Bible Study series: Matthew 5:27-30. He was reworking the sixth and tenth commandments of the Ten Commandments
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
27 You have heard that it has been said, “You shall not commit adultery.” 28 But I tell you that everyone looking at a woman with the purpose of lusting for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of your members be destroyed than your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of your members be destroyed than for your whole body to depart for Gehenna. (Matt. 5:27-30)
Comments
I have covered vv. 27-28 more thoroughly at this link:
Matt. 5:28 and Adultery in the Heart
Second Antithesis: “You have heard it said … but I tell you.” See v. 20 for more comments. As noted, the antitheses are the intensification of some elements of the Torah (Osborne, p. 189). Judaism prohibited self-mutilation (Deut. 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28; Zech. 13:6), so Jesus is teaching us a different lesson. It is to deal ruthlessly with sin (ibid.).
Followers of Jesus must learn to read the Bible on its own terms, without their wearing monochrome glasses, in which every word appears the same literal color in different contexts. Yes, most of it can be taken literally, like the histories or the commands of the Torah and Epistles. But in significant sections of Scripture, the Bible is not a “flat,” one-dimensional book, on one simplistic level. It is multi-layered. And vv. 29-30 is a case in point. These verses are not to be interpreted literally and simplistically.
27-28:
Jesus is clearly referring to the Sixth Commandment (you shall not commit adultery) and the Tenth Commandment (you shall not covet or strongly desire your neighbor’s wife).
The verb “looking” is the very common word for “seeing” or “looking” is in the present tense. It is not a glance or admiration, because God built us with hormones to be attracted to the opposite sex. God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28), and that happens in marriage. But in these two verses we have something else going on in the heart and mind of mankind (and womankind).
The wording “with the purpose of” correctly expresses a deep-seeded purpose involved, and it is to covet the woman.
Notice that Jesus did not say that the man has already committed adultery with her with his body. Yes, acting on sin and ruining families with adultery is much more impactful on humans than keeping adultery in the heart or mind. Yes, lust in the heart is a sin in God’s eyes, and Jesus says to stop it before it goes on continually. But private lust without acting on it harms no one else other than the guy who is continually lusting.
For your edification:
How to Forgive Adultery and Fornication
29-30:
It is a sad fact that even modern pastors have misinterpreted these verses. I heard one say something like: “I wish Jesus hadn’t said this! I know someone who cut off his hand!” Both the preacher and the guy who mutilated himself were wrong. The guy should not have done it, and the pastor should have explained it better. Seriously wishing that Jesus didn’t say key words is a defective idea. It’s a signal that someone is misinterpreting the Scriptures.
The Bible deploys all sorts of literary techniques to get its points across, and one of them is hyperbole (pronounced hy-PER-bo-lee), which is “extravagant exaggeration” (Webster’s). The technique is designed to startle the listener with exaggerated imagery to compel him to act. In this case, the eye and hand do not literally cause someone to sin, and everyone in the first century knew this (note how Jesus said “in his heart” or his inner life and mind). Instead, Jesus intends his listeners to act brutally and swiftly against sin in the heart. Gouge out the right eye (and the right eye indicates the main source of the person), now! Cut off the right hand (most people are right handed, so it represents the man’s strength), now! Cut out and cut off the sin growing in your heart, now! Do it long before you turn your covetousness into action!
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (Jas. 1:14-15, ESV)
“causes to sin”: some translations say, “stumble.” The verb means, depending on the context, (1) “cause to be caught … to fall, i.e. cause to sin” a. … Passive: “be led into sin … fall away”; b. “be led into sin or repelled by someone, take offense at someone”; (2) give offense to, anger, shock.”
Jesus must be turning children away from believing in him. What would do that? Hypocrisy (talking one way but living another)? Dysfunction and fighting in the household? Meanness?
“Gehenna”: see v. 22 for more comments.
Jesus repeats the hyperbole of cutting and gouging in Matt. 18:8-9:
The Bible is not a one-dimensional book. It must be read with care and precision and in context,
GrowApp for Matt. 5:27-30
1. Read Galatians 5:16. Our normal desires are not supposed to turn into coveting and lusting. What is the best way to bring self-control to this problem?
2. How have you asked the Spirit to flow through your life in order to purge out the coveting and come into balance?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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