Matthew 5:27-30
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 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. 30 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.
Matthew 5:27-30
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that vs 27-28 is pretty straight forward. The only question I have about the whole passage is what does vs 29-30 mean and how do we apply it?
http://www.epm.org/blog/2012/May/18/should-we-literally-gouge-out-eye-causes-us-sin says:
ReplyDelete"It is something that is designed to be an obvious overstatement that is exaggerated to make a point. With that understanding, “Pluck out your eye and cut off your hand” is a way of saying, “Deal radically with sin.” . . . The point is, the sin nature is not ultimately addressed through the cutting off of body parts."
The article goes on to say that we need to be radical when it comes to dealing with habitual sin in our lives. Is TV or the internet the triggers? Cut them off.
https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/576-what-is-the-meaning-of-pluck-out-your-eye says:
ReplyDelete"Recognize the value of eternal things; don’t be derailed by temporal and physical distractions. . . The surgery is spiritual, not physical.
http://rcg.org/questions/p025.a.html says:
Through these instructions, Christ was also teaching the principle of marking (taking note of; shunning; avoiding) members of the body (fellow Church members [Rom. 12:4; I Cor. 12:12-21]) who cause division, as the apostle Paul reiterated in Romans 16:17: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.” We read in I Corinthians 5 of Paul’s instruction to disfellowship one who was committing fornication. He compared sin to leaven (vs. 6-7): “Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump…”
When these scriptures are considered together, in the proper context, the meaning of Christ’s statement becomes clear. The Church (Christ’s spiritual body) should not tolerate sin in its members, anymore than an individual should tolerate sin in his life.
My two cents is that things (both physical and non-physical) can become a part of us, and precious to us. Sometimes, we need to pluck those things out of our lives and throw them away.
ReplyDelete