What did Jesus mean when he said this?

Question

In Matthew 5:28-30, Jesus says:

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, 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 sin, 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."

Can someone please explain what this means.

Answer 1

I keep checking church people for missing limbs and missing eyes.

So far I've found only one. And that was only a finger.

Answer 2

From a Buddhist perspective, it's about the fact that actions usually occur after thought is formed in the mind, so if your thoughts and mind are focused on things that cause suffering and harm, then you're already really causing suffering and harm especially if you LET it evolve to the point of action. This thought process stems from the fact that the MIND works in conjunction WITH the sensory organs (i.e. eyes, skin, ears, etc.) and the brain. It's BEST to learn how to subdue the causes and conditions that cause the MIND to react with aversion or attachments which eventually, often lead to actions that cause harm.

Jesus, like the Buddha, taught lessons in a way that the people of the time could understand, but the teachings had multi-layered meanings... so he wasn't directly advocating you should chop off limbs and pluck eyeballs literally, but rather to follow the logical path of thought to where those actions REALLY stem from, which is the mind. IF you can learn to control the limb or the eye from doing something, you can control the mind and eliminate the ULTIMATE "culprit" which is the mind which is perceiving things inappropriately and incorrectly to begin with.

If you really stop and think about it... people do what they do because they THINK it'll make them happy, which is all anyone really wants in life anyway (happiness)... unfortunately we misperceive such things because really most thoughts and actions and "stuff" ultimately only causes some degree of suffering. If we cause suffering for others... ultimately WE suffer and so on...

Hopefully this helps some.

OF course my explanation is a poor attempt, but it's the best I can do in this small spot to write in.

_()_

Answer 3

Okay. I'm not an expert or anything, but Jesus is pretty much saying that just looking a woman with lust is the same as already have slept with her. So if you're doing that, pluck out your eye, it'll make you sin. Same for the hand. If it's trying to sin, cut it off, cause it's better to lose a body part for life on earth than to go to Hell forever.

You got that...?

Answer 4

He meant that humans do not have enough willpower to stop themselves from doing sins which they have the means to commit. If you find you are going to commit adultery, you should cut off the organ with which you would commit adultery. If you are going to shoot someone, empty the gun into the ground so you don't have enough ammo. etc. etc. Humans have no willpower. Once the man has looked lustfully at a woman, he has no power within himself to stop the adultery unless he cuts off his sex organ or moves to another state.

Answer 5

It basically means that if there is something in your life that is making it easier for you to do bad things (sin), you should remove it from your life so you aren't faced with the temptation to sin. It is saying that it is better to sacrifice something that will assist you in sinning than to actually sin and be faced with the consequences, in this particular excerpt the consequence is hell.

If everybody took this literally, though, there would be a lot more people out there with missing eyes and hands! Hope that helped some.

Answer 6

Basically it means that we have to follow the heart of the law, not just the principle of it.

The command not to commit adultery is a command to help keep marriage holy and strong. You could go to strip club and not technically be committing adultery (although most wives would disagree). But you cannot deny that you are missing the principle of the law.

This is not a call for us to start severing off our limbs. God is telling us the importance and seriousness of fleeing from temptation.

Answer 7

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Now the disciples heard what Jesus said was the deeper moral principle of the sixth commandment. Any man who looked at a woman who was not his wife with sexual desires and thoughts on his mind was guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. Sexual thoughts and desires for someone other than a spouse violate the sixth commandment, just as well as sexual relations outside of marriage do.
As for the second part, Jesus is not telling us to cut off the organs of our body which commit the lust of the eyes and sexual sins. For even if we cut them off, we still have sinful hearts where the sin of lust arises. He is telling us to cut off and remove whatever tempts us to commit such sins of adultery. Figeratively, not literally.

Answer 8

Don't chop your hands off or gouge your eyes out. These verses are just explaining the importance of avoiding sin at all costs. If you're tempted to lust over pornography, don't get on the computer unless someone is there watching you. If sitting by a smart kid in class would tempt you to cheat, sit by someone stupid. What I'm trying to say is, "Don't set yourself up to sin."

