Message: God's Image in Everyone / Mark 9:42-50
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most interesting passages in the Gospel of Mark because it talks about how we can enter true life by comparing the difference between hell and the kingdom of God. Here are the questions the text brings to mind: What kind of place is hell and how was it originated? Unlike hell, what does the kingdom of God look like? And why should we, as Christians who believe in God the Creator, reflect on hell at all?
This text comes right after last Sunday’s reading, where Jesus was teaching his disciples in a house in Capernaum. He told them that if anyone wants to be first, they must be last and serve everyone. He also emphasized that they should welcome and care for children like he did.
Then John mentioned that someone else was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they tried to stop him. But Jesus said not to stop anyone doing good in his name. Jesus’ mission wasn’t about creating a powerful group to control the world. What mattered to Jesus was that "God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Therefore, anyone who joined in that work was taking part in Jesus’ ministry.
And Jesus continued, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42). “These little ones” likely refers to the children who were with Jesus, as many biblical scholars suggest. The Greek word for “stumbling block” can mean “to cause to disbelieve.” In other words, anyone who causes a child to lose their faith and hope in Jesus—the One working to bring God’s dream to life on earth—would be better off drowning with a heavy stone.
In the Book of Revelation, a powerful angel throws a great millstone into the sea, saying, “With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down and will be found no more” (Revelation 18:21). In Revelation, Babylon represents a violent kingdom, often viewed as a symbol for the Roman Empire, which stood against God’s Kingdom. An empire like this does not treat people as beings made in God’s image. Instead, it values them only for what they can do and ranks them based on the needs of those in power. Such a place can never have true peace because it is built on systems that fuel competition and fear.
In today’s reading, the word “hell” appears three times, representing this kind of violent empire. The word “hell” comes from the Greek word “Gehenna,” which refers to the Valley of Hinnom located south of Jerusalem. Long ago, some Israelite kings sacrificed children as burnt offerings to an idol called Molech there. Later, King Josiah, who reformed the nation, put an end to these sacrificial practices and made the area barren. The valley then became a place where garbage was burned.
From a biblical view, Hell, Gehenna is not a place created by God. Gehenna is where children were sacrificed as tools, not as God’s image-bearers. God expressed his anger about the things happening in Gehenna through various prophets. Even more than a thousand years after the child sacrifices ended, Gehenna’s reputation as a cursed place persisted. Eventually, it began to be used as a symbol of eternal punishment, and that meaning has carried on to this day.
A society that treats the weak as disposable tools is akin to hell. A painful example of this is the history of Indian Residential Schools. Indigenous children were taken from their homes, forced to dress like European settlers, and had their hair cut. They weren’t allowed to speak their own languages and could only use English or French. The goal was to erase their culture, customs, and spirit in order to turn them into tools useful for Christian society. Over 1,700 children were buried in unmarked graves. The churches that ran these schools were not working for Christ’s mission; instead, they were serving the empire, sacrificing Indigenous children on the altar of Gehenna. Like the Valley of Hinnom, this dark legacy needs to be remembered again and again because forgetting the past only ensures that new forms of Gehenna, Babylon, and Residential Schools will arise once more.
Jesus said it is better to enter the Kingdom of God with one hand, one foot, or one eye than to be thrown into Gehenna. Sin is not just a personal issue; it poisons not only our lives but also those in our communities. In this regard, he used strong language to warn his disciples against contributing to a world of suffering and injustice.
There’s another important point here. Jesus mentioned three times that it is better to enter the Kingdom of God with a disability than to go to hell. This highlights that in God's Kingdom, everyone is welcomed and respected, regardless of whether they are disabled or non-disabled.
It might have been shocking to his disciples because many Jews in Jesus' day believed they would be resurrected with their bodies at the end of time, so they followed religious customs that preserved and honoured their bodies after death. But Jesus challenged these beliefs. For him, having or not having a disability didn’t matter. His ultimate vision of God’s Kingdom was one where everyone, disabled or not, is recognized, treated with dignity, and welcomed as being made in God’s image. Jesus taught that those who would fill the banquet in God’s Kingdom would not be the rich and powerful, but “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” (Luke 14:15-24).
Hell is a place where people are treated as tools and discriminated against based on their appearances. In hell, only those who are attractive and fit are visible, while others remain invisible. According to the World Health Organization in 2023, 1.3 billion people, or about 16% of the world’s population, experience significant disabilities. If people with disabilities remain invisible, then such places resemble hell more than the Kingdom of God.
In a recent article in Broadview Magazine titled “My Son’s Disabilities Are His Superpowers. It’s Time Everyone Realized That,” Ti Ragan shares her story. For about 18 years, people from her church told her they were praying for her son’s healing and wholeness. But she believes her son is already whole because every person, regardless of disability, is created in the image of God. She writes, “Each morning before I leave for work, I check to see if Lee (her son) is still breathing, to ensure his life - and the blessings of his laughter, joy, greetings, hugs, creativity, exploration, curiosity, hockey, and baking - will continue to thrive. [...] It still hurts to know that some people in past churches didn’t see my son as complete. In so many spiritual homes where I thought we belonged, Lee’s wheelchair was seen as a fire hazard and, by extension, my son as no more than a piece of furniture. [...] Despite the pain caused by these few church members, Lee has a full life, rich with belonging and purpose. He volunteers at his school. He has been involved in chaplaincy and street ministry. He is missed when gone and asked about, whether it’s a neighbour who hasn’t seen him on his community rolls, a store clerk, church friends or those at the local bookstore or library.
The Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, Hell, and violent empires - all of these represent human darkness that goes against God’s creation. When God saw humanity’s evil, God felt deep sorrow and anger. The Bible records this by saying, “The Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6:6).
Yet, despite this, God never gave up on humanity. Through Christ, God came down into a small village oppressed by the Roman Empire, which was like hell on earth. Even in such harsh conditions, God revealed an unchanging truth: every single person is made in God’s image. God showed this truth through Jesus’ teachings, ministry, cross, and resurrection to save everyone.
The Kingdom of God is for those who respect and love themselves and others as beings made in the image of God. Jesus’ dream is to bring that Kingdom to life here on earth. Jesus Christ calls us, as the church, to be part of making that dream a reality. Our congregation should be a place where people can get a taste of God’s Kingdom. Salt that loses its flavour is no longer salt. May the fire of Jesus' passion be ignited in each of our hearts, souls, and lives, so that we, as the church, may become the salt of the earth, living out Christ’s vision.
(St. Andrew's-St. Mark's United Church & Ingleside-Newington United Church)
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