"“Woe to the world due to the stumbling blocks! " continued???

Question

Matthew 18: 7: "“Woe to the world due to the stumbling blocks! Of course, the stumbling blocks must of necessity come, but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes!"

Can you please explain this to me?

Answer 1

The parallel scripture is Luke 17:1 (verses 2, 3 quoted also for clarity)Then he said to his disciples: “It is unavoidable that causes for stumbling should come. Nevertheless, woe to the one through whom they come! It would be of more advantage to him if a millstone were suspended from his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to stumble one of these little ones. Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother commits a sin give him a rebuke, and if he repents forgive him. Reference scriptures lead us to Matthew 26:24, 1Corinthians 11:19, Jude 11, and Revelation 2:14. At Matthew 26:24 Jesus prophetically refers to Judas who later betrayed him saying it would have been better for him had he never been born. After betraying Jesus, Judas committed suicide. The same type of fate could await those who cause stumbling or promote sectarianism within the Christian congregation. Like those in the congregation of Pergamum who taught a different doctrine and induced some in the congregation to commit idolatry and fornication, Jesus will render judgment against such ones and completely destroy them unless they repent.

Answer 2

In Matthew 18, Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the innocence of children. He's telling them to become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Children are naturally innocent. The world is full of tests that will try to interfere with that innocence (cultural norms, societal practices, evil people). These tests are inevitable ("the stumbling blocks must of necessity come") because you can't shelter a child from everything around them. But if a person deliberately tries to interfere with a child's innocence, that person is especially to be condemned ("woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes").