New Testament · Gospel

Mark 9:42

Coming Down the Mountain

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Mark 9:42, in plain English

But Jesus got very serious: 'If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for that person to have a huge stone tied around their neck and be thrown in the sea.'

Why it's here

Jesus takes the protection of vulnerable believers incredibly seriously. How you treat people who are young in faith matters deeply to Him.

Who's speaking

Jesus issues one of His sternest warnings.

Where it sits in the story

The gentleness flipped to fierce protectiveness. Jesus loves the weak, the new, the vulnerable — and woe to anyone who leads them astray. He doesn't take that lightly.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The severity shifts dramatically: causing a 'little one' (mikrōn) to stumble warrants a punishment worse than drowning with a millstone (mylos onikos — a large donkey-driven millstone). The hyperbole underscores the gravity of spiritual harm.

Language and setting

The 'little ones who believe in Me' likely refers to new, vulnerable believers rather than children per se, though the child imagery from v.36 resonates.

Voice

Jesus issues a severe warning about causing believers to stumble.

Significance

Jesus shifts from gentle inclusion to fierce protection: anyone who causes a vulnerable believer to fall faces a fate worse than being thrown into the sea with a millstone. The Shepherd guards His flock with terrifying intensity.

In context

Mark 9:40–43

40For whoever is not against us is for us.

41Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

42But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.

43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.

Read all of Mark 9 — Dazzling glory on the mountaintop gives way to a demon-possessed boy at the bottom. The disciples can't handle either scene.

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