If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you

 

 "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 ore 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 currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's lectionary reading, Jesus taught the disciples, "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 explains that the issue here is not the God-given mutual attraction of men and women, but the selfish promptings of lust.  Lust is related to covetousness.   It explains that sin does not come out of nature, but out of the distortion of nature for self-indulgence.  Moreover, thoughts that enter the mind involuntarily are not sins, but temptations.  They become sins only when they are held and 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."  My study Bible explains that this imagery is not to be taken literally, but it refers to decisive action to avoid sin and to continue in purity.  Jesus will repeat these admonitions in Matthew 18:8, within the context of a teaching on discipline in the Church, and avoidance of abuse.  My study Bible comments that this action also refers to harmful relationships which must be severed for the salvation of all parties (see Luke 14:26; 1 Corinthians 5:5).  

 

 "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."  In contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in Christ's time, my study Bible says, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (see also Matthew 19:8-9) and emphasizes the eternal nature of marriage.  The possibility of divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality shows that marriage can be destroyed by sin.  My study Bible adds that in the Orthodox Church, divorce is recognized as a serious sin; however, the Church allows divorce and a second marriage as a concession to human weakness and as a corrective measure of compassion when a marriage has been broken.  A third marriage is permitted under specific, limited circumstances.  In the early Church, reasons for divorce were expanded to include threat to a spouse's or child's life and desertion, but in all cases acknowledging the spiritual tragedy of such a circumstance.  

 

 "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 comments on these verses that trust cannot be secured by swearing an oath by things that are not in a human being's possession anyway, but only by simple integrity.  

 

In our reading from Wednesday, Jesus taught, "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  In yesterday's reading, He began with the statute against murder, and expanded upon His meaning regarding exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  He gave instructions regarding anger without a cause, and incitement such as insults to others.  In today's reading, Jesus expands first of all on the statute against adultery in the Mosaic Law, and begins to teach us what it means with regard to this to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  It's not adequate, in His gospel, simply to outwardly obey commandments in a legal sense.  Jesus goes more deeply into our psyches, into the start of adulterous behavior and thinking.  Notice that He is speaking to men here, as well as when He directs His teachings about divorce and oaths.  In Christ's society, men were the main actors, so to speak, who could initiate and obtain divorce, make decisions for families, take action against an opponent.  In the context of lust, which we understand to mean a kind of selfishness or covetousness, Jesus speaks of cutting off what may seem to us like an integral part of ourselves and who we are, learning to deal with passions and impulses, and not simply outward obedience.  It's in this context that He teaches, "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."  If we examine this teaching closely, we come to understand that Jesus is speaking of desires and impulses that lead to harmful action, those things that hurt community, social and personal life, even crime.  A "right eye" may gaze at what doesn't belong to oneself, with greed, envy, or an impulse to take what's not yours.  A "right hand" reaches out to grasp something not lawful, or to hit or strike another, to reach for a weapon, to take hold of a person who's someone else's spouse.  Jesus is, of course, not speaking literally of amputation, but giving a figurative example from medicine as it was commonly known at the time, when a diseased eye or hand perhaps needed to be amputated in order to stop disease or infection from spreading to save the life of a patient.  In this way Jesus speaks figuratively of our psyches, our souls and spirits, the inward body of our psychological makeup.  As noted above, He will repeat this same teaching and figurative illustration when He warns His apostles about abuses and scandals endangering the "little ones" in His future Church (see Matthew 18:6-9).  Jesus teaches us to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees through our own potential for change and self-mastery, to give up habits and impulses that seem to be so integral to ourselves that their difficulty to cast off may feel like an amputation of a precious part of our body.  But Christ calls us all to a kind of discernment and decisive strength to cast off what we don't need in order to save our souls.