Scripture: Matthew 5.27-30
Translation:
27You’ve heard that it was said, “Don’t commit adultery!” 28But
I’m telling you that everyone who sees a woman with the result that he wants her
has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29But if your
right eye trips you up, tear it out and throw [it] away from you, because it’s
good for you, that one of your body-parts would be destroyed and your whole
body wouldn’t be thrown into Hell! 30And if your right hand trips
you up, cut it off and throw [it] away from you, because it is good for you
that one of your body-parts would be and your whole body would not go away into
Hell!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Antithesis
i.
It was said, “Don’t cheat
on your spouse
ii.
Jesus says, “If you want
someone, you’ve already cheated”
b.
Application
i.
Deal with your cheating
hardcore, because it will get you thrown into Hell.
2.
Themes
a.
Adultery
b.
Hell
c.
Drastic measures
d.
Antithesis/Jesus makes the
rules
3.
Doctrines
a.
Jesus is Lord over all, He
makes the rules and interprets the Old Testament
4.
Notes
a.
The key phrase is προς το επιθυμησαι αυτην probably
indicates resultative action as opposed to purposed action. The difference
being that in the form the person does not need intentionality or a plan to
desire the person in the looking, they just need a looking that results in
desire. My gut impulse is that Jesus is not criticizing the “second look” as
people often assume, but the “first look” that results in wanting a second
look. Jesus does not have a problem with seeing women, since obviously that is
something no one can not do and still live in society. Moreover, is Jesus only
concerned with the men “cruising for chicks” or watching porn, unlikely. That
presupposes that inner purity can only be violated by predetermined plans for
violating purity, but sure the problem is already in the heart before the
planned evil, and the general tenor of the sermon on the mount is that Jesus is
dealing with the heart behind the evil, not the steps that lead to evil.
Besides, logically speaking for the most part people to not look at someone in
order to want that person, they look at some person with the result that they
want that person. True, people do watch porn so they can want some person, but
they still can’t want that person without seeing them. Hopefully, this is
sufficient reason to understand that Jesus intends a resultative nuance to προς το επιθυμησαι αυτην and this itself reinforces
the notion that the problem is what is in the heart, namely the desiring, not
so much in the externalized or actualized physical process of looking. The
problem is the WANTING not the looking, the looking is just the main way men
are induced to wanting.
Applications
1.
Visual Lust
a.
Guys, look, you and I both
know how hard this is for us. We like looking at women and wanting them. It is
incredibly hard for us not to sexualize women that we see, for us to want the
women that we see. It’s tough, trust me, I know, I get it. We tell ourselves,
well at least I’m not actually doing anything, I’m just looking, but Jesus, who
as a man, would have understood our temptations perfectly, yet He kept His
heart and mind and body pure. We can’t look at women like they are just slabs
of meat. They are not steaks to droll over. They are precious sisters and
daughters of God that are far more like exquisite jewelry and artwork that is
appreciated and honored and respected and valued, rather than sex objects that
we merely use to get our sexual kicks—women are NOT SEX OBJECTS. Period. EVEN
WHEN YOU’RE MARRIED, you don’t get to treat your wife like she’s just a sex
tool. True, she is the only one you can have sex with, but sex is supposed to
be a valuing and serving and loving the other person, not using them. Now,
let’s talk about porn for a second, because seriously if statistics are good
indicators, and if my time at Moody was a good indicator (a huge number of the
men at Moody who are preparing to be pastors and missionaries and the like are
addicted to porn), most of you are probably watching it or have watched it. And
let’s be honest, no one watches porn for any other reason than some form
indulging inappropriate desire
b.
Ladies, you may think that
you are off the hook, that this passage is a guys issue. That you don’t
struggle with visual lust, and that therefore you can feel good about
yourselves right now. your hearts are pure. But, while I am no woman by any
stretch of the imagination, it is my conviction that you too struggle with
visual lust. Firstly, while it is true that 48% of porn users are men, that
also means that 42% of porn users are women. This means that if I rounded up
five people who watch porn, at least 2 of the 5 would be women. However, this
deep dark underbelly is hidden. Shame from the sexuality of the lust itself, as
well as the perception that this is a guys issue and not a ladies issue keeps
many women lock in a prison of shame and entrapment. Moreover, it has been my
experience that it is not men who are openly discussing who they find visually
stimulating, but women. We men know enough that discussing which women we think
are hot with women present is generally a good way to be thought of as a
barbaric lusty creep, so in general guys talk about those things when women are
not around. Women however seem to have no inhibition about such discussion in
public. It is girls that I hear talking about how hot they think so and so is,
or how cute so and so is. It’s true guys and girls tend to use different
terminology when they talk about their desire induced by visual stimulation,
and it’s true they focus on different areas of the body and different standards
and measures and areas of attractiveness, but both men and women ultimately are
doing the same thing, “I WANT THAT” don’t lie to yourselves that because your
inappropriate desire takes a different form than from the way it is either
discussed or experienced by men it doesn’t count. It does count and it is just
as valid as sinful when it comes in the female packaging as the man packaging.
