TEACHING NOTES Introduction Last week we began the section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus gives the new laws of the kingdom. This section is connected to the 10 commandments and Jesus is fulfilling the Torah by turning the commandments inward to the heart. The first command was “Don’t Stay Angry.” Today Jesus is going to teach us that the external act of adultery begins in the heart. Matthew 5:27 ESV 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ You shall not commit adultery = Quoting the 7th commandment (Ex. 20:14). In Exodus, the Hebrew word for adultery is na’aph, which is also used in the Old Testament as a metaphor for practicing idolatry. Adultery could be understood as worshiping another person. The Hebrew word refers to a consensual sexual relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse. Old Testament Insight: We should know that God repeatedly refers to idolatry as adultery in the Old Testament. God made a covenant with Israel and intended them to serve and worship Him alone. When Israel sinned against God by worshiping other gods/idols, this was seen by God as adultery against Him. Israel was unfaithful to God, which means they were cheating on Yahweh with other gods. Eventually, after centuries of patience, God actually divorced Israel (Jer. 3:6-10). Yet, God still wanted Israel to return to Him and promises blessing if they repent (Jer. 3:12-18). ​ Matthew 5:28 ESV 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But I say to you = Jesus is about to interpret the 7th commandment by turning it inward to focus on a deeper issue in the heart. Lustful intent = Grk. epithymesai - very strong desire to take something for yourself. Lust is not merely noticing the appearance of another person. Lust is entertaining desires and imagining being with the another person. Therefore, lust can involve something sexual in nature, but can also include imagining a new life with a new spouse. Lust is the desire to acquire. We must change our thinking about lust: The evil nature of lust is should be understood as violating the other person in your heart. In America, lust has become an accepted part of everyday life. Lust is touted as harmless and even good. Followers of Jesus must change how we think about this issue. Followers of Jesus must view lust as shameful and evil. Lust is a nonconsensual violation of another person. Already committed adultery in his heart = For Jesus, lust is inner adultery. If you think Jesus is going too far, ask your spouse how they would feel if they knew your lustful thoughts about someone else. If we repent of the sins in our hearts, those sins will not become actions. Too often we wait to repent until the action has occurred. Now Jesus is going move on to practical instructions... ​ Matthew 5:29–30 ESV 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Right eye = Jesus begins with where lust begins—in the eyes. What we look at has more power than we realize. We often don’t realize we want something until we have seen it. Jesus said in Matt. 6:22-23 “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Right hand = What goes into the eyes grows in the mind/heart and eventually makes its way to the hands. Causes you to sin = Grk. skandalizo - to stop believing, to cause scandalous sin. Lust and adultery not only leads you away from your spouse, but also away from God. Once a person gives into adultery, they are well on their way to walking away from God completely. Three Responses to Adultery: Avoid God entirely. Find a way to justify sin. Confess and repent. Tear it out, cut it off = Jesus is using an extreme image because this is an extreme issue in His mind. We would be better off disabled than to defile ourselves and another person. This consequences of adultery are far worse than we want to admit. We must take extreme measures to avoid lust and adultery. See Prov. 5; 6:20-35. Thrown into hell = Grk. Gehenna - Gehenna is the Greek name for the Valley of Hinnom where garbage, dead animals, and dead criminals were burned. Under Jewish Law, adulterers were sentenced to death (usually by stoning). Jesus deals with two causes of adultery: Lust is internal adultery that becomes external. Forcing women into divorce and remarriage causes adultery. ​ Matthew 5:31–32 ESV 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Whoever divorces, give a certificate = There is no provision or commands about divorce in the Torah until Deut. 24:1-4. When the covenant was first given to Israel, there were no commands about divorce, because God commanded them not to commit adultery—thus no need to talk about divorce. Later in Deuteronomy, when Moses is retelling the Law to the next generation of Israelites, he included a paragraph about divorce. However, divorce is not commanded but assumes that it will occur. The commands only mention what to do after divorce had already occured. Moses does not address the issue of when divorce is acceptable. In Deut. 24:1-4, Moses only addresses what not to do after a very specific set of actions has already occurred. Except on the ground of sexual immorality = For Jesus, divorce and remarriage was acceptable if adultery had occurred. This does not mean that divorce must occur when adultery has been committed, but that divorce and remarriage is acceptable if the innocent party so desires. Makes her commit adultery = In the first century AD, a Jewish woman could not divorce her husband, except in extreme circumstances (like abandonment). Jesus is speaking here to men who divorce their wives for reasons other than adultery. At that time, a divorced woman would be left destitute unless she remarried. If she had been divorced without cause, she would be forced to remarry to survive. For Jesus, an unbiblical divorce forces women to remarry, which is an act of adultery for the woman and her new husband. In Greek, this phrase is in the aorist, passive verb tense—meaning that it is a one-time event. Jesus is not saying that a remarried person is continuously committing adultery, but that the act of getting remarried was an act of adultery. Note: Jesus had a much longer discussion with the Pharisees on divorce in Matt. 19:1-12. The Pharisees were testing Jesus by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” It was common at the time for men to divorce for almost any reason. Jesus argues that God never intended for divorce to occur. The Pharisees counter by asking, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce?” They think the Torah “commands” divorce. Jesus responds that Moses “allowed” divorce, but only “because of your hardness of heart.” It seems that Jesus is saying that God never commanded divorce, but Moses (not God) allowed the Israelites to divorce. What about abuse? Jesus seems to give adultery as the only acceptable reason for divorce. However, we must remember that Jesus is speaking specifically to men in ancient Israel, which had its own laws governing marriage and divorce. If a woman was being abused by her husband, she could leave him, but couldn’t legally divorce him without permission from the Sanhedrin. She could leave her husband and wait for him to initiate the divorce. In Matt. 19, Jesus is responding to questions He has been asked. Jesus is not giving an entire theology of marriage and divorce in such short responses. Therefore, since the words of Jesus are set in an ancient culture with very different laws, we should be careful with how we apply them. In America, a woman has a right to divorce her husband. There are also laws against abuse. A woman who is being abused should immediately remove herself from the situation and seek help from her church and professionals. Abusive people are not following Jesus and the abused must not be forced to remain in a dangerous situation just because there is no biblical verse against it. Bottom Line: Jesus only addressed men in ancient Israel who were divorcing their wives for no good reason. Jesus never addressed any other circumstances of divorce and remarriage. Therefore, we must be careful not to take Jesus’ words too far and force them to address situations that Jesus didn’t mention. Conclusion Today we end our time together with worship, prayer, and communion. Since we all struggle with some form of lust, we should take a moment to repent and ask God to give us power to overcome our flesh and walk in step with the Spirit.