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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
On Thursday, we began reading the Sermon on the Mount. We began with the Beatitudes, followed by Jesus' teaching "You are the salt of the earth." Then He told the multitude, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." In yesterday's reading, He continued, "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 you 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 here that lust is not meant to imply natural attraction of one person for another. This is about something self-centered and selfish. It says, "Sin does not come out of nature, but out of the distortion of nature for self-indulgence. Thoughts that enter the mind involuntarily are not sins, but temptations. They become sins only when they are held or entertained."
"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." Jesus speaks vividly regarding our own capacities for self-mastery and transcendence. Are we slaves to selfishness and personal indulgence? No. At the same time He recognizes by this metaphor that it's not an easy task, but one worthwhile and necessary. Better to pluck out an eye, or cut off a hand, rather than lose the whole body. So it is with our own behaviors and habits, our self-indulgence in things that endanger our souls with selfishness -- a selfish way of looking, a selfish way of having.
"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." Jesus condemns the use of Mosaic Law so as to render divorce meaningless and flippant, and marriage trivial. There was controversy about it at the time, one faction of the Pharisees also opposing this practice. In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (see another reference from Matthew's Gospel, 19:8-9, in which He emphasizes the men's hardness of heart), and emphasizes the eternal and spiritual nature of marriage. Divorce was unobtainable by a Jewish woman; only a man could initiate divorce and for almost any reason, leaving a woman without support or social status. My study bible says that divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality shows that marriage can be destroyed by sin. The early Church would recognize a few basic grounds for divorce, but as corrective measure of compassion when a marriage has been broken. The emphasis here is on relationship and community.
"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." My study bible tells us that trust can't be secured by swearing an oath by things not in our possession anyway. Only simple integrity will do for that. There is an emphasis on the personal, and the value we create out of our own word.
What does it mean to let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No"? Jesus constantly emphasizes what we can do to give our own lives more meaning and more depth. We take our relationships seriously. We take what we do and what we nurture and cultivate within ourselves seriously. By our own choices, we give our word meaning and value. It's not given such by swearing on something else outside of ourselves, over which we have no control. (For an example of the dangers of oaths, and Jesus' statement that "whatever is more than these is from the evil one," look at this one from the Gospels.) There's just us here. We can take our relationships seriously, and in so doing we enrich community, we make our own contribution to the world. What if marriage has meaning and value in the nurturing and practice of love and loyalty? What if the fact that we choose to cherish something makes it valuable, and keeps and holds that value? What I find is important and interesting is that, in contrast to so much we may find around ourselves, Jesus gives us a kind of power, and lets us know what that is. He unmasks what it is we can do for our own lives that creates dignity and integrity. We can let our "Yes" be "Yes" and our "No" be "No." This is up to us. It's a matter of practice and intention, and of learning along the way. Will there be things we can't control? Or times when we intend something we can't produce? Of course there will. But in the love and mercy of God, Jesus isn't talking about an impossible standard, or one that holds condemnation over our heads. Does it take two for a marriage to work? Yes, it does. But we're encouraged here (and in particular men are encouraged) to take our side of any covenant seriously, to nurture and value the relationships we have. He strongly emphasizes also a negative action: we can cut out what goes against integrity, what it is that devalues relationship -- that's also within ourselves, our capacity and responsibility. And there is truth connected with all of this. To let our "Yes" be "Yes" and our "No" be "No" teaches us about our own honesty, also a part of integrity. It tells us, in fact, about purity, as in purity of heart. The same with relationship, keeping something "true," and cutting out or discarding that which is "false" in ourselves. Do we get the gist? Doesn't it tell us that no matter what is going on in life, there are things we can do to shore up our own value in life and of our lives? What is fulfilling? What gives us meaning? The whole story of the Bible is about the value a relationship with God gives us, and what that means for not only how we conduct ourselves, but the great value that's placed on who we are and what we do, and what we're capable of rendering and contributing in the world. Here's the way. We're not helpless. A marriage is something to work at, and so is our own integrity. No matter what else is going on, we have dignity and value, and an essential goodness to ourselves (good, true, and beautiful) we either support or throw dirt at. What's it to be?
