criterion of which the holy fathers speak. So, the monk writes about this in his famous “Ladder”: that which is from God mortifies the soul of a person, that which is against God confuses the soul and leads it into a restless state. When the result of our activity is finding peace in the soul about the Lord - not laziness and drowsiness, but a special state of active and bright peace - this is also an indicator of the correctness of the chosen path.
The eighth criterion is the ability to feel the circumstances of life; perceive and soberly evaluate what is happening around us. After all, nothing just happens. A hair from a man's head will not fall without the will of the Almighty; a drop of water will not roll off, a twig will not break; no one will come and offend us, and will not kiss, if this was not allowed by the Lord to some kind of our admonition. In this way, God creates the circumstances of life, but our freedom is not limited by this: the choice of behavior in all circumstances is always ours (“... the will of man to choose ...”). We can say that living according to the will of God is our natural response to the circumstances created by God. Of course, "naturalness" must be Christian. If the circumstances of life develop, for example, in such a way that, as it seems, in order to provide for the family, it is necessary to steal, then, of course, this cannot be the will of God, for this is contrary to the commandments of God.
And another important criterion, without which there can be nothing else, is patience: “... with your patience save your souls” (). Everything is received by the one who knows how to wait, who knows how to hand over to God the solution of his problem, who knows how to give the Lord the opportunity to create Himself what He has provided for us. You don't have to force your will on God. Of course, sometimes it happens that you need to decide on something in an instant, do something in one second, do something, answer. But again, this is some kind of special providence of God, and even in these circumstances there will certainly be some kind of clue. In most cases, the most optimal way is to give the Lord the opportunity to reveal His will in our lives by circumstances so obvious that there is no getting away from it. Pray and wait, being, as long as possible, in the state in which the Lord has placed you, and the Lord will reveal to you His will for the future life. In practice, this means not to rush into making responsible decisions (for example, Fr. which is called "().
So, we have outlined those criteria, "points" - Holy Scripture and Tradition, conscience, prayer, blessing and spiritual advice, a peaceful state of mind, a sensitive attitude to the circumstances of life, patience - which give us the opportunity to know God's providence for our salvation. And here a completely different, paradoxical question arises: “Do we realize that why do we need to know the will of God?” I remember the words of an experienced priest, a fraternal confessor of one of oldest monasteries Rusi: "It's scary to know the will of God." And there is a deep meaning in this, which in conversations about knowing the will of God is somehow frivolously missed. Indeed, it is terrible to know the will of God, for this knowledge is a colossal responsibility. Remember the words of the Gospel: “The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; but who did not know, and did worthy of punishment, the bit will be less. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be exacted from him ”(). Imagine: come to the Court of God, and hear: “You knew! It was revealed to you what I expect from you - and you deliberately did the opposite! - this is one thing, but to come and humbly pray: “Lord, I am so unreasonable, I don’t understand anything. As best I could, I tried to do good, but something didn’t work out that way.” What to take from this! Of course, he did not deserve to be with Christ - but still "there will be fewer beats."
I often hear: “Batiushka, how to live according to the will of God?” They ask questions, but they do not want to live according to His will. That is why it is scary to know the will of God - because then you need to live according to it, and this is often not at all what we want. From a truly blessed elder, Fr. , I heard such sad words: “Trading in my blessings! Everyone asks me: "What to do?" Everyone says they live by my blessings, but almost no one does what I tell them." This is scary.
It turns out that “knowing the will of God” and “living according to the will of God” are not the same thing at all. It is possible to know the will of God - she left us a great experience of such knowledge. But to live according to the will of God is a personal feat. And a frivolous attitude is unacceptable here. Unfortunately, there is very little understanding of this. From all sides moans are heard: “Give us! Show us! Tell us how to act according to God's will? And when you say: “God bless you to do so and so,” they act in their own way anyway. So it turns out - "Tell me the will of God, but I will live the way I want."
