Faith Like a Mustard Seed
It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Luke 17:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus says it would be better to have a giant millstone tied around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
That's how seriously Jesus takes the spiritual welfare of vulnerable people. Leading someone away from faith is one of the worst things you can do.
Jesus uses shocking imagery to make a point you'll never forget about protecting others' faith.
A millstone around your neck in the ocean — and that's the better option compared to hurting someone's faith. Jesus doesn't mince words here.
The millstone (lithos mylikos, a large stone turned by a donkey) around the neck and being cast into the sea represents a fate preferable to causing a 'little one' (mikrōn toutōn) to stumble. The hyperbole underscores the severity of spiritual harm to the vulnerable.
The 'little ones' likely refers to new or weak believers, not just children. The millstone saying appears in all three Synoptics, indicating its widespread importance in early Christian teaching.
Jesus uses vivid, disturbing imagery to communicate the extreme gravity of leading vulnerable believers into sin.
Jesus says it would be better to be drowned in the sea with a massive stone around your neck than to cause one vulnerable person to lose their faith.
1Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
2It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
3Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
4Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Read all of Luke 17 — Ten lepers are cleansed, but only one returns to say thank you — and he's the outsider. Jesus teaches that the kingdom comes without warning.
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