Answer 9

While there is a mental, Spiritual and a material condition(s), that make our self's, Man's, Humans and Intelligent beings?, It will seam to me, that Woman's are made of the same conditions and perhaps as a whole under the same circumstances?, Lust or lusting, don't sound the same in the practice, it does become a Sin, because if you do so, you will be attracting to your self some attention from her, if she sees you?, moreover, there it could be a response to your sensations, negative a/o positive. despite that Lusting is wrong because whit such practice we can only alter our senses to contain the weakness of the Body (flesh). Let me add with this, that because of the interferences and the great power of Satan to produce Evil this world which we believed is ours to my knowledge, is a bit Inferior, and is only material and not as God will which for our world to be, for the good of our own Humanity more perfectly Physical> reason why, and because Jesus was perfect, and just lest perfect than the angel which means physically, and not just materialy perfect, our inperfection kill him. Did he jesus did this at one point in creation or just before allowing the Romans to take him prisoner, I believed that in some way he did, But not because lusting, but for the other choice he could have have, to become the best politician ever, although deny by the Jew's to be so, becauhe didn't gave then any wealth. And his political practices where mainly to enrich the Spirit, lift the mind and perfect the Body, from been just materal to physical. .

Answer 10

Some think that if lustful thoughts are sin, why shouldn't a person go ahead and do the lustful actions too? Acting ourt sinful desires is harmful in several ways. It hurts more than just the person who feels lust. It also hurts the person with whom they satisfy that lust. It destroys marriages and lastly it lets people excuse sin instead of trying to stop doing it. This does not mean that you are sinning when you see a pretty girl or a handsome man and feel attraction to him or her. That is not lust. Lust is when you concentrate on the thought that you want to have sex with that person without having the God given right to sex (marriage) and without having a committment to the other person. In otherwords, strictly for your own gratification. We all have thoughts about other people but a Christian will not (generally speaking) allow themselves to dwell on those thoughts.

Answer 11

Vinslave has already provided you with such an excellent view/understanding and accurate perspective on what it means.
Please read her answer again.
Having come from a christian background, and having studied the bible scriptures from the hebrew and greek in bible college{4 yrs.) I can give you a christian perspective on what that means. But I will not make it too lengthly, will get to the point for you.

Paul said {Phil. 4:8), "Think on these things:
whatever is pure, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is wholesome, and is of gracious, of good virtue and of excellence, think of these things. Anything worthy of praise, think on these things, fix your mind on these things, and your shall have peace of mind, that tranquil state of mind. Phil. 4:7a, 8 = Amplified Bible.
Paul also said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks = therefore whatever we fix our minds on, whatever we think on the most, we eventually come forth out of our mouth = we "will" speak.
Proverbs says, as a man {person) thinks, so he will become.

If we do not control our minds, to acquire peace, our senses - sight, tongue/speech - will lead us into lusting after a woman or a man, which will cause us only suffering and harm, and it will also cause others sufferingharm. No real good will come out of it. And the pleasure it brings is only temporary, and we'll never be satisfied, but will only crave more.

Peace comes through transforming our minds says Rom. 12:2. Transform and renew our minds, by thinking on these things (Phil. 4:8) Paul said.

There is so much truth to this.

Hope this helps. I am now a student, of the Dhammapada, but I still learn much from the the bible. They both teach us how to acquire Patience {the ability to remain internally calm, and undisturbed in the face of harm or difficulties), Peace of mind and Happiness, but we must approach both will a optimistic attitude, for them to guide us in accomplishing these goals.

Hope this helps some.

P.S. - to gouge out your eyes, etc. if one lusts after a man or woman, should not be taken literally, that was no its intention.

Transform the mind, think on these things, as a person thinks, so he or she becomes is the just of the scripture.

Have a Great week.