Today in God's Word—August 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
August 10, Luke 17
After Cain killed Abel, God asked the first murderer where his brother was. Do you remember Cain’s retort? “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis does not tell us God’s direct answer to that insolent question, but Jesus’ words about stumbling blocks and forgiveness remind us the answer is “Yes.” He addressed two issues about sin in the lives of others where we have responsibility. Every individual is accountable to God for his or her actions. But God also made us to live in community with mutual responsibilities toward those with whom we share our lives.
One of those responsibilities is a “don’t” and the other is a “do.” The negative one is to do nothing that would cause another person to sin. As Jesus said, temptations to sin are inevitable. We live in flesh in a fallen world. We have an adversary who wants to delude and destroy us if he can. But Jesus pronounced a woe on those who become stumbling stones to others. No follower of Jesus should ever be the stumbling block in anyone’s path. We should never discourage anyone who wants to do right, and we should never lead anyone to do wrong. Jesus didn’t specify in this place what terrible fate awaits those who cause others to stumble. But he did say it would be better to be drowned by having a big rock tied around your neck and being tossed into the sea.
Not only does Jesus say we should avoid causing others to fall, he also gave a positive duty: restore those who do sin. He gave three challenging commands to accomplish this— rebuke the sinner, forgive him and repeat the process as necessary. Rebuking someone is not simply “getting them told” about what they’ve done; it’s helping them see that what they’ve done is wrong and encouraging them to turn away from the sin. The Pharisees were good at finding sin in others, but restoration was not their goal. Forgiving others is a necessary part of our own spiritual well-being. But it’s also
an important part of restoring someone who has sinned against us.
In between these two admonitions, Jesus said, “Pay attention to yourselves!” This is essential to obeying both parts of watching out for one another. We avoid causing others to sin by guarding our own words and actions. And our attempts to restore others have no credibility when we’re not monitoring our own lives.
Why are we supposed to be our brother’s (or our sister’s) keeper? One reason is that sin and its consequences are serious. Also, we are all susceptible to influence. But the best reason why we should look out for one another is because Jesus said to do it. Our culture values independence and privacy, but no follower of Jesus can opt out of the plan to look out for one another.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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