"The Law and Adultery"
Notes
Transcript
Country Reported infidelity🇹🇭
Thailand 51%🇩🇰
Denmark 46%🇩🇪
Germany 45%🇮🇹
Italy 45%🇫🇷
France 43%🇳🇴
Norway 41%🇧🇪
Belgium 40%🇪🇸
Spain 39%🇬🇧
United Kingdom 36%🇨🇦
Canada 36%🇬🇷
Greece 36%🇫🇮
Finland 36%🇺🇸
United States 35%🇧🇷
Brazil 35%🇳🇱
Netherlands 35%🇸🇪
Sweden 35%🇵🇹
Portugal 35%🇦🇺
Australia 34%🇲🇽
Mexico 34%🇦🇷
Argentina 34%🇨🇱
Chile 22%🇵🇱
Poland 16%🇺🇾
Uruguay 10%
Matthew, Vols. 1–4: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (The Deed)
Mass media uses sex to sell its products and to glamorize its programs. Sex crimes are at all-time highs, while infidelity, divorce, and perversion are justified. Marriage, sexual fidelity, and moral purity are scorned, ridiculed, and laughed at. We are preoccupied with sex to a degree perhaps never before seen in a civilized culture.
1. The Setting of Jesus’ Teaching -
Murder → anger
Adultery → lust
Divorce → covenant faithfulness
Oaths → truthfulness
Retaliation → loving enemies
In our text Jesus is showing that righteousness is not merely external conformity.
The Pharisees would ask questions such as, “What action is forbidden?”
Jesus' turns the table and says, “What is happening in your heart?”
2. The Seventh Commandment Was Extremely Serious -
Jesus begins with - “You shall not commit adultery.”
This comes directly from the Ten Commandments.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
In the Old Testament, marriage was connected to:
covenant
family
inheritance
children
faithfulness
God's own relationship with His people
The Old Testament repeatedly uses marriage as an illustration of covenant relationship.
For instance, God describes Israel's unfaithfulness to Him using the language of marital unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16; Hosea).
Therefore, adultery was more than breaking a social rule.
It was breaking a covenant faithfulness.
Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, likewise describes Moses' law as strongly prohibiting adultery and treating marriage fidelity as important to families and society. (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)
3. Marriage in the Jewish World Was Different From Modern Dating -
In Matthew 5 the betrothal was much more binding than a modern engagement.
In the first-century Jewish world, marriage involved a formal process.
Betrothal — Erusin/Kiddushin
The couple became legally bound to one another, although they had not yet begun living together as husband and wife.
The woman usually remained in her father's household during this period of time.
Wedding/Home-taking — Nissuin
Later came the wedding celebration and the bringing of the bride into the husband's household.
This explains something important about Matthew.
When Joseph discovers that Mary is pregnant in Matthew 1, Scripture calls Joseph her husband, even though they had not yet begun living together.
Matthew 1:19
Joseph planned to divorce her quietly.
Betrothal was legally binding and could require divorce to terminate it. Historical descriptions of Jewish marriage confirm that betrothal was not equivalent to today's casual engagement.
When Jesus' audience heard the word adultery, they weren't thinking about something trivial.
They understood it as a serious violation of a binding covenant.
4. Adultery Had Severe Consequences Under the Mosaic Law -
The OT didn't treat adultery lightly.
10 ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
The man and woman involved in adultery were subject to severe punishment.
22 “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
The same principle is reaffirmed.
This tells us something about God's view of sexual faithfulness:
God has always taken sexual purity seriously.
The culture may change.
Marriage customs may change.
Society's opinions may change.
God's moral standard does not change.
5. The Pharisees had a Problem of External Religion -
This is crucial for understanding Matthew 5.
The Pharisees were extremely concerned about obedience to God's Law and about maintaining Jewish religious identity.
But Jesus repeatedly confronted a form of religion that emphasized external righteousness while neglecting the heart.
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
His criticism wasn't that God's Law was bad.
His criticism was that outward religious behavior could hide an unchanged heart.
Illustration
Imagine painting the outside of a rotten wooden fence.
From a distance it looks beautiful.
But the paint doesn't change what's happening underneath.
Jesus isn't interested in merely painting the outside of the life.
He wants to transform the heart.
6. Historical Insight: The Early Church Took Sexual Purity Seriously -
The early Christians lived in a world where Christian sexual ethics could make them appear radically different from their surrounding culture.
