“An Analyzation and Interpretation of Matthew 5:27-28,” by Andrew J. Schatkin
“An Analyzation and Interpretation of Matthew 5:27-28,” by Andrew J. Schatkin
My dear readers, thinkers, friends, the politically incorrect and those who wish to go beneath the surface and get at honest discernment and seek facts and truth and wish not to be guided by political slogans and code words…
I previously analyzed the words of Christ with respect to equating anger with murder in Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said to the men of old. You shall not kill and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment” (Matt 5:21-22). As I said and set forth previously, Jesus here gets at the root of the emotion anger that leads to murder and moreover in this direction raises for all of us the moral bar that we can only attain and obey with the help of the holy spirit. Jesus in that statement tells us this is the moral law as to killing, that we should at least aim at and seek to follow to the best of our human nature.
Today, my dear friends, I will consider another saying similar to the one I have just referred to. I speak of the saying found in Matthew 5:27-28, where Jesus informs us again, raising the moral bar and getting at the root of the moral issue, “You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
So what does Jesus mean here and what is he trying to tell us and inform us? Jesus here corrects and deepens what constitutes adultery. Jesus here once again, as he did in the saying about anger being equated with murder, moves physical adultery to the level of lustful intention. This verse is quite difficult and it is very significant to try to grasp its meaning. Adultery, Jesus here defines, as a moral wrong, an injustice, and act of unchastity, but more and most important, Jesus teaches that when a person commits adultery and even contemplates doing so, the moral evil is already present in the lustful thought and intention which can lead to the evil action of actual adultery. It is clear here, as in the saying about killing and anger, that Jesus is concerned with and focusing on the mental action which leads to these horrible actions. The son of god is not only raising the moral bar once again, but informs us and raises our grasp and understanding that not only the root of the sin and violation lies in the heart, but that we weak vulnerable sinful beings can only fulfill this new and extended commandment with the assistance of Christ, god, and the holy spirit, aiding us with their love.
Perhaps we can only understand the root of his thinking in this respect to lie in the commandment not to covet in the Decalog, which is a commandment directed to our mental attitude and the tendency of our minds. I conclude that Jesus newly defines and increases our understanding of the moral violation of adultery to having its roots in our hearts and minds. Let me end by saying that I do not think that Jesus condemns here any thinking about sexual matters, as in science and medicine, but directs us to understand and, if possible, avoid the specific lustful intention of a personal character and making the woman of man not a person but an object of our anger or lust.