Sermon On The Mount 2 - Gotch Out Your Eyes


In the first part of the series - Sermon on the Mount -  We discussed "turn the other cheek". If you haven't read that, you can do so by clicking here. Now, I'm going to move one step forward on the "Sermon on the Mount". This one is a little bit different, some believed "turn the other cheek" should be interpreted literally, but  "Gotch out your eyes" should not be interpreted literally. While some think the two should be interpreted literally, proposing that it's meant for Christians and no Christian should look at a lady lustfully if he or she is truly what he or she claimed he/she is i.e. if truly a Christian. It's not for me to say a Christian can or can't look lustfully at a lady, but I'm well aware that a Christian can sin and at the same time he or she can be forgiven.



Jas 5:14-15
14 Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

I know for most guys they are going to have one eye or less.  So is this meant to be taken as an absolute statement, "gouge out your eyes". 

Mat 5:27-30
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

What are you going to do when you look lustfully at a woman? Cut out your heart, and cut off your head. In other words, these are not meant to be taken literally. They are hyperbolic statements; they are overstatement for emphasis. He is not telling us to gouge out our eyes, but telling how important the message is. By the way, if you gouge out your eye, can your head still lust? Yes, because lust goes in much deeper than the eye. In fact, skin contact can prompt lust.
He is just stating the importance of this by “gouging out the eye.” So what I’m suggesting here, is that this is a hyperbolic statement, an overstatement for emphasis. I said hyperbole, some are going to say, "No way!", the Bible is inspired so it doesn't contain hyperbole, no overstatement. It depends on your perspectives, but the truth is Bible contains hyperbole and it's not wrong, you need to figure it out. If you want to read more about it, click here. Jesus said what defiled comes from where? From the heart! If you actually want to get rid of something to stop you from sinning, it's your heart. Salvation or let me say Holy spirit works with your heart not your physical body. It's only when your heart is dirty that your eyes, hands and so on do dirty things.




Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Actually, the sin was committed in the heart.

Mat 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:


And many Christians understood it to mean, we are to get rid of people who can lead us to sin. That's a good point, but that's not the meaning behind the text.  Well, it's not saying you should get rid of sinners, or who are you to evangelize to?. Though the Bible made it clear, we should not be equally yoked with unbelievers. Not that you shouldn't have a relationship with them, but not a kind of relationship that can or will defile you, i.e. a relationship that would cause you to do things mutually together, as you have to do things according to the teachings of Christ which is contrary to the person ways of life.




By the way, some people in the early church did, in fact, gouge out their eyes. They actually did this. What I’m saying is you have to use your head. You can’t be taking it and universalizing it. The adulterous woman that was brought to Jesus, what did Jesus do to her? Did he ask her to get rid of any part of her body? No, He didn't! He told him her sins are forgiven and should sin no more.


You can’t take a statement out of the Sermon on the Mount and try to universalize all the statements. Many Muslim Apologists deceive many Christians by universalizing a single statement over the entire Bible. You got to be careful with that, no single statement in the Bible stands alone or superior than the other.
David Marcus