Skandalizó (σκανδαλίζω): NT Synthesis and OT Background in Mikshôl (מִכְשׁוֹל): The four dimensions of stumbling in the Christian life centered on our response to the Messianic King
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Skandalizó (σκανδαλίζω)
Etymology & Dictionary Definition
From skandalon (from which we derive the word, “scandal”), a word that literally means “stumbling-block.”
In the verbal form, this means to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way of another upon which that person may trip or fall.1
30 occurrences in the NT
26x in the Gospels:
14x in Matthew; 8x in Mk; 2x in Lk; 2x in Jn
4x in the Epistles
NT Synthesis
In the NT, the concept of skandalízō is expressed in four dimensions:
An enticement to sin, be it our own (Mt 5:29-30, cf. Mt 18:8-9; Mk 9:43-47) or the sin of another (Mt 18:6-9) that works within the depths or our being to scandalize us, first from receiving then from more fully entering into the path of Jesus, thereby cutting us off from eternal life in Him (Lk 17:2).
In this category is the quite terrifying warning of Jesus repeated three times in the Gospels (Mt 5:29-30, Mt 18:8-9 and Mk 9:43-47) to “cut off” our “hand” or and “cut off” our “foot” and even “pluck out” our “eye”, if they in any way draw us into patterns of sin, whose final working will be to cut us off from the eternal Kingdom.
The offense of Jesus (Mt 11:6, cf. Lk 7:23; Mt 13:57, cf. Mk 6:3; Jn 6:61) & the offense of His Gospel (Mt 15:12)—The initial level.
As the meaning is more deeply revealed, the scandal is found to not merely be the sinful actions of our hand, foot, eyes, etc., but moreover the way we respond to Jesus. Does His Word and Person, in short, “offend” us?
Just as it did in Nazareth where it obstructed the working of Christ’s healing power among them (Mt 13:57, cf. Mk 6:3); Just as it did at the feeding of the 5000 (Jn 6:61) when Jesus revealed the true meaning of the miracle as being centered on the response to His life and death (“Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” [Jn 6:53]) with this “hard saying” leading many to turn away (“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” [Jn 6:66]).
The “tribulation (θλῖψις [thlîpsis]) and persecution” on account of Jesus & the Gospel that cause us to stumble (Mt 13:21, cf. Mk 4:17, Mt 24:10-> Mt 26:31-33, Mk 14:27-29, II Cor 11:29)—The next level.
Here we find the practical reasons as to why many turn back from following Christ and His Gospel. There is an initial joy of finding a new way of life offered in Jesus as we “hear the word and immediately receive it with joy” (Mt 13:20). To continue, however, in this pathway, the framework of our mind/heart/soul/spirit must be changed (metanoeó) such that we live in a way absolutely counter to “This Now Age.” Instead of affirming ourselves for a life of immediate satisfaction (cf. The life of the “rich man”, Lk 16:19 [which word study is here]), we are continually called upon to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (Mt 9:23).
Two paths diverge.
And this path of life in Christ necessitates us experiencing “tribulation and persecution…on account of the Word” (Mt 13:21). It means us being “buried with him by baptism into death” so that the roots formed from being “planted together in the likeness of his death”, grow deeper in the soil of His own rejection. It means our old man being “crucified together with Him” such that we can be “freed from sin” (Rom 6:3-9). Yet, as we find, without the vital presence of the Holy Spirit, our fallen flesh responds to this pathway in only one way—by being “scandalized.”
The ways believers scandalize both unbelievers (Mt 17:27) as well as one another (Rom 14:21, I Cor 8:13) so as to obscure the true working of the Gospel in This Age.
This final dimension extends to our life together with our brother. In living in a way that is intimately connected to one another, as is the call of the New Creational community in Christ, our sins and those of the other will be progressively revealed. This happens in any honest family, not to mention a pathologically dysfunctional one. And this exposure of the corruption of our heart that is in need of continual cleansing (Mk 7:14-23) leads us, on the one hand, to hide behind externalities, as the Pharisees did in their dead, religious formalism, or on the other, to follow more earnestly the pathway of the Gospel to progressive healing in Christ.
