Adultery & Lust
5:27-30
The Old Testament commands us not to commit adultery. ()Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18) The teaching of the time focused on stealing another man’s wife. Jesus moves the focus to lust. Jesus said, even if you do not take another person’s spouse, you sin if you lust after a woman in your heart.
This is very relevant for our day. The invitations to lust are everywhere. Television, movies, and social media are full of pictures, particularly of women, designed to inspire lust.
It used to be said that women were not visually stimulated, but that has changed over the decades. Girls and women are now subjected to many images designed to inspire lust. Now there are “spicy” romance novels with graphic sex. There is pornography made especially for women.
What is the remedy? Jesus tells us to do whatever is necessary to combat lust. That is what he means by tearing out your eye or cutting off your hand. (29-30)
Here is an example. I once counseled a younger man who was addicted to pornography. His wife had caught him watching it on his phone while his child was playing nearby.
He was ashamed. He cried while we talked. When I asked him how he usually accessed pornography, he held up his cell phone. I cited this passage and told him, if he was unable to resist it, he should either get rid of his cell phone or get one which did not access the internet. He said he could not do that. My guess is that he remains defeated by this sin.
So, do what it takes to resist sin. Remove the temptation if possible. Pray for God’s strength to resist it. Find someone to be an accountability partner.
Fidelity In Marriage
5:31-32
The words of the first sentence of this section, “it was also said”, indicate Jesus is speaking further about adultery.
The thing that was “also said” was that a man must give his wife a certificate of divorce when he divorced his wife.
Jesus was referring to the teaching about Deuteronomy 24:1-4. That passage requires a man divorcing his wife to give his wife a certificate of divorce when he has found some indecency in her.
There were no court proceedings about divorce at the time, so there was no court order to prove a divorce. The certificate provided the woman proof that she was divorced and could marry again.
However, the interpretation of the passage was expanded by some rabbis to mean that giving the woman a certificate of divorce absolved the man of any sin in getting the divorce.
Jesus issued a correction here. The Pharisees were focused on grounds for divorce. Jesus focused on the institution of marriage itself, as set out in Scripture. He did not rely on the Deuteronomy passage, but on the Genesis account.
The Genesis account is Genesis 2:24” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. The implication is that this is a permanent binding.
The words “hold fast” are covenant language. Just as the Israelites were commanded to hold fast to God (Deuteronomy 10:20), a man was to hold fast to his wife.
The word “fast” means tightly in Biblical language. Think of a fastener, an object that holds two things together. Today we might say hold on tightly or firmly.
God expected faithfulness in marriage and holds us accountable for the lack of faithfulness. (Malachi 2:13-16)
A piece of paper, a certificate, did not excuse or eradicate the sin. The result of divorce was adultery. Intimate relationships outside of marriage, especially sexual relationships, are adultery. (32)
Those relationships can be sexual, physical, but they can also be emotional. Remember that Jesus calls lust adultery in the heart. He also said “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”(Matthew 15:19)
And the commandment is “you shall not commit adultery”. (Exodus 20:14)
This passage on divorce is directed at men. That is because, at that time in Israel, only men could obtain a divorce, except in certain rare circumstances. And it was men who were using this certificate to casually divorce their wives.
Now, however, women may obtain a divorce from their husbands in most countries. In the USA, women initiate 70 percent of divorces. If you look at marriages involving college educated women, they initiate about 90% of divorces. Since women can obtain divorces today, this passage applies to them as well.
Jesus had a second confrontation with the Pharisees on this issue. Matthew recorded it in chapter 19. Jesus will further explain his reasoning in that passage.
Integrity In Speech
5:33-35
Jesus was referring to the teaching of the Pharisees about taking oaths. The Old Testament context is the requirement for God’s people to be faithful to the promises and vows they made to God. It also forbade lying and taking the Lord's name in vain.
They were not to bear false witness against their neighbors. (Exodus 20:16) This presumes a legal context. But, it was also applied as a prohibition against lying in general.
Leviticus 19:11 says “you shall not lie to one another”. And we know that God hates lying: “there are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him…a lying tongue…”. (Proverbs 6:16)
The problem is, lying is endemic to human nature. Ever since the Fall, when Adam chose Satan over God, people have lied. Jesus called Satan the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Since lying is so common, people devised ways of emphasizing that they are telling the truth we call those things “oaths”. The Pharisees, true to form, began to work on loop holes, where you could take an oath but not sin. They did not want to swear by the Lord, but they said you could swear by the temple, or the doors of the temple, or the altar. Some of those things could make you accountable and some not. In other words, they created exceptions whereby you could swear to the truth, but lie, and not be accountable.
Jesus cut through all of this made up stuff and said not to swear, or take an oath, at all. Swearing in this context is not cussing, but taking an oath meant to prove you were telling the truth or would be bound by your words.
Jesus said not to take an oath by anything in heaven or earth because they all belonged to God, implying that it took the Lord’s name in vain. Regardless, every vow, even if we swear by something other than God, is made in God’s presence.
Rather, citizens of Christ’s kingdom are to simply say yes or no and tell the truth or keep their word. He was making the point that God requires total honesty in speech. Christ followers should have such high integrity that oaths are entirely unnecessary.
James picked up the theme of Jesus’ teaching here when he wrote:
“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”
(James 5:12)
The citizens of Christ’s kingdom should be faithful to him, to their spouses, and to each other in truth.
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