AVOIDING THE BAIT STICK

Why did Jesus warn us about suffering and persecution in this world? He wanted us to expect hardship so that we might "be kept from stumbling" (John 16:1). It is a purpose clause introduced by 

ινα, and the verb is the passive form of a word (σκανδαλισθητε) from which we get our English word "scandal." Jesus warns us so that we will not be scandalized by the sufferings we experience in life.

The noun originally referred to a stick of wood that kept open a dead fall trap for small animals (Colin Brown, Dictionary, 2:707). The bait stick held up a rock or a log which would crush the prey when the bait stick was dislodged. The word later came to mean a stone or other obstacle over which a person tripped and fell down.

The verb meant "cause to sin" (to fall) and in the passive meant being led into sin through unbelief or apostasy (BAGD, p. 752). The connection to apostasy is important in the passive. The verb mean to fall away from what was once believed or to be misled from the truth (Colin Brown, Dictionary, 2:708). A professing Christian is scandalized when pressure entices him to fall away from the truth he once clung to by faith.

In the parable of the soils, the seed that fell on the rocky soil sprouted quickly (Mt. 13:20-21). The person received the gospel with joy "yet he has no root in himself, but is temporary, and, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away" (σκανδαλιζεται). Pressure (θλιψεως) causes the person to strike the bait stick in his agitation and be crushed by the enemy's trap.

Jesus predicted that there will come times of persecution (θλιψιν) when Christians will be hated. "At that time, many will fall away (σκανδαλισθησονται) and will betray one another and hate one another" (Mt. 24:9-10). The lie that God promises us prosperity and popularity is the bait stick of Satan leading many to fall away from Christ.

Avoid the bait stick! How? We must remember Jesus' warning that suffering, pressure, and persecution will come to us (John 16:4) so we will be prepared to face the hardships with faith. As the saying goes, "forewarned is forearmed." The best defense against the scandal of suffering is to expect the suffering. If we are not prepared for hardship, we will fall away and cause others to stumble with us.

After Jesus told the disciples that He would suffer and be killed, Peter vehemently objected.  Peter told Jesus not to think this way (Mt. 16:21-22). Bad things wouldn't happen to Jesus because God wouldn't let them happen. I recognize my own false trust in this same bait stick many times. Peter was the epitome of positive thinking. Jesus called him, "Satan," and said that Peter was a bait stick in Satan's trap because he was not setting his "mind on God's interests but on man's" (Mt. 16:23).

Lord, help me to avoid the bait stick by expecting pressure in this world and by keeping my mind on your interests instead of mine!