Christian teaching emphasized:
sexual purity
faithfulness in marriage
self-control
holiness
honoring the body
fleeing sexual immorality
This wasn't merely because Christians wanted to be different.
It flowed from their understanding that believers belonged to Christ.
Paul writes:
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
This provides an excellent theological connection to Matthew 5.
7. The Historical Background Strengthens the Main Point -
Let us read Matthew 5:27-30
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 with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “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 “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.
When you put all of this together, Matthew 5:27–30 becomes even more powerful.
Jesus' audience understood:
Adultery is serious.
Jesus says:
But God's concern goes even deeper.
They understood:
Marriage is a covenant.
Jesus says:
Therefore the heart must be faithful as well.
They understood:
The seventh commandment forbids adultery.
Jesus says:
The commandment exposes the sinful desire that produces adultery.
They understood:
Sin has consequences.
Jesus says:
Therefore deal radically with sin before it produces those consequences.
Proposition: Jesus teaches that sexual purity is not merely about controlling our external actions; it begins by guarding our hearts, our minds, and our desires, and genuine discipleship requires decisive action against our sin.
Interrogative question - What practical steps can you take to guard your heart and mind against lustful thoughts?
Introduction
The world around us constantly tells us that what happens in our minds doesn't really matter.
Our culture often says:
“It’s only a thought.”
“Nobody gets hurt.”
“If you don't act on it, it's harmless.”
“Follow your desires.”
“You can't control what you want.”
But Jesus teaches something radically different.
In Matthew 5, Jesus is explaining what it means to possess a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.
He has already addressed anger and murder in verses 21–26.
Now He addresses lust and adultery.
Jesus moves from the hand to the heart.
The Pharisees were concerned primarily with outward behavior.
Jesus says God is concerned with the heart that produces the behavior.
I. Jesus exposes the heart issue - vs. 27
I. Jesus exposes the heart issue - vs. 27
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 with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The commandment is still God's standard -
Jesus does not dismiss the seventh commandment.
Sexual faithfulness matters because marriage matters.
God established marriage from the beginning.
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Marriage is not merely a human invention.
It is God's design.
Jesus later reaffirmed this:
4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Jesus points back to Genesis and explains that God created male and female and established marriage.
Sin starts in the heart -
Jesus says the problem is not merely what someone does.
The problem is what someone desires.
This principle appears throughout Scripture.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
James explains the progression:
desire → conception → sin → consequences
The outward act begins with an inward desire.
Illustration: The Iceberg
An iceberg may appear relatively small above the water, but most of the iceberg is hidden beneath the surface.
Sin can be similar.
What people see is often only the tip.
The visible action may be the final stage of a process that began much earlier in the heart.
Jesus isn't merely interested in fixing the tip of the iceberg.
He wants to deal with what is underneath.
II. Jesus exposes the seriousness of the heart - vs. 28
II. Jesus exposes the seriousness of the heart - vs. 28
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
We need to understand what Jesus is saying carefully.
Jesus is not saying that noticing someone is attractive is automatically sinful.
Nor is He saying that a passing thought automatically makes someone guilty.
The issue is deliberately entertaining and cultivating sinful sexual desires.
There is a difference between:
seeing and staring
recognizing and dwelling
temptation and choosing to nurture temptation
Temptation itself is not sin.
Jesus was tempted, yet He never sinned.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
The battle begins when we willingly entertain sinful desires.
Historical Illustration: David and Bathsheba
David provides one of the clearest Old Testament illustrations.
2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.
David saw Bathsheba.
But David didn't stop at seeing.
The story progresses through a series of choices.
Notice the progression - David Saw → David desired → David inquired → David took → David concealed → David than suffered consequences
The tragedy wasn't simply what happened at the end.
The tragedy began much earlier.
Sin rarely begins with the hand.
It usually begins with the heart.
The hand eventually reveals what the heart has already chosen.
III. Jesus reveals to remedy to the heart issue - vs. 29-30
III. Jesus reveals to remedy to the heart issue - vs. 29-30
29 “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 “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.
Jesus is using deliberately shocking imagery to communicate the seriousness of sin.
He is not giving Christians a command to physically injure themselves.
The Bible consistently teaches that our bodies are God's creation and that believers should honor God with their bodies.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Jesus' point is:
Deal radically with whatever leads you toward sin.
Don't play with sin.
Don't manage sin.
Don't negotiate with sin.
Fight it.
