Mortification of the Flesh
“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 to hell.”
Matthew 5:29-30
Job knew a great deal about the dangers of looking at temptation. “I have made a covenant with my eyes,” he said, “not to look lustfully at a girl.”[1] Job accepted that sin consisted not only in deeds but also in desires. He understood that a lustful look also needs to be confessed and brought under the judgment of God.
Jesus takes the matter further. He tells His disciples that, if the eyes are the source of our sin, then we should pluck them out! If our right hand leads us into temptation then we should cut it off! Later, in repeating the same advice, Jesus adds the feet that lead us to the places of sin.[2] How are we to understand Him?
Jesus did not mean His words to be taken literally. Some early Christians did, indeed, mutilate themselves in response to what they took to be a divine command, but the practice was soon outlawed. The problem is that we fail to see, and to appreciate, the idiom in which Jesus spoke. Aramaic, like Hebrew before it, is rich in hyperbole and dramatic figures of speech. Jesus was not talking about self-mutilation but about the mortification of the flesh. We are to respond to temptation by avoiding it, and by making sure that we do not lead others into sin. If we develop the habit of watching those things that will corrupt us, then we should remember that the eyes are the windows of the heart,[3] and we should act as though our eyes had been plucked out. If our feet are tempted to stray to places where we have no business being, then we should act as though our feet had been cut off. Jesus’ advice is really very simple: don’t look, don’t touch, don’t go! This is clearly appropriate for our generation. There may be many sources of temptation that we cannot avoid, but there are plenty of others that we can. To argue, as some do, that we need to be involved in our world, to read every new book and to see every new movie, is to ignore Jesus’ words. What is better, to be culturally disconnected, or to risk losing everything you hold dear? There are some aspects of modern culture that are diametrically opposed to the Gospel. Sometimes, the best way to be faithful is simply to avoid them.
Lord God,
Through the rocks and snares and quicksands, keep me safe.
When danger threatens on every side, keep me close.
By Your Spirit, fill me to overflowing,
so that there will be room for nothing and no one else,
save Christ my Lord.
Amen.
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