But, my friend, there will come a moment when, weighed down by our stagnation in sins, God's justice will have to overcome God's mercy, and you will have to answer for everything - both for the connivance of passions, and for "playing the will of God." This issue must be taken very seriously. In fact, it is a matter of life and salvation. Whose will after all - the Savior or the tempter - do we choose every moment of our lives? Here you need to be reasonable, and sober, and honest. You should not “play in the knowledge of the will of God” - running around the priests for advice until you hear from someone that “will of God” that pleases you. Indeed, in this way one's self-will is subtly justified, and then there is no place for saving repentance. It’s better to say honestly: “Forgive me, Lord! Of course, Your will is holy and high, but I, due to my weakness, do not achieve this. Have mercy on me, a sinner! Grant me forgiveness for my infirmities and grant me the path on which I would not perish, but could come to You!”
So, there is God's providence for the salvation of every person, and there is the only value in this world - life according to the will of God. The Lord gives us the opportunity to know the universal mystery - the will of the Creator to save His fallen creation. Only we need to have a firm determination not to play in the knowledge of the will of God, but to live according to it - this is the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.
In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about prudence - without it, knowledge of the will of God is impossible. And indeed - we talked about the fact that in specific life circumstances only spiritual reasoning can correctly interpret both the truths of Holy Scripture, the experience of the holy fathers, and worldly conflicts. Mechanical adherence to the letter of the law outside of spiritual reasoning - for example, distributing property for the sake of achieving perfection (without maturing the soul for a feat; in fact, beyond humility) - is a direct path either to spiritual charm or to falling into despondency. But the spirit of reasoning is not a criterion, it is a gift. It is not “assimilated” by consciousness (as, for example, the experience of the holy fathers) - it is sent down from above in response to our prayer and, like any gift of grace, it rests only in a humble heart. Let's proceed from this - and that's enough.
And again let us listen to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Therefore, from the day we heard about this, we do not cease to pray for you and ask that you be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you walk worthy of God, in everything pleasing Him, bearing fruit in every good deed and growing in the knowledge of God ... "().
About who is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 18:1 Then the disciples came to Jesus saying: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Matthew 18:2 He called small child, put it in the middle of them
Matthew 18:3 and said: “I tell you the truth! Unless you turn and become like children, no, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Matthew 18:4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 18:5 And whoever receives one such child in My Name, receives Me.
Matthew 18:6 But if anyone offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.”
On the inevitability of temptations.
Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world because of temptations! For offenses must come, but woe to the man through whom the offense comes!
Matthew 18:8 If your hand or foot offends you, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to be thrown into eternal fire with two hands and two feet.
Matthew 18:9 And if your eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hellfire.
Matthew 18:10 Be careful not to neglect any of these little ones. I tell you that their angels in Heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.
On the value of a lost sheep.
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.”
Matthew 18:12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave ninety-nine on the hills and go looking for the lost one?
Mat.18:13 And if he manages to find her, I tell you the truth, that he rejoices over her more than over ninety-nine who did not go astray.
Mt.18:14 And so, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
About patience in forgiveness to your brother.
Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him face to face. If he listens to you you bought your brother.
Matthew 18:16 If he does not listen, then take one or two more with you, so that every word may be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
Matthew 18:17 If he does not listen to them, tell the assembly; if he does not listen to the assembly, let him is he be to you like a heathen or a toll collector.
Matthew 18:18 I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 18:19 More the truth I tell you that if two of you agree on earth regarding any matter, then whatever they ask, it will be done to them from my Father in heaven.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in the midst of them.
On the importance of forgiveness.
Mt.18:21 Then Peter came up to Him and said: “Lord, how many times should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?
Matthew 18:22 Jesus said to him: “I do not tell you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven!”
Matthew 18:23 Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man - a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
Matthew 18:24 When he began to settle accounts, a debtor was brought to him, indebted ten thousand talents.
Mt.18:25 Since he had nothing to give, his master ordered to sell his wife and children and everything that he had and pay off.
Matthew 18:26 Then, falling down, the servant bowed to him and said: “Be patient with me and I will give you everything.”
