This verse is often misinterpreted as a fatalistic excuse for sin, suggesting that since offenses must inevitably occur, personal responsibility is diminished and wrongdoing can be justified as unavoidable; another error is limiting 'offenses' to only grave moral failures while ignoring subtler stumbling blocks like careless words or attitudes that hinder others' faith, or applying the woe only to outsiders rather than self-examination among believers.
Matthew 18:7
King James Version (1769)
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Jesus acknowledges the inevitability of offenses or stumbling blocks in the world due to human sinfulness, yet he pronounces woe on the individuals who cause them, highlighting personal accountability and the severe consequences for those who tempt others to sin or lead them astray, urging believers to avoid being instruments of downfall.