Adultery

Matthew 5:27-30 You have heard it said, "Do not commit adultery. But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Etc.

Adultery is another rupture in the community. Here in 21st century America, it is easy to think we wouldn't know the person with whom our spouse committed adultery. Back then? Almost certainly! It was not a private issue but the whole community suffered. Either way its a rupture, but then, it was a bigger rupture in several ways, not all of them good.

Back then, it was about the woman as property. We see this in the 10 commandments wherein the wife is listed along with the chattel and other possessions. So adultery was defined as having sex with another man's wife. The harm was to the man. Here, it can be read that Jesus sees women as women and not as appendages to men. Even if you look at her with lust, you have devalued her. In this light, people commit adultery all the time. The objectification of a being that bears the image of God is adultery.

Here again, Jesus is extending the requirements of the law by saying it's not just about our actions, it's about how we view the world. Do we see it as God's good and sacred creation? Or do we see it as our inheritance to use as we see fit, regardless of the consequences to others? The law proscribes certain actions, Jesus proscribes ways of thinking that people use to get around the spirit of the law. Jesus invites us to go beyond our current thinking, always and forever. This is our job - to conform to God's way of thinking rather than trying to get God to conform to ours. It is very difficult. That is why most of us do not do it. It requires great sacrifice that most of us are not willing to make. I know that I would rather not make the sacrifice.

Using others as stepping stones is a human way. God's way is the way of love and reconciliation. It seems to all come back to reconciliation for Jesus. Especially in the verses that follow.

If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out ... if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off... It is better to be maimed in heaven than whole in gehenna.

Hyperbole? Maybe. The point is that our focus must be on God and God's love for all people. He is stressing the importance of seeing others as God sees us all - Beloved, precious, and beautiful. God loves us so much it's as if God has nothing better to do. It is we who corrupt that love and misuse our fellow humans. Jesus is saying that is not God's way.
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