The final narrative is a graphic warning against causing others to sin, or “stumble.” Verse 42 asserts the inestimable value of the small and insignificant. Not causing “one of these little ones . . . to stumble” does not refer to children but to those “who believe in me”—that is, to disciples. Whatever is done to a follower of Jesus, whether good (9:41) or bad (9:42), is done to Jesus. Verses 43–48 shift the focus from jeopardizing others to e…