Matthew 18:27 And the master of that servant had compassion, and let him go, and forgave him the loan.
Matthew 18:28 The servant went out, found one of his companions, who owed him a hundred denarii, grabbed him and began to choke him, saying: “Give back what you owe!”
Mt.18:29 His partner fell at his feet and began to beg him: “Be patient with me and I will give you everything.”
Matthew 18:30 But he did not want to , and went and threw him into prison until he did justice.
Matthew 18:31 The other associates saw what had happened and were very sad. They went and told their master all that had happened.
Matthew 18:32 Then the master called that servant of his and said to him: “Evil servant! I forgave you all that loan because you begged me.
Matthew 18:33 Couldn't you also have had mercy on your partner, just as I had mercy on you?
Mt.18:34 And being angry, his master gave that servant into the hands of the tormentors, until he had given everything he owed.
Mt.18:35 My Heavenly Father will do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from the bottom of his heart.
Question. Since our Lord Jesus Christ says: “And whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if they hung a millstone around his neck and drowned him in the depths of the sea”; what does seduce mean? Or how can we beware of this, so that such a terrible condemnation does not fall on us?
Answer. It seduces those who break the law in word or deed and leads others into iniquity, like the serpent Eve and Eve of Adam; or who hinders the fulfillment of the will of God, as Peter did to the Lord, saying: “Be merciful to yourself, Lord! let it not be with you!”- for which I heard: “Get away from Me, Satan! You are my temptation! Because you don’t think about what is God’s, but what is human.”(Mt.16, 22-23); or who incites the thought of the weak to something forbidden, according to the writing of the apostle, who said: “For if someone sees that you, having knowledge, are sitting at a table in a temple, then his conscience, as a weak one, will not also eat something offered to idols?”- and adds to this: “And therefore, if food offends my brother, I will never eat meat, lest I offend my brother.”(1 Cor. 8, 10, 13). Temptation comes from many reasons. For temptation either occurs through the fault of the tempter, or it happens to the tempted one himself to be the fault of the temptation; and in them again this happens differently, sometimes due to malevolence, and sometimes due to inexperience of either one or the other; it also happens that with the right teaching of the word, the wickedness of those who are tempted becomes more visible. It is the same in deeds, for one who is offended is offended when someone either fulfills the commandment of God, or uses without fear what is in his will. Therefore, when people stumble over something done or said according to the commandment and are tempted by it, as, according to the testimony of the Gospel, some were tempted by what the Lord did and spoke according to the will of the Father, then it is necessary to recall the Lord’s answer about such when, “His disciples came and said to him, Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this word, they were offended?” And he answered them: “every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted; leave them: they are the blind leaders of the blind; but if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit.”(Matthew 15:12-14). And much like this can be found in the Gospels and in the Apostle. But when someone stumbles or is tempted by what is in our will, then we should bring to our memory the words of the Lord, who said to Peter: “So the sons are free; but, lest we tempt them, go to the sea, cast your hook, and take the first fish that comes across, and, opening its mouth, you will find a stater; take it and give it to them for me and for yourself.”(Mt.17, 26-27); and also written by the Apostle to the Corinthians, where he says: "I will never eat meat, lest I offend my brother"(1 Corinthians 8:13); and further: “It is better not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to do anything that causes your brother to stumble, or be offended, or faint.”(Rom. 14:21). And how terrible it is to disregard the fact that a brother is tempted by this, in the discussion of what is apparently in our will, this shows the command of the Lord, Who generally forbids every kind of temptation and says: “See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”(Matthew 18:10). The apostle also testifies, in one place saying: “better judge how not to give your brother a chance to stumbling or temptation”(Rom. 14, 13); and in another place, in a more lengthy exposition, forbidding this impermissible deed more strongly, when he says: “If someone sees that you, having knowledge, are sitting at a table in a temple, then his conscience, as a weak one, will he not be disposed to eat something offered to idols? And because of your knowledge, the weak brother, for whom Christ died, will perish., adds to this: “By thus sinning against your brethren and hurting their feeble conscience, you are sinning against Christ. And therefore, if food offends my brother, I will never eat meat, lest I offend my brother.”(1 Corinthians 8:10-13); and elsewhere, saying: “Or do I and Barnabas alone not have the power not to work?” Then he adds: “but we endure everything, so as not to put up any obstacle to the gospel of Christ”(1 Cor. 9, 6, 12). When it has been proven how terrible it is to seduce a brother by what is in our will, what to say about those who seduce by what they do or say is forbidden? And especially when the one who seduces either appears to have an abundance of knowledge, or belongs to a sacred degree? Such a person is obliged to serve as a rule and model for others, and if he neglected at least a little of what was written, or did what was forbidden, or did not fulfill what was prescribed, or generally kept silent about anything like that, for this alone he is subject to such a court that, as it is said, "I will demand his blood from your hand"(Ezek.33, 8).
