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"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."
- Matthew 5:27-37
We are reading the Sermon on the Mount. We began with the Beatitudes. Next Jesus taught about salt and light, saying, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven," He then taught that He came to fulfill the Law, saying, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Yesterday, we read Jesus' expansion on the statute against murder: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' Shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." My study bible tells us: "God sees the hidden desires which motivate our actions. The issue here is lust, not simply the God-given mutual attraction of men and women. Sin does not come out of nature, but out of internal self-indulgence. He who feasts on lust within himself brings sin into his heart through his thoughts. (Thoughts which enter the mind involuntarily are temptations, not sins. They become sins only when they are held onto and entertained.)" As with the statute against murder, Jesus goes to the "heart" of the matter rather than the letter of the Law, expanding on the Law to teach us about how we may cultivate sinfulness, and teaching us about the importance of self-awareness.
"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." A note says, "Jesus is speaking in vivid imagery, not literally, using the physical body as an illustration. To remove an eye would be to reproach the Creator." If you think about it, Jesus' illustration here is quite vivid (as my study bible says) in teaching us about how we see, and what we reach for -- or perhaps what we covet. To cut off these things is an illustration of how we should cut ourselves off from thoughts that cultivate temptation.
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." My study bible says, "In contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in that day, Christ repeatedly condemns divorce (19:8-9; Mark 10:2-9; Luke 16:18) and emphasizes the eternal character of marriage. However, the possibility of divorce on grounds of unchastity, for example, clearly shows that Christ considered that the marriage bond is not absolute: it can be destroyed by sin." It adds that the Orthodox Church "thus allows divorce as a corrective measure of compassion when a marriage has unfortunately been broken. Human freedom implies the possibility of sin; sin can separate husband and wife from each other, and ultimately from the body of Christ and from God Himself. Sexual immorality is a grave sin against the divine Sacrament of Marriage." The early Church would expand exceptions for divorce, on the grounds of a threat to a partner's life, desertion, and forced prostitution. But Jesus' main point here is about the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, a point He makes elsewhere regarding the "hardness of hearts" of the men which was the cause of such a Law. Women were dependent upon men in marriage and in the society; Jesus' aim here, as with His expansion on the Law against murder, is for peace which is right-relatedness; He asks us to take relationships more seriously, and gives us to understand this is the view of our Creator.
"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black." My study bible says, "Jesus speaks against casual use of God's name and superficial oaths. The words of Jesus have not only a negative meaning, but a positive one also. They not only forbid us to swear, that is, to bind ourselves with an oath; they also command us to speak the truth and to keep our promises."
"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." A note tells us, "This is a well-known saying in the New Testament (James 5:12). Trust is secured not by an oath which exceeds Yes and No, but by inner integrity. Jesus teaches us to live in the simplicity of the present moment."
In all of today's teachings, it seems to me that Jesus' aim here is to teach us about integrity (as the last note I quoted also says). He asks us to take our marriage bonds seriously, not simply as if they're only worth the piece of paper a marriage license or contract might be written upon. We're responsible for dealing with our own capacities for fidelity to the marriage, for working on the marriage itself, and doing our best to make it worth something, worthwhile. That takes an awareness of what is going on inside of ourselves, and a responsibility for how we might be contributing to the destruction of a bond into which we've entered. Although Jesus is speaking of the Law here, and emphasizing our own responsibilities, inherent within each of these teachings is also the possibility of repentance, forgiveness, and starting again. These teachings aren't simply one-time deal-breakers; instead they're commandments that are with us all the time, something we continue to practice at, to learn, to discipline ourselves through. I think it's essential to keep this model in mind, because Jesus is really talking about a lifetime pursuit of a way of living, in which our integrity isn't just a matter of external conformity to something, but an internal way of life and working at something. A too-easily tossed off marriage is simply an invitation to harm our partner in some way (in this case, the socially powerless partner). Strength and integrity, therefore, come to rest on an inner discipline, an awareness and acknowledgement of how we operate in the world; how we're looking, what we are wanting. The statute regarding swearing has a similar kind of meaning, because we're talking about bonds here, covenants, and personal integrity. Our words should simply be our bond, and mean what we say. We shouldn't need to add power to them if our own aim is true; our own integrity in that case can speak for itself. All of Jesus' commandments teach us about right-relatedness, the things that make for real peace, inside ourselves and in our relationships with others. Again, Jesus' purpose, to my mind, is always therapeutic. These statutes and teachings on the statutes aren't a mere desire to condemn, but to ask us to vigorously participate in something, and God is right there in the midst of our relationships. Whether or not we work at what kind of person we are, what our integrity is, is also a matter of relationship to Christ -- and that is ongoing. That is something we work at throughout a lifetime, and it's not over because we stumble. Ultimately, in this model, our relationships to other people are inseparable from our relationship to Divine Persons, to God; and it is the love of God that binds all in all. It is God's love that teaches us about relatedness, about truth, about personal integrity. If we see these teachings in that light, then we understand that Christ is inviting us into a personal struggle for our own health, our own healing and purity of heart, our real integrity and how it affects the rest of our lives. Let us remember it's God's love that helps us and informs us about how we are to proceed, God's love that forgives and asks us to start again as we keep trying to do it His way, and God's love that helps us to do so.
