"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'"

"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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke of His elaboration or fulfillment of the statute against murder. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount. On Monday, we read the Beatitudes, in which Jesus told of the blessings of life in the kingdom, the life of discipleship. This was followed by You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world, in which He taught the value of discipleship. Next, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Jesus taught that in Him and His commandments is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "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." He spoke of the dangers of anger, provocation, and that which leads to a kind of murder in the heart -- and our responsibility in guarding the heart, accepting the commands of the inner life.

"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." In this next commandment, Jesus takes on the prohibition against adultery, and once again teaches us about the interior life, the life of the heart. My study bible explains that the type of lust Jesus is speaking of isn't just the natural attraction between one person and another, but is rather the deliberate cultivation of lust. It says, "God sees the hidden desires which motivate our actions . . . Sin does not come out of nature, but out of internal self-indulgence." This is distinguished from temptations, which are involuntary. Again, as in yesterday's teaching regarding the statute against murder, here Jesus takes us into the region of the heart, the responsibility we bear for what we cultivate and how we manage our interior lives.

"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." Here, Jesus elaborates on the life of discipleship, and what it means to us. We have been given the examples of murder and anger, and adultery and lust, and we're given a picture of a kind of self-indulgence (not momentary and involuntary passion or temptation, but the deliberate cultivation of a life which may lead to harmful behavior). If we habitually indulge ourselves in passions which may be harmful or endanger us to sin in some sense, then our discipleship takes on the form of cutting out from ourselves such habits -- even if they may feel like they are deeply a part of self, a pattern we've come to cultivate. Therefore Jesus compares such habitual indulgences to our own right eye, or right hand. He's quite aware of the powerful hold a particular habit of passion, once regularly cultivated and indulged, can have upon us. But even something we have nursed or come to rely upon inwardly for some reason, which is ultimately harmful to ourselves, must be cast away. Jesus gives us the analogy: better we may lose a part of ourselves we've come to rely on, than that the whole of who we are is cast into hell. This is discipleship -- a way to the spiritual discipline of growth in the spiritual life, and of casting away that which is ultimately harmful, self-destructive.

"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." This passage is also found in other Gospels, emphasizing the character of marriage -- and especially addressing the "hardness of heart" that allowed men easy divorce in Mosaic Law. Jesus is addressing a Jewish audience, in which this type of divorce was easily available for men, and we have to take this teaching in context. He's not saying divorce is impossible (the early Church would expand grounds for divorce), but rather emphasizing that the basis of marriage is love, care, inclusion -- and is a union of equals, in which two become one flesh, and so bear responsibility for one another. In the context of the teaching against lust, it becomes a teaching in which love is emphasized, and the care and respect for one another inherent in Jesus' vision of marriage. This is contrasted with the misuse of divorce in Jesus' time. One is not the property of another to be cast off when tired of it, perhaps into destitution and social ostricization. Again, the emphasis is on the attitude of the inner life, how we look at the world and one another, how we cultivate the ways in which we see and therefore treat one another. It is about a habitual indulgence in ways that are harmful, and the inner discipline to note the ways of the heart.

"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 keep our promises." One may swear by all kinds of things, but why swear by something that is not really ours to begin with? Even our own head is not our own in this sense -- for it is made by Creator, not by ourselves. All lead to a kind of exaggeration into which we are easily tempted to misstep -- to grandiosity that, when indulged, is (like the other passions already discussed) a kind of danger that may lead to sin and destructive behavior.

"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." If our "Yes" is "Yes," and our "No" is "No," then we really haven't anything else to swear by, and in effect our word becomes much more valuable. To be representative of just the self, without any grandiosity or exaggeration, with real humility, is to be aware of just where we stand and who we are; it is also to elevate to our true self-worth to just what we as humans have been endowed to be by Creator. "Trust is secured," says my study bible, ". . . by an inner integrity. Jesus teaches us to live in the simplicity of the present moment." Anything else, He says, is once again temptation for us.

Let us remember above all the compassion Christ has for us, for our human situation and condition. In all of these teachings, He is encouraging us to a discipline of the true human spirit, leading to what is better for us. It's not a condemnation of our natural tendencies, of temptations we may all feel, but rather an urging to a kind of discipline that is able to distinguish and make choices -- to heed and be aware of our own weaknesses and the true state of ourselves in our world, the possibilities inherent in a flamed and indulged anger, a cultivated and nurtured lust. Christ is asking for discipleship in which we are aware not only that we can do better, but also a measured and wise response to and awareness of our weaknesses. He's asking us to step up, to be smart, and to be prepared for something much, much better in ourselves, the work of the Spirit. In effect, discipleship prepares us for the true worth of a human being, what kind of creatures we are and can become. Are you ready for that life? Can you possibly tell where it may lead you? In discipleship, Christ assures us of our value and potential, and we always have His infinite compassion and help. We just have to try, and have faith in the faith and trust He puts in us. Can we step up to discipleship? It starts with humility, self-awareness, understanding that we are enough -- and reliance on His teaching, faith in His understanding. In a modern age, we have all kinds of ways of indulging our appetites, for anger or lust, for the ways in which we choose to use others, and how we try to aggrandize ourselves. You can find anything over the Internet, any image we may wish to pursue, and the cautionary tales that go with it. But inherent in His teachings is the promise that we all have much better things to do with our lives, with our time, with His help.