Rules summarized in questions and answers.
St. John Chrysostom
and even if he seduces one of these little ones who believe in Me, if he does not eat, let the millstone of the donkey on his neck be depleted, and drown in the abyss of wrinkle
In order to make the speech more convincing, He further strengthens it not only with the promise of honor, but also with the threat of execution. And even more seduce he continues only these little ones, he will not eat, but the millstone of the donkey will be worn down on his neck, and will drown in the abyss of wrinkle. As those, He says, who honor such for My sake, will receive heaven and even an honor greater than the kingdom itself, so will they suffer the most severe punishment and neglect them (this is signified by the word - seduce). Do not be surprised that He calls offense a temptation: many faint-hearted people were often tempted by the fact that they were despised and dishonored. Thus, by increasing the crime, He represents the harm resulting from it. He depicts the punishment differently than the rewards, explaining - precisely - the severity of its severity with things known to us. So, when He especially wants to touch people who are insensitive, He gives sensual examples. Therefore, here, wanting to show that they will be subjected to a great punishment, and to expose the pride of those who despise such people, he presents a sensual punishment - a millstone and drowning. In accordance with the previous one, it would be necessary to say: he who does not accept one of these little ones does not accept Me - which is harder than any punishment. But as for insensitive and rude people, this terrible punishment if it had little effect, then He speaks of a millstone and drowning. He did not say that a millstone would be hung around his neck, but that it would be better to suffer such a punishment, showing by this that another, gravest evil awaits the unfortunate one; if that is unbearable, the more so the latter. Do you see what a terrible threat? Comparing it with the threat known to us, He presents it in greater clarity; and pointing to a great burden, makes one fear a greater punishment than what is sensual. Do you see how He uproots arrogance? How does the disease of vanity heal? How does he teach not to look for superiority anywhere? How does he inspire those who seek primacy everywhere to look for the last place?
Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew.
St. Hilary Pictavisky
Things are compared here for a reason: such a seducer should be drowned in the depths of the sea with both a millstone and a donkey's load - and so it will be better for him. But, admittedly, what is favorable is always beneficial. So what is the use of being drowned with a millstone around your neck? After all, death, so grievous, will bring closer to punishment, so I don’t know how it will be useful to ask for what is the most terrible of all misfortunes!
So, the question arises, how should this be understood? The work of the millstone is the work of blindness, for the animals in the mill, when driven round and round, walk with eyes closed. Further, we often meet with what the pagans are called donkeys - the pagans do not know what they are doing, and in such ignorance all the works of their life are like the work of the blind. But the way of knowledge was opened to the Jews by the law. They, when they tempted the apostles of Christ, rightfully deserved to be drowned in the depths of the sea with a millstone around their necks.
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.
Rev. Maxim the Confessor
And whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.
What do the words mean: It would be better for him if the millstone(lit.: donkey's millstone,) they hung him around his neck and threw him into the sea, rather than that he should seduce one of these little ones?
small I believe the Lord names simple-hearted people who, due to the smallness of their mind, cannot discern the judgments of Providence. It would be better for him who seduces such people to belong to the lot of the Gentiles, who, like a donkey in a mill, are involved only in the movement of this world, and be thrown into sea depth, that is, in the confusion of life. The Apostle Peter confirms this when he says: It would be better for them not to know the way of righteousness, than, having learned, to turn back(2 Pet. 2:21) .
