thought
In case you haven’t noticed, I have chosen to do a series of the hard teachings of our Lord. Let’s use today to consider yesterday’s dW a bit more in depth. May you be blessed as I have been blessed to put this together.
Kyle
scripture
Matthew 5:27-30
Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
En Espanol, Mateo 5:27-30
teaching
Theologians like to call what Jesus did here, as He did in other teachings also, Torah Intensification. Torah is the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament), which includes teachings, prophets, writings. Jesus here in Matthew 5:27-30 is referring to the Law of Moses, which is recorded for us in Torah.
Background
1- Exodus 20:14 says, “You shall not commit adultery”.
2- Within the Mosaic Law are also laws describing retribution. For example, Exodus 21:23-25 says, “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” This “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” concept was not new. This concept likely originated from Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babylon. He wrote 282 laws which have been termed Hammurabi’s Code. This code dates back to 1700 BC. Here are two examples, “If a man puts out the eye of an equal, his eye shall be put out. If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.” Laws of retribution were made to keep people from seeking revenge for the injury of another by killing the one who caused the injury. Basically, the punishment should fit the crime.
What is the key attribute of God? I would submit to you that this attribute is Holiness, which is the essence of all His other attributes. God says in Leviticus 11:44, “be holy, because I am holy”. Therefore, since God is holy, His chief concern with His creation is for it to be holy.
Jesus asked his disciples, “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” (Matthew 15:16-20).
Lust = Heart Adultery
Is it then enough that we do not commit physical sin? No, it is not. Why? Because God is concerned with our full holiness. If lust fills our heart, then we are still filled with sin. Have you ever tried to remove a rosebush from your yard? If you don’t get every last root out of the ground, then that stinking rosebush will come back. We cannot simply remove what is above ground, ie adultery, while neglecting to take care of what is below the surface, ie lust.
Sin is Serious
The reason I chose a quote from Origen to be paired with Matthew 5:27-30 is because Origen understood how heinous sin is to a Holy God and how it jettisons His creation from His presence. Jesus said, “It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell”. Origen took this literally and chose to castrate himself rather than to continue in sin. Origen later wrote extensively about the mistake he made. Even though he had removed the “offending member”, doing so did not remove the problem because the problem was within his heart. Jesus used this illustration to convey the point that sin is serious and we must take great care to guard our hearts.
comments
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