Adultery
Matthew 5:27-30
Beware against committing sins in your heart.
#heart
Published December 14th, 2020
Main point summary
Arc
Phrase
Key for highlighting
Markup
Family worship teaching
notes
Main point summary
Jesus: “The true meaning of the ‘do not commit adultery’ command is that you shouldn’t even look at someone’s wife with the desire to sleep with her. Therefore, you should be ruthless in getting rid of anything that facilitates your adultery.”
Arc
editing
NT
Matthew 5:27-30
esv
mine
h “You have heard that it was said,
You have heard that the law says,
i ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
‘You shall not sleep with anyone else besides your wife.’
ideaexplanation
But I say to you
But I herby give you the complete meaning of this command:
that j everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent
If you even look at a woman with the desire to sleep with her
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
then God sees it as if you had actually slept with her.
conditional
concessive
k If your right eye l causes you to sin,
Because you are prone to breaking the complete meaning of this command, if your eye, even your good eye, is facilitating your sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
go as far as getting rid of your good eye, as hard as that might be.
For it is better that you lose one of your members
Because it is better if you lose one part of you — even a part as important as your dominant eye —
than that your whole body be thrown into m hell.
than that all of you have to face punishment in hell.
negativepositive
ground
k And if your right hand l causes you to sin,
In the same way, if your right hand is facilitating your sin
cut it off and throw it away.
cut off your hand and get rid of it.
For it is better that you lose one of your members
Because it is better for you to lose even your most powerful side of your body
than that your whole body go into m hell.
than that your whole body face hell.
series
inference
The complete meaning of the “do not commit adultery” command is that you shouldn’t even look at a woman that is not your wife with the desire to sleep with her.
THEREFORE, you should be ruthless in getting rid of anything that is facilitating your adultery.
discourse
Phrase
Matthew 5:27-30
The Complete Meaning of the Command
Superficial meaning
“You have heard
that it was said,
Content
‘You shall not commit adultery.’
Complete meaning
But I say
to you
Destination
who looks
at a woman
Locative
with lustful intent
Manner
that everyone ... has already committed adultery
with her
Accompaniment
in his heart.
Application: do anything to rid sin (esp. adultery) from your life
Ruthlessly eliminate sins of the eye
If your right eye causes you
Conditional
to sin,
tear it out
and throw it away.
For it is better that you lose one
Ground
of your members
Partitive
than that your whole body be thrown
Comparison
into hell.
Ruthlessly eliminate sins of the hand
And if your right hand causes you
to sin,
Reference
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.
phrasing
Key for highlighting
Colors represent similarity within the passage Underline represents comparison or contrast within the passage Dashed represents similarity with other passages Zigzag represents contrast with other passages Outline represents something notable or something that stands out
Markup
Matthew 5:27-30
Lust 27 h “You have heard that it was said, i ‘ You shall not commit adultery .’ 28 But I say to you that j everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart . 29 k If your right eye l 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 m hell . 30 k And if your right hand l 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 m hell .
OT
Exodus 20:14
14 q “ You shall not commit adultery .
Deuteronomy 5:18
18 j “‘ And you shall not commit adultery .
Job 31:1
Job’s Final Appeal 31 1 “I have made a covenant with my b eyes ; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
Proverbs 6:25
25 t Do not desire her beauty in your heart , and do not let her capture you with her u eyelashes;
2 Samuel 11:2
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on k the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
Matthew 10:28
28 And k do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him l who can destroy both soul and body in hell . 1
Matthew 23:33
33 You serpents, v you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to w hell ?
Luke 12:5
5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him b who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell . 1 Yes, I tell you, fear him!
lookup
Family worship teaching
Teaching 1: the command to not commit adultery What is adultery? Where in the Bible does it say to not commit adultery? Why do you think God doesn’t want us to commit adultery? Teaching 2: the complete meaning of the command Is it a sin for a man to look at a woman? Is it a sin for a man to look at a woman and notice that she is pretty? When does looking at a woman become “lustful intent”? Why does Jesus say that we can commit adultery with a woman just by looking at her? Can both men and women commit adultery? What is the punishment for committing adultery in our heart? How can we keep from committing adultery? Teaching 3: how to keep from committing adultery Why does Jesus mention the right eye in particular? What would it be like to not have your right eye? Why does Jesus mention the right hand? What would it be like to not have your right hand? Does Jesus really want us to tear out our eye? What would you do if you had cancer in your right hand or your right eye? How do we obey what Jesus is teaching here?
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.