(Day 22)
Today we continue studying the part
of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus mentioned certain commandments and called
us to go beyond the “letter of the law”…
* Commandment: “You shall not
commit adultery”
(Matthew 5:27) You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
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| Say No to Adultery |
This is also one of the Ten
Commandments:
(Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy
5:18) You shall
not commit adultery.
[Other references: Leviticus 20:10;
Deuteronomy 22:24; Proverbs 6:32.]
Jesus is not telling us to reject
this commandment, but invites us to go beyond, warning us that the deed begins
with an intention.
(Matthew 5:28) But I say to you that everyone who looks at a
woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The Lord challenges us to look at the
intention of the heart, not only to the actual physical action. Adultery begins
in the soul, when you open yourself up to impure thoughts. If you break the sin
of lust from within your heart, you could stop and avoid adultery altogether.
(Matthew 5:29-30) 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. 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.
Is it necessary to cut off a member
of your body in order to avoid sin? It certainly will not be necessary if you
“cut off” inner sin, in your mind and in your heart. If an evil thought comes
to your mind, you must repent from it, before you put it into action.
(James 1:14-15) But each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has
conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth
death.
(Acts 8:22) Repent, therefore, of this
wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your
heart may be forgiven you.
* Law: Certificate of Divorce
After speaking about adultery, Jesus speaks
about a related subject: divorce.
(Matthew 5:31) It
was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate
of divorce.'
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| Divorce |
He says this in reference to the
following law:
(Deuteronomy 24:1-4) When a man takes a wife and
marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some
indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her
hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if
she goes and becomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her and
writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out
of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her
former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after
she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall
not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an
inheritance.
During the time of Jesus, religious
courts used to authorize divorce for any motive whatsoever, not just due to
sexual immorality. They excused themselves for doing this, saying that this was
allowed in the law, even though this was not the spirit of the Law.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
explained:
(Matthew 5:32) 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.
Jesus pointed out that divorce is not
part of God’s plan. On the contrary, it is a consequence of man’s sin and the
hardness of his heart.
(Matthew 19:3-9) And Pharisees came up to him
and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any
cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from
the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave
his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has
joined together, let not man separate." They said to him, "Why then
did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her
away?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses
allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I
say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and
marries another, commits adultery." The disciples said to him, "If
such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."
PRAYER
O LORD, you have searched me and
known me! You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and are
acquainted with all my ways.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way
in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Help me stop sin from its beginning. I
repent even of my evil thoughts and the intent of my heart. I am determined to
eradicate lust from my heart, so that I may be faithful to my spouse, both in thought
and in deed. I want to close the door to divorce in my heart, because it is not
your will for couples or families. I want to live as you command, according to
the model of the Kingdom
of Heaven
[Psalms 139:1-3, 23-24; Acts 8:22]
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