"If anyone causes one of these little ones - those who believe in me - to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea."

Mark 9:42 NIV

Jesus is not given to dramatic warnings, but he gives one here. 

It seems that he has continued teaching with this small child wrapped in, so this is likely spoken quietly, measured, yet unmistakable.

The word here to stumble is "skandalizo", which also means to set a trap.

You only set a trap for something you want to capture or kill, to take something from.

You want to set a trap for the small, vulnerable, disadvantaged, for a child, to take something from them, to use for your own purposes in some way, to trip them up, you're in deep trouble.

To trip someone is deliberate, to use your power against someone smaller.

In God's economy, He calls us to use our power to help the small, the vulnerable, the marginalised, to bend down and scoop them up, just like the child he is holding.

Just like He is holding me.

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