Though we could dedicate much more time on each of the above categories, working through the context, implications, applications, etc., etc…we trust that you, by this point, can do so on your own in ways more particular and applicable to where you currently are.
As such, we now move to the OT background so as to shed more light on the Scriptural antecedents to the ever-present reality of skandalízō in the Christian life.
OT Background
With the NT categories in place, we turn to the OT, finding that one of the words which best communicates this NT concept is the Hebrew word mikshôl (מִכְשׁוֹל).
This word is used almost exclusively by the Major Prophets (i.e. 11 of the 14 OT instances occurring in this genre [though the words of Abigail in I Sam 25:31 seem to rise to this prophetic level). What it expresses is that which will draw the people of God away from life-giving fear of the Lord that brings the accompanying shalom in the salvation in the Messianic King.
So as to keep this study brief, we focus on only two of those prophetic passages and one conceptually-related passage: The first is a Messianic imperative and prophecy from Isaiah 8, which is elucidated further in Isaiah 28, finally revealed in Ps 118 then perfectly fulfilled in Matthew 21. We will take each of these in turn with little commentary.
Isaiah 8: A “stone of stumbling and rock of offense” (mikshôl) for those who fear not the Lord but man
The opening use in the Prophets comes in the early sections of what has been called the “Book of Immanuel,” which contains in it the well-known prophecy of the virgin birth:
Is 7
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin (הָעַלְמָה [almâ]) shall conceive, and bear a son,
And shall call his name Immanuel.
Amidst the background of the Assyrian invasion, this promise of God coming to be with us is given to the Davidic King; yet Ahaz will ultimately seek a different path—the path, not of faith in Divine salvation, but of trust in human action.
And so comes the first occurrence in the Prophets of mikshol:
Is 8
11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed/chastised me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Say not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear their fear, nor be afraid.
That is to say, the “way of this people” was to form a political confederacy with Ephraim and Syria against the expanding Assyrian forces (cf. II Ki 15:37).
To this is contrasted the way of the Kingdom which, very simply, is to:
13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself;
And let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
Two pathways ever open to God’s people:
For those whose fear is the LORD, He
14…shall be for a sanctuary;
And for those whose fear is man, He shall be
for a stone of stumbling (נֶ֠גֶף [negeph], literally, “a stone of plagues”) and for a rock of offence (מִכְשׁ֜וֹל [mikshôl]) to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
Two realities opening us up to two different dimensions with the determining factor being that in which we trust.
Isaiah 28: The “sure foundation” of the “corner stone” rejected unto death or believed unto life
In the next passage there is no mention of mikshol but the “stone” afore mentioned is now revealed to be the “corner stone” and the “sure foundation.” To reject this is to choose the pathway of death and hell:
Is 28
14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said,
We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation (cf. I Pet 2:6):
He that believes shall not make haste (יָחִישׁ [ḥûš])
For the stone in which they believe will be the living and sure foundation of the eternal Kingdom established by the Messianic King Himself, which will bring forth “in the tents of the righteous” the “voice of rejoicing and salvation” (Ps 118:15a).
Bringing life to His people, who having been chastised/chastened (יִסְּרַנִּי [yāsar]), will thereby become able to more fully declare the works of the Lord (v. 17).
Psalm 118: The stone that was rejected as the chief cornerstone
This brings us to the third and final passage, not in the Prophets but in the Psalms. The shift from the unbelieving way of this people to the way of faith (using Motyer’s phrase) is now manifest, opening a new reality to God’s people:
Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous shall enter.
I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I pray, O Lord (From yasha (יָשַׁע) + na (נָא)., which in the LXX is translated, σῶσον δή and in the NT is transliterated to ὡσαννά—Hosanna)
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever (Ps 118:19-29).
And with the thanksgiving of those who trust, not in their own deceptive power, but in the everlasting mercy of the Lord, finally and fully revealed in the lamb of God, we close—The Lamb Who was Himself “sacrificed with cords to the horns of the altar” opening up for us in His sacrificial death the fullness of Sabbath rest.