Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Again we see that the Pharisees' restriction on the Law concerning adultery applied only to the external act. Jesus' command was to forbid not only the act but the thought and perverse imagination that preceded the act of adultery. Jesus emphasized the heart and mind in as we come to terms with the following of Mosaic Law.
In order to follow this commandment it may be necessary for some people to take drastic steps. The problem must be dealt with seriously and drastically. Drastic in the sense that the lustful thought alone is enough to cause "your whole body to go into hell". Jesus emphasizes the drastic seriousness of this problem in His examples of cutting off a limb and gouging out an eye. He does not encourage the act of self-mutilation but encourages everyone to be drastically moral in their approach to the temptations of this world.
He directs us to act swiftly, drastically, universally and morally in our attempts to refrain from social and worldly activities that would cause us to sin. We will stand out to the world as different. We will be seen by the world as mutilated by our self-denial. We will be ridiculed for not following along with their immoral behavior or perverted jokes.
Practically speaking, as Christians, are not our hopes set on the things above? Isn’t our reward in heaven? Are we not to serve the living God before the world? If the answer is yes, then we are to shun such evil and tempting activities. We are to run in the opposite direction. We should remain silent when others demand we respond as they do.
Freedom from the world is possible when we value Him more than the relationships of sin that confront us each day. The Kingdom awaits those who remain salt to the world and light to the lost.
