Jesus tells us that it is our desires that are evil

In the introduction of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount He informed the people that it was not impossible for them to be a part of His kingdom — they simply had to be genuine and willing to come to God and He would accept them as they were.

Jesus surprised so many because His practical teaching was unlike anything they’d heard and it so perfectly met the needs of their broken hearts and discouraged spirits. He gave them hope! 

Those same teachings confront us, too, with principles that on the surface seem very hard, but once we understand the context we can understand the true meaning of the passage. 

An example of this is our passage for this week found in Matthew 5:29, 30 which reads…

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. 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.

If we were to take this passage literally we might have a lot of blind and lame people … even in the church.

Clearly, this teaching is not to be taken literally. Jesus is not promoting people to actually gouge out their eyes or amputate their hands. Jesus is using strong and figurative language here to get a point across to His listeners.

We also know that this is not literal because of Jesus’ other teachings about the nature of sin.  He tells us that sin actually comes from our heart or our desires, not the actual body itself. 

There are some who would teach that all material things or matter is evil, hence, the body is also evil.

If we receive that teaching we would be no better than the Gnostics at Jesus time. (The Gnostics were first century false teachers who taught that the body was evil, so you could do whatever wanted with your body because it would perish anyway; the spirit, they said, was good.  Therefore, many interpreted that as license to sin.)

Jesus taught that it was not the body that was evil, but the desires that we have that can be.

As a result Jesus always focused first on the sin of the heart rather than the external actions. This goes in tandem with the verse we discussed last week, Matthew 5:27, 28. 

So what does Jesus mean by this graphic illustration?

The style that Jesus is using is called a hyperbole, which is an exaggerated saying. It means that Jesus is using figurative language to get a point across. The message here is be very drastic when it comes to stopping sin in our lives.

How many of us are in the rut of habitual and known sin?

In other words, how many of us know we are doing wrong, but keep doing it anyway?

For example, the wife who is flirting with text messages to a man other than her husband, or the husband who has a secret account on Facebook, or the insecure woman in church who can’t turn down “juicy” gossip when she hears it.

People who do these things know they are wrong, but see no sense of urgency to stop what they are doing!  

Jesus says, “Cut it out now!” He advises you to take whatever drastic measure you need to do in order to stop the sin, because sin works in such a way that it will destroy your life and take you down to the grave earlier than your scheduled time. 

What are the areas of sin in your life that have to come to an end?

Is it unforgiveness, resentment, anger, immorality, impatience…?  There could be a number of areas, but allow the Holy Spirit to point them out and then ask God for His grace and power to put an end to them.

An old Roman philosopher by the name of Seneca penned a timeless truth: “Other men’s sins are before our eyes, our own are behind our backs”. 

Ask God to bring yours in front of your face so you can confess, stop it, and move on.

Usually people in habitual sin cannot stop on their own, so please find another mature believer to share your struggle to get the help and counsel you need.

Gary C. Simons serves as the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship, presently meeting at CedarBridge Academy each Sunday at 10am.