Eradicate the source of temptation -
If something repeatedly pulls your heart toward sin, take it seriously.
For a Christian, this means asking:
What am I watching?
What am I listening to?
What am I reading?
What accounts am I following?
What conversations am I participating in?
What websites am I visiting?
What situations consistently weaken my spiritual life?
Paul gives a similar principle:
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Notice the word provision.
Don't make arrangements for your flesh to succeed.
Illustration: The Fire
Imagine someone playing with fire and saying:
“I don't intend to get burned.”
That isn't wisdom.
The wise response isn't to see how close you can get without getting burned.
The wise response is to stay away from the fire.
The same principle applies to temptation.
Don't ask:
“How close can I get to sin without actually committing it?”
Ask:
“How far can I stay from anything that dishonors Christ?”
Joseph Provides the Opposite Example
Contrast David with Joseph.
7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” 10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
Potiphar's wife repeatedly attempted to entice Joseph.
Joseph did not simply say:
“I'll stay here and see how strong my self-control is.”
He fled.
This is exactly the kind of radical action Jesus is teaching.
Paul later gives the same command:
18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
“Flee immorality.”
Notice the verb:
FLEE.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is leave.
IV. The Intensity of the remedy -
IV. The Intensity of the remedy -
Removing sinful influences is essential, however, it is not simply about making a list of things we don't do.
We must replace sinful thinking with biblical thinking.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
The Christian life involves changing what captures our attention. You cannot continually fill your mind with garbage and expect your heart to remain clean.
What we repeatedly consume shapes what we repeatedly think about. (the computer acronym GIGO)
Pursue purity through God’s Word -
We should never leave a passage like this with the impression - “Try harder.”
The believers life isn't about human willpower. On the contrary believers need the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The battle for purity -
This is a battle of who rules your heart. We live during a time when culture says pursue satisfaction in any possible way.
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Sin says: (we could even say that the world says)
“My desires come first.”
Christ says: (Luke 9:23)
“Follow Me.”
Purity means recognizing that God owns our bodies, minds, desires, and futures.
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
That includes our thought life.
SO WHAT?
Guard what enters your mind -
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.
Don't intentionally put things before your eyes that you know will pull you toward sin.
Don't feed temptation -
Temptation becomes stronger when we continually entertain it.
When a wrong thought enters your mind, don't invite it to stay.
Turn your attention toward something true and godly.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
The Sermon on the Mount: (Matthew 5–7): An Expositional Commentary (He Who Runs Away)
Did you know that this was Paul’s advice to his converts? He wrote to the Corinthians that they were to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18). To Timothy, a young preacher, he wrote, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). In other words, Joseph, who fled from Potiphar’s wife, and not David, who invited Bathsheba over to the palace, is to be imitated.
Take temptation seriously -
Don't say this regarding your sin -
“It's not a big deal.”
Jesus says it is a big deal.
Sin destroys fellowship with God, damages relationships, and enslaves people.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Remember that your body belongs to Christ -
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Closing Illustration: The Guard at the Door
Imagine a security guard standing at the entrance of an important building.
His job isn't merely to remove dangerous people after they've entered.
His job is to determine who and what gets through the door.
Your mind is similar.
Every day, things knock on the door of your heart.
You don't have to let everything in.
You can say:
“Does this honor Christ?”
“Will this strengthen my walk with God?”
“Would I willingly put this before Jesus?”
The battle for purity is a battle at the door of the heart.
And Jesus says:
Guard it.
Because what controls the heart eventually controls the life.
Final Thought
Don't merely ask, “Did I commit the outward sin?”
Ask the deeper question:
“What is happening in my heart before God?”
Because Jesus isn't merely interested in clean hands.
He wants a clean heart.
How can we actively guard our hearts from lustful thoughts as Jesus teaches in Matthew 5?
What steps can you take to ensure that your thoughts align with the biblical principles of sexual purity?
In what ways can we help each other as a community to pursue holiness and accountability?
How can we cultivate a mindset that honors God in our relationships and desires?
What are some practical ways to replace negative influences with God's truth in our lives?
How do societal views on sex and marriage challenge your understanding of God's design for these institutions?
What practical actions can you take to avoid entertaining temptation in your daily life?
How can understanding the seriousness of the heart issue help you in your personal struggles with sin?
What influence does mass media have on your perception of sexual ethics and moral purity?
How can you apply the principle of 'fleeing immorality' in a practical situation you currently face?
