“And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes, to be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”
– Mark 9:47–48
What language here in Mark 9:47–48. And this follows up on Jesus saying, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.” Then in verse 47, “if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.” What is Jesus teaching here? He’s teaching us about the seriousness of sin, about the severity of one sin of looking in a way that leads you to sinful thoughts, sinful desires, sinful actions.
We ask for grace that God will keep us from becoming casual with sin.
And you just can’t help but think, as you read this about King David in the Old Testament and how his eye caused him to sin, how he looked at Bathsheba in a way that led to adultery, in a way that led to murder, in a way that led to the death of a child, in a way that led to so much destruction in his life and leadership. And Jesus is saying, it’s not worth it. Don’t let your eye cause you to sin, your hand, your foot. Sin is serious. It is severe and it has eternal consequences. Oh, this is a word we need to hear. We must be wise. Careful never to become casual with sin.
Are you prone to do that in your heart and your life? Are you prone to excuse sin like it’s no big deal? It was just a look. It was just a thought. Just a passing fleeting desire. It was just a word. It was just… and as soon as that kind of thinking comes into our minds, it was just like, let’s hear Mark 9:47-48 and be reminded, it’s not just this like one sin. In Genesis three it was one sin that led to condemnation for all men. They ate a piece of fruit. And from that one sin came unspeakable horror throughout the history of the world.
Mark 9:47–48 Reminds Us Not to Be Casual with Sin
God help us, help us not to underestimate the seriousness of sin. God, please, we pray, keep us from being casual with sin. Please keep me and pray this just over every single person who’s listening right now. Please keep us from being casual with sin, from treating sin in any way like it’s no big deal. God help us to see the seriousness of one sin and run from it, to flee from it, from any sin that our eye might lead us to or our hand or foot or mouth or whatever it might be.
God we pray, please, please, please cleanse us of our sin and free us from sin. That we would hate it and run from it. That we would take extreme measures to hate it and run from it. We would not be content with sin in our lives and that we would see its internal effects. And even as we say that Jesus, we praise you for dying on the cross for our sin, for saving us from what we deserve.
Prayer For the Yadev People In Nepal
All glory be to your name, Jesus, for saving us from eternal fire, hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Oh, even as we pray this God, we pray today for the Yadav people in Nepal, a million-plus Hindus, hardly any followers of Jesus at all on a road that leads to an eternal hell, eternal fire, where it will never be quenched. If they don’t hear and believe in your name, Jesus, in your salvation. God, we pray for the Yadav people.
Please cause the gospel to go to them. Even as we celebrate the gospel and forgiveness of sin by your grace, we pray for the spread of the gospel, to the Yadav in Nepal. Pray that you would keep us from sin in every way today. In Jesus’ name, we pray.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
