The Truth About Adultery Series

Introduction

Thomas Costain’s history, ‘The Three Edwards’, describes the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother, Edward, led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. The problem was Raynald was so big he couldn’t fit through the door. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Every day he wheeled before Raynald on a cart, the tastiest foods. But instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter from the food. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year, a prisoner of his own appetite.

There are many of us who are like Raynald, trapped by our own sinful desires. We wish we didn’t have these desires but often the delicious temptations that are wheeled before us are too hard for our flesh to resist.

“Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.” -G.K. Chesterton

In recent weeks we’ve transitioned to a portion of the Sermon on the Mount focusing on the Law. In a series of statements, Jesus uses (and will continue to expound in his sermon), “You have heard it said… but I say to you.” What Jesus is referring to is the Law of Moses being taught by the religious leaders of his day.

We’ve talked extensively about the significance of this teaching from Jesus and that Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

This is just as pertinent to us today as it was when Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount 2000 years ago. There was never a point when God’s law was dissolved or nullified by the Lord Jesus Christ - quite the contrary. In fact, the Law was amplified by Jesus. However, in attempting to keep the law so precisely, the Scribes and Pharisees lost the meaning of the Law. The Law became a burden instead of a means to draw people closer to God.

The Pharisees were so scrupulous in their keeping of the law that they would even tithe from the small spices obtained from their herb gardens (Matthew 23:23). The heart of this devotion to God is shown by modern-day Orthodox Jews. In early 1992, tenants let three apartments in an Orthodox neighborhood in Israel burn to the ground while they asked a rabbi whether a telephone call to the fire department on the Sabbath violated Jewish law. Observant Jews are forbidden to use the phone on the Sabbath because doing so would break an electrical current, which is considered a form of work. In the half-hour, it took the rabbi to decide “yes,” the fire spread to two neighboring apartments. (David Guzik, Enduring Word).

The first way we observed this was through the idea of murder, the sixth commandment. Jesus said that the heart of the law goes beyond the act of killing, but extends to the heart. Murder begins in the heart with anger. What Jesus is saying is that righteousness is expressed in our relationships with others, not just in our religious faithfulness to God.

There is no greater relationship as an image in our relationship with God than the marital relationship and that is where Jesus takes us today in his sermon:

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 “And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27–30)