GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:42
Millstones and Other Fates
Alice and I were married for five years before our first son arrived. We had to choose a name to put on the birth certificate before we were allowed to take him home from the hospital. However, we didn’t have a name, even after all those years. So, Alice and I worked on a first name. Alice mentioned that she had always liked the name Eric but wanted to spell it the Dutch way with a “k.” Thus, the name became Erick. For a middle name, we chose a biblical name—the name of one of the brave soldiers from the Old Testament—and decided on Daniel; hence Erick Daniel.
When I went to the nursery, I looked through the window at that wiggling bundle lying in the cradle and said, “Erick Daniel.” A spiritual experience took place—similar, I suspect, to that of other new parents. Part of that connection was the realization that a great new responsibility now lay before us: to guide that new life. (I have similar stories for two more sons.)
That first rush of parental responsibility was illustrated by Jesus, who was apparently hugging a child as he taught the disciples around him. “And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him if a large millstone is hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)
Mark’s word “large millstone” is literally “the millstone of a donkey.” People in Jesus’ audience understood that “the millstone of a donkey” was a stone used to crush grain—so large that it had to be pulled by a donkey—as opposed to the small stone used in a household to grind grain. The Romans used drowning as a method of execution. The Roman historian Suetonius wrote that Augustus, “because the tutor and attendants of his son Gaius took advantage of their master’s illness to commit acts of arrogance and greed in his province, had them thrown into a river with heavy weights around their necks.”
The American short story writer O. Henry (1862–1910) wrote about a father who neglected his daughter, resulting in her drifting into a life of sin. When she died and appeared before St. Peter, he asked Jesus about sending her to hell. According to the story, Jesus instructed Peter to allow her into heaven but to cast her father into hell. This allegorical tale captures the essence of Mark’s account of Jesus’ lesson—one that applies to everyone, especially parents.
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