Gracious Jesus 12: Lust and Immorality
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•291 views
The document discusses Jesus' teachings on lust, immorality, and divorce from the New Testament. It addresses His statements that lustful looking is akin to adultery, and advises disassociating from tempting situations even if metaphorically "cutting off" body parts. Jesus affirms the permanence of marriage, only allowing divorce for adultery. He notes that not all can live as celibate "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven," and dedication is required for that lifestyle choice. The presentation provides context and interpretation for Jesus' challenging words on sexual purity and marriage.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (19)
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (20)
Similar to Gracious Jesus 12: Lust and Immorality
Similar to Gracious Jesus 12: Lust and Immorality (20)
More from Dr. Bella Pillai
More from Dr. Bella Pillai (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Gracious Jesus 12: Lust and Immorality
- 2. GRACIOUS JESUS 3. KINGDOM LIFESTYLE PART 1 Salt and Light Fulfilling the Law Anger and Hurt Lust and Immorality Integrity The Extra Mile Love your Enemies
- 3. LUST AND IMMORALITY 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. 31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matt 5
- 4. LUST AND ADULTERY CONT’D.. Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast 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 not man separate.” Matt 19
- 5. LUST AND ADULTERY CONT’D.. 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[a] 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” Matt 19
- 6. LUST AND IMMORALITY – PRESENTATION OVERVIEW Matt 5:21-26, Matt 18:15-17, Luke 12:57-59, John 17:20-23 Desire Disassociate Divorce Dedicate Discussion
- 7. DESIRE 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.
- 8. DESIRE IS DESIRE WRONG? Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15
- 9. DESIRE Desire is not sin Desire leads to sin
- 10. DESIRE MEANING The word for desire in original translation is used both: negatively as in covet and positively as in spiritual desires
- 11. DESIRE Desire becomes wrong when it: Turns to covetousness Goes out of control
- 12. DISASSOCIATE 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.
- 14. DIVORCE 31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matt 5 Matt 1-9
- 15. DIVORCE “TILL DEATH DO US PART” Divorce: Is clearly a no – no in the Bible Not to mention marrying a divorced person
- 16. OTHER VERSES ON DIVORCE Romans 7:2-3 Deut 22:19 Jeremiah 3:1 Malachi 2:16 1 Cor 7:11-13
- 17. DEDICATION 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” Matt 19:10-12
- 18. DEDICATION Very few can receive a life of singleness for Christ, maintaining the high standards of thought discussed. Only these should consider remaining unmarried.
- 19. LUST AND IMMORALITY RECAP Desire – To covet is sin Disassociate – Cut off Divorce – Clear no Dedicate – If called
- 20. DISCUSSION 1. In what ways can we clip desire in the bud? 2. What examples of “cutting off eye and hand” can we apply in our lives? 3. What does the lesson on divorce stress on marriage? 4. To whom can we encourage choice to remain unmarried?
- 21. REFERENCES 1. http://www.jasonstaples.com/bible/most-misinterpreted- bible-passages-1-matthew-527-28/ 2. http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/4569/d id-jesus-teach-people-to-literally-pluck-their-eye-out-and- cut-their-hand-off 3. http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/36294/w hy-would-people-make-themselves-eunuchs-for-the- kingdom-of-heavens-sake
Editor's Notes
- The first thing to understand in this passage is that Jesus is in no way intensifying the Law here, nor is he saying anything new. What’s that, you say? The Law doesn’t forbid lusting after a woman? Well, as it turns out, the Greek word usually translated “lust” in this passage (ἐπιθυμέω; epithumeô) happens to be the same word used to translate the Hebrew word for “covet” (חמד) in the Tenth Command in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), Another important point is that the command does not forbid recognition of quality or even desire itself (such would be nonsense) but something else: it forbids the action of coveting (hence the verbal form). “Lust” or “desire,” even the sexual variety, is nowhere forbidden in Scripture, nor is it equated with sin, only with the potential to sin (cf. James 1, where lust leads to sin but is not itself sinful). It is also important to note the distinction between the verbal form and the nominal form: when the Hebrew חמד or Greek ἐπιθυμέω are used as verbs in the OT, it denotes desire directed at obtaining the specific object in question and not merely the existence of the desire itself. This fits well with the Tenth Command, which is perhaps best understood as forbidding fixing one’s desire upon obtaining something that is not rightfully one’s own. In order to explain this point more adequately, a fuller discussion of the meaning of “lust” (Gk. ἐπιθυμία; epithumia) in the New Testament and the culture of that period is necessary. [1]
- Crush vs. infatuation. Martin Luther. You cannot stop birds from flying over your head but you can stop them from building their nests in your hair. t is clear that the grammar is reflecting purpose: “anyone who looks at a woman in order to covet her.” (“Covet” is preferable here in part because “covet” better reflects the intentionality reflected in the passage.) This is a critically important point; Jesus is not suggesting that any sexual thought or inclination towards a woman is sinful. Nor is he suggesting that such thoughts or attractions being triggered by a look are sinful. The look is not the problem (nor is the presence of a beautiful woman, which some of that day tended to blame as the real problem); no, these are assumed. What is remarkable (given the popular misinterpretation) is that Jesus likewise assumes the presence of sexual desire in the man as a given, and that sexual desire isn’t seen as the problem. Instead, Jesus addresses the matter of intent, of volition, the purpose of the look. The issue is not the appetite itself but how a man directs this natural appetite and inclination. (I’m reminded here of the old saying: If you’re a young man on a beach and a beautiful woman in a bikini walks past and you don’t feel any sort of excitement or attraction, it’s not because you’re spiritual, it’s because you’re dead.) [2]
- Jesus was using hyperbole - a literary device, an exaggeration, to get a truth across. Even if someone has no eyes and no hands, it still doesn't stop them lusting after others because sin arises from the heart - Jesus obviously knew this and taught it elsewhere in the Scriptures. Jesus used this literary device to emphasise the seriousness of sin. It would be better to end up in heaven physically maimed, than end up in hell with both eyes and both limbs. The English language teems over with literary devices to get our point across. Take the expression 'it's raining cats and dogs' we know it isn't literally raining cats and dogs - but the rain is coming down so heavily, the weight of it is tantamount to cats and dogs falling on our heads. Literary expression used = cats and dogs. Truth it's meant to portray = it's raining heavily.[3]
- Literal cut off The problem is not the eye or the hand, but the heart. Jesus does not mention that two eyes be gouged, or that two hands be hacked off, which would eliminate the possibility of the sin of adultery from ever occurring again. (The problem is the heart.) So, Jesus is not making an actual reference to the removal of parts of the body, because leaving one hand and one eye (without rectifying the heart) does not eliminate the possibility of a repeat of the same sin of adultery in the heart [3] can still cause sin.
- The last part * He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.* is his way of saying this life is not for everyone, but those who can control their sexual urges to live a single life let them make their own choice.[3]
- 1. Replace, not remove 2. Spiritual activities can also be sinful with wrong motives – examples 3. Contentment 4. No option, those who can remain so without coveting.