Questions and difficulties.
Blzh. Hieronymus Stridonsky
And whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.
and who will offend one of these little ones who believe in me
Pay attention to the fact that he who seduces is small, for the big ones are not tempted.
then it would be better for such a person to have a millstone driven by an ass hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.
Although this sentence may be general against all those who tempt anyone, yet this sentence can be understood as applied to the apostles, who, by their question: who is more in the kingdom of heaven(see Mt. 18:01), made it clear (videbantur) that they were arguing among themselves about worth; and if they continued to remain in this vice, they could by their temptation destroy those whom they called to faith, if these, for their part, saw that the apostles also compete with each other for honors. And the words: It would be better if a millstone driven by an ass were hung around his neck., are said according to the custom of the country, according to which, for the greatest crimes among the ancient Jews, the punishment was that, after tying a huge stone, they drowned a person in the sea. However, it would be better for such (a seducer) if he accepted a (comparatively) light punishment for his crime than to be subjected to eternal torment, for the Lord will not punish [or: will not judge] the same thing twice (Nahum. I, 9) .
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.
Blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria
And whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.
Evfimy Zigaben
and even if he seduces one of these little ones who believe in Me, if he does not eat, let the millstone of the donkey on his neck be depleted, and drown in the abyss of wrinkle
The temptation here refers to dishonor. So he says: just as those who honor them, receiving them for my sake, are rewarded with great blessedness, so those who dishonor them, despising them, will suffer a heavy punishment. One of the little ones, i.e. small in appearance, simple. He speaks here of those who become like children. But when he says that it is better for him to suffer a severe punishment here, he shows that in the next age he will suffer a more severe one.
Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew.
Lopukhin A.P.
And whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.
(Mark 9:42) . Luke 17:1-2 has similar expressions, but in a different connection. At Mk. 9:38-41 and Luke. 9:49-50 inserted here are stories of a man who cast out demons in the name of the Savior; then the speech of the Savior is given in Matthew and Mark with almost literal similarity.
What is said in the verse under consideration is obviously opposed to the speech in the previous one. It talks about receiving with love; here - about the harm that occurs due to temptation - this the last word(σκανδαλίση), as in other cases (see note on 5:29), indicates a fall. As in verse 5 “if someone accepts” (lit.), so here “if someone seduces”. But if in 5 tbsp. - “one child”, then in 6 - “one of these little ones who believe in Me”. Speech is thus expanded and generalized. The child standing among the disciples serves as an image to explain the complex relationships that exist among adults who believe in Christ. At first glance, it seems that the Savior here passes on to an almost completely new subject, and, moreover, by mere association, so that verse 6 seems to have only an external connection with what was said before. But there is no doubt that he has a more internal, deep, intimate connection with the previous verses. This latter is expressed, apparently, mainly by the word "seduce" (σκανδαλίση). If in the previous verses an achievable and reliable way was indicated for acquiring for oneself not imaginary, but real advantages in the Kingdom of Heaven established and established by Christ, then in v. 6 indicates the obstacles that deviate from this path, and the consequences of such activities.
It would be more useful if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in sea depth. Then his body would perish, but his soul would be saved by preventing him from producing temptation.
“Millstone” - the translation is inaccurate; in glory. exactly: “oselsky millstone”, i.e. a large millstone that is turned by a donkey; the latter was therefore called όνος μυλικός (millstone donkey). An inaccurate translation in Russian was made, apparently, due to the assimilation of Lk. 17:2 (λίθος μυλικός - millstone or millstone). Here, of course, we mean the upper millstone, or the so-called runner. Drowning at sea was not a Jewish execution; but it was practiced by the Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and Phoenicians.
Explanatory Bible.
