So, should we really lop off our hands if they cause us to sin? That's what He says. Is the case that hopeless that our only hope to be sinless is to cut off hands and poke out eyes? I think Jesus is trying to bring home the weight of the situation. From what I understand, the Pharisees felt that they could live sinlessly if they just tried hard enough. But Jesus doesn't tell us to try harder, He tells us to go to extreme measures. You can't just try harder, you have to get to the root of the problem. But why mention all of this here? He was just talking about who is the greatest in the kingdom. Then He was talking about causing being a stumbling block to those "little ones". It's a serious situation, this sin stuff. At this point He's working in negatives. He's not giving us the cure, he's just giving the diagnosis. I think in some respects, His followers needed a better understanding of what was wrong before they could be given the answer to their problems.
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