Adultery - Matthew 5:27-30
Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Reflection: Jesus offers another re-frame for the sin of adultery, or having sex outside of one's marriage. He broadens it to include if anyone looks at a woman lustfully that he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This goes against the modern day notion of you can look but you cannot touch. Of course lust is more than looking, it is more of a feast of one's eyes, which leads to desire etc. Though the command specifies a man lusting after a woman who is not his wife; by application this would be true for woman too.
And then Jesus goes further to describe a tactic to prevent this from happening. He obviously knew how much of a struggle this would be, so he says if your eye causes you to sin then you should gouge it out. Likewise if your hand causes you to stumble you should cut it off. If there was ever a case where one was making a argument that not everything in the bible should be interpreted literally, or black and white, here is a great one fortunately. But this should not lead us to dismiss the force and intent of Jesus' hyperbole. Remember the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is to describe life in the kingdom as we repent and turn to Jesus for help.
So what does this mean for us then? It means that we need to deal ruthlessly with sins such as lust, that will seek to dominate us. With a sin like lust it is not for us to play around with or dabble in. Jesus takes it very seriously because He knows how much of a stumbling block it can be for us. And we have many examples in the bible of people where lust got them in big trouble, and we see also it is an issue for many leaders today who have had to surrender leadership in the kingdom due to a lack of self control.
And for those who are married, as we will see more in tomorrow's lesson, our spouses are to remain the apple of our eye. To the extent that we are lusting after others, we have forsaken the one of our covenant promise in marriage. It might be helpful for us to remember what Job said in chapter 31, "I made a covenant with my eyes to not look lustfully at a young woman."
Two more things on this issue. First if you have fallen in this area, don't spend time dwelling in guilt and shame. Confess your sin to God, receive forgiveness through the Son and move on. If you are having particular trouble with this sin, find someone you trust and develop an accountability pattern of checking in. Since this is often a private
Sin it is good to keep shining light into this area of your life through confession.
Finally, victory in this area will come through reliance on the Holy Spirit, for it is not by might or power but by my Spirit says The Lord. As Paul describes his thorn in the flesh, he says that in his weakness God was his strength so that his power might be made more clearly manifest. For many this area is a chance in their own weakness to be strong in The Lord.
Jesus, help us to overcome the power of lust by reliance on your grace, Your Spirit and few good friends with whim we can experience breakthrough in this area of our lives. Amen.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Reflection: Jesus offers another re-frame for the sin of adultery, or having sex outside of one's marriage. He broadens it to include if anyone looks at a woman lustfully that he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This goes against the modern day notion of you can look but you cannot touch. Of course lust is more than looking, it is more of a feast of one's eyes, which leads to desire etc. Though the command specifies a man lusting after a woman who is not his wife; by application this would be true for woman too.
And then Jesus goes further to describe a tactic to prevent this from happening. He obviously knew how much of a struggle this would be, so he says if your eye causes you to sin then you should gouge it out. Likewise if your hand causes you to stumble you should cut it off. If there was ever a case where one was making a argument that not everything in the bible should be interpreted literally, or black and white, here is a great one fortunately. But this should not lead us to dismiss the force and intent of Jesus' hyperbole. Remember the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is to describe life in the kingdom as we repent and turn to Jesus for help.
So what does this mean for us then? It means that we need to deal ruthlessly with sins such as lust, that will seek to dominate us. With a sin like lust it is not for us to play around with or dabble in. Jesus takes it very seriously because He knows how much of a stumbling block it can be for us. And we have many examples in the bible of people where lust got them in big trouble, and we see also it is an issue for many leaders today who have had to surrender leadership in the kingdom due to a lack of self control.
And for those who are married, as we will see more in tomorrow's lesson, our spouses are to remain the apple of our eye. To the extent that we are lusting after others, we have forsaken the one of our covenant promise in marriage. It might be helpful for us to remember what Job said in chapter 31, "I made a covenant with my eyes to not look lustfully at a young woman."
Two more things on this issue. First if you have fallen in this area, don't spend time dwelling in guilt and shame. Confess your sin to God, receive forgiveness through the Son and move on. If you are having particular trouble with this sin, find someone you trust and develop an accountability pattern of checking in. Since this is often a private
Sin it is good to keep shining light into this area of your life through confession.
Finally, victory in this area will come through reliance on the Holy Spirit, for it is not by might or power but by my Spirit says The Lord. As Paul describes his thorn in the flesh, he says that in his weakness God was his strength so that his power might be made more clearly manifest. For many this area is a chance in their own weakness to be strong in The Lord.
Jesus, help us to overcome the power of lust by reliance on your grace, Your Spirit and few good friends with whim we can experience breakthrough in this area of our lives. Amen.
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