The Lingering Look — A LifeWords Devotion

“You have heard that it was said to the people in the old days, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that every man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her—in his heart. “Yes, if your right eye leads you astray pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than that your whole body should be thrown on to the rubbish-heap. “Yes, if your right hand leads you astray cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than that your whole body should go to the rubbish-heap. (PHILLIPS)

Jesus is trying to get to the heart of God’s commands by going beyond the mere words and looking at what lies behind them. To those who reckon they have not committed adultery because they haven’t had sex with a woman other than their spouse, he says to think again. Staying out of bed with another woman does not mean no adultery has been committed.

The lustful look which has preceded the sexual act is offensive to God as well. Here we have to ensure we don’t misunderstand all this. Lust is not the same as adultery, but it is the fertile soil in which the seeds of adultery are sown. For example, if I lust after a woman, I need to repent of it. If I commit actual adultery with a woman, I need to quit my job or have it taken from me!

Another misunderstanding is to equate a lustful look with a recognition that someone of the opposite sex is attractive. We don’t have to go around wearing paper bags over our heads to avoid lust. We can appreciate the attractiveness of others without sowing the seeds of future adultery. Much disservice was done to women in church history by men becoming fearfully obsessed by the feeling that women were all temptresses.  Lust imagines and desires a sexual encounter. Lust is the second and third look, not the first look. It is the lingering, hungry look.

And Jesus’ comments about gouging out our eyes or chopping off our hands is a vivid way of saying we must take radical action if we find lust a problem. Better to suffer some discomfort or loss than to risk much more with an illicit relationship. Jesus’ teaching is radical and demanding enough without taking such statements literally. The heart and mind has to be changed rather than the body be disfigured.