Matthew 18
18 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
First the disciples ask a self serving question like who is the greatest in Gods kingdom, Jesus teaches a lesson in humility by taking up a child and telling us unless we are born again and become as a new child there is no way we would even make it..... but here these guys are talking about who would be the greatest...
This is a lesson in being meek and resisting the pride of man....followed by how we ought to fellowship and not compete with or attack eachother or cause eachother to stumble
then He continues to show how WHOSOEVER humbled themselves is not only IN the kingdom but the greatest in the kingdom....
We must TURN from this feeling of worthiness and greatness unto understanding how we NEED Him
then verse six goes to show that youd be better off experiencing a horrible death than offending one of these little ones than dealing with Gods discipline (i would believe offending here is primarily causing them to sin or placing them below us on our relationship in unloving ways)
7 and 8 are hyperbole to demonstrate how important it is to resist these sins
no we wont be saved by plucking out our eye or cutting off our hand, nor justified by our actions
but it WOULD INDEED be better to enter heaven damaged than enter hell living a worldly life full of offense
That does not undo Gods mercy or grace to His young ones.....
11 is a reminder how it is the LOST who are in NEED are who will be saved to wrap up the rebuke for the prideful ways of thinking
and follows that with a reminder of how HE deals with HIS children
of course HE wont let US perish (verses 12 -14)
then He continues to instruct US how to deal with us in 15 to 17
I didn't read what the other person says it means, but He is not telling us that His children wont enter heaven without self mutilation.... lol