Mark 9

"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off..." (Mark 9:43a)

I don't know what your Christian experience has been like, but I will say that I see very few one-handed, one-legged, or one-eyed Christians walking around these days! What are we to do with these tough verses?

We can't just casually dismiss them as some Old Testament cultic law to which we are no longer subject... these words are found in the New Testament (and aren't even located in the Old!). These are Christ's words! What is Christ saying to us? He certainly can not mean that we are to physically cut off body parts, that is contrary to the law of Moses. Self-mutilation was prohibited for the Jews and was often a part of the pagan worship of other nations around Israel (remember Elijah and the prophets of Baal?). So what then is Christ's implication?

First ask this question, if you gaze upon something you shouldn't, is it your eye's fault? If you find yourself touching something you shouldn't, is your hand really to blame? If you discover you have gone somewhere where you know that you shouldn't have, are your legs really responsible for your arrival? The obvious answer to all three is NO!

Who would ever be acquitted of a crime by arguing with the judge, "I didn't pull the trigger, my hand did! Punish it; not me!" That would be insane. We know who controls the body, it is the soul of the man which continually demonstrates his mastery over his earth suite. If he looks at something, it's because the will of the man chose to command the eye's attention to it. If he goes somewhere it is because every step of the way has been decreed by the inner man's desires.

Yet Christ reminds us of something essential here. We are called to rigorous spiritual discipline. "Be ye holy as I am holy" declares the Lord. Christ is clear. Take extreme measures to pursue spiritual holiness! Drastic measures to the point of removing your physical ability to engage in the acts which you can seem not to conquer by self will.

In today's culture, Christians flirt with sin so often. We claim we are not affected by what we watch, read or see. We try to justify a TV show, a "social gathering," or "cultural event" as amoral and thus unable to pervert our witness or relationship with Christ. Yet Christ speaks out so strongly against this. We are called to live lives of Christian holy tenacity.

This is the whole understanding of sanctification. To sanctify means to "make holy, set apart." As believers we have been justified; the rest of our days we then spend allowing that salvation to work its way out in our experience and behavior, so that we are perfect also in our behavior. We are to look wholly different than the world. We are to engage ourselves in ventures holy inspired for His sake and our own.

It is no accident Christ chooses these three body parts. The eye is the window to the soul. All images ever received are implanted in our brains somewhere forever. I once heard it said, humans have perfect memory, just lousy recall. Satan does a masterful job of helping that recall process destroy us. The hand, in rabbinic tradition, speaks of adultery by the hand (masturbation). But the hand is not limited to self-temptation. We find our hands reaching for all kinds of vices, fleshly desires grasped for momentary pleasure. And the feet are our vehicle to follow all the whims of the flesh. They can transport us to the inappropriate movie, the couch, the gambling boat, the street corner, the back room.

These three parts are merely slaves to inner man and we are called by Christ to do ALL it takes to keep these members of our body in pursuit of holiness and righteousness.

But without Christ, it's an impossible command. He knows that when He says these words. Humanity needs a Savior and a Helper. The heart of man is desperately wicked. Only a Savior can provide the grace we need to please Him.

Hebrews 4:16, "Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need."

Pursue all holiness and godliness. Flee tempation. Set boundaries, physical limitations, mental limitations... whatever it takes! The enemy wants to destroy you. Christ wants to use you.