Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
All Commentaries on Matthew 18:7 Go To Matthew 18
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Perhaps one of our adversaries may think, If it is necessary that temptations come, why does he call woe down on the world when he ought to help it and offer a hand? For this is the task of the physician and the protector. Cursing the world is what the man in the street does. So what are we to reply to this shameless questioner? What equal of this therapy do you seek? For though he is God, he was made man for you, took on the form of a servant, suffered all the harshest treatment and still did not fail in anything that was assigned him. But because nothing further happened among ungrateful people, for this reason he calls woe down on them, because after so much fostering care they continued in their unsoundness. It is just as if some sick man were enjoying fine care but refused to follow his physician’s regimen. Suppose someone lamented the patient, saying, “Woe to that man for his sickness, which he has increased by his own laxity!” But in that case no benefit comes from the lament. Here, however, there is also a kind of therapy, in that Jesus foretells what will happen and laments it. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
