Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
Jesus rewards those who do good not only to himself, but also to those who love him. The person casting out demons, who was not one of the disciples, loved him and so the jealousy and hostility of the disciples toward him was not the appropriate response. But the disciples also loved Jesus. There was no competition. He would reward all of those who blessed them. He identified himself personally with those who followed him. Doing something for a disciple, even a little thing, was doing it for him. This meant that even things that seemed insignificant when done for another human being took on great significance when they were done as unto the God-man. No doubt the sacristan that fetched a water bottle for a priest on a hot day wasn't thinking in these terms. But Jesus nevertheless received that as done for his sake. This is how frighteningly close Jesus chose to associate himself with those acting in his name on his behalf.
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
We see from this passage that Jesus also takes seriously the well-being of others who are outcasts, little ones, those on the peripheries of society, and of children. We also see something of the reverse of the principle from the previous passage. Jesus blesses those who bless his little ones. But he is also protective and even vindictive against those who harm them. Above all it is their spiritual well-being about which he is the most concerned. From this we can see that morality and the spiritual life is something that is not entirely in the purview of the individual but can be influenced by others as well. The possibility of scandal is real. We can't just assert that others are responsible for themselves and then do whatever we like. As Paul said, "Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats" (see Romans 14:21). Even things that are objectively morally neutral can still become sinful if they lead another person astray.
The consequence of the need to set a good example is that we need to make a maximal effort in taking sin seriously. We must take it seriously as individuals before we can be good examples to others. We must vigorously uproot from our lives, not only sins themselves, but those things that lead us to sin. This means we must avoid the near occasions of sin to such a degree that we would prefer to not have legs than to be able to attend to them. We must have such custody of the eyes that we would prefer to be blind that let ourselves view something with a lustful or otherwise evil gaze. It is of course true that almost none of us care this much or can be bothered to take sin this seriously. This unfortunate fact does not mean we need to set about amputating various body parts. But it does mean we need to pray more and then work harder. The possibility of hell is real for those who presume on God's mercy. As Sirach reminds us, "Say not: 'Great is his mercy; my many sins he will forgive'". His mercy is great. He will forgive our many sins. But he will not do this if we take it for granted to such a degree that we have given up all desire to make progress, if we have ignored the grace he constantly gives us to change and become holy.
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.
All of what we are called to do requires perseverance of the kind that only God can give. It all goes back to our love of the Lord Jesus and our willingness to follow him and keep following him no matter the difficult circumstances or temptations we face. It is nothing we have of ourselves that helps keep the flavor of the world from being spoiled. Just as we are the light of the world because we have the light of Christ so too are we salt because the love of him within us makes us so.
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