c.
as a side note, seriously
watching sex scenes is movies is porn. Period. I don’t care if it is not
considered porn by most people, it still is. And I know people say, you can
watch those things if you are a mature enough Christian. But that’s bull! You
and I will never be “mature enough” to watch people have sex and not be
affected by it. That’s not how sexuality works. it is going to induce inappropriate
thoughts, desires, or mental frameworks regardless. Ok, well what about a movie
where you “can’t see anything”—it doesn’t matter, we’re still hearing things,
really we don’t think that our hearing can’t induce us to inappropriate
thoughts and desires? Please, let’s be more discerning about what we watch.
2.
Audible lust
a.
You and I can listen to
things that induce in us inappropriate desire. That’s why phone sex exists.
3.
Emotional Lust
a.
Guys, this is something we
are not very honest about. We only want women that we look at and that we think
are hot, and while this is often true and maybe for some men even mainly true,
it is not only true. Emotional connectedness is also something that induce us
to WANT someone. Friendship, or the sense that you connect with someone can
just as easily give us an opportunity to have inappropriate desires. In fact
for us, this may be the more dangerous, because we are often so blind to it.
Many affairs do not start with the man thinking so and so is hot, but with the
man forming a bond with someone and then having that bond foster in him desires
for that woman. But of course, emotionally based lust is just as evil as
visually or audibly based lust, because it likewise devalues the person being
desired. The person is used as an object for emotional or relational
satisfaction. Again it is about you WANTING the other person.
b.
Ladies, this is one of the
forms your inappropriate desire can take. And perhaps it is the more prevalent
form, but what do I know, I’m a man, at least when it comes to prevalence.
However, I can say for certain that it does take this form in your lives. You
WANT certain people because of the sense of emotional and/or relational
satisfaction. You don’t really want the person for who he is, but for the sense
of euphoria you get from emotional and relational stimulation. The what if
fantasies that involve not so much sex but the happy family or marriage or
relationship or emotional fulfillment motif are just as inappropriate as the
raw sexual fantasies with so and so.
4.
Dealing with it
a.
By now it should be clear
that the problem is with our hearts. Jesus calls us to radical obedience and
that requires a radical response against the sin. Jesus suggests tearing out
your eyes and cutting off your hand if that would help, because these
inappropriate desires will send us to hell. Quite frankly, sexual urges,
inappropriate wanting of other people is an incredibly powerful force of
derailment from the Christian life. I have plenty of examples of people who
wanted someone, and that desire consumed them and destroyed their Christian
walk.
b.
Moreover, Jesus is exposing
a heart issue, so do you think He really means for us to cut off body parts?
Well, no, probably not, but He is saying if that would help solve the lust
problem, do it! However, He probably means for us to take not so much radical
physical measures, but radical spiritual measures to conquer this sin! I have
plenty of examples of this.
5.
Questions
a.
What are some forms
inappropriate desire can take in your heart, mind, and life?
b.
Jesus calls us to take
drastic action to cut inappropriate desire out of our lives, so what are some
drastic steps or actions you can take to get sinful desire out of you life?
c.
What are some drastic steps
we can take as a community, as a Christian family, to cut sinful desire out of
our group?
d.
What hope does the Gospel
give us in the middle of this struggle for pure hearts?
Illustrations/Explanations
1.
You are buying a house. One
house that you visit belongs to a family with three children. As you are
getting the tour through the house you notice that each of the three children
have posters on their walls. The first room you walk into you see a huge
life-size poster of a woman in a bikini. The next room you walk into when you
open the closet you notice a creepy poster board filled with creepy stalker
photos of a girl eating with her parents, walking on the street, walking into
school, etc. The last room is the daughters room, where there is a huge blow up
of G-Dragon and One Direction. Which room has an altar to lust? All of them.
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