Don’t Look, Don’t touch! – Friday- 10th Week in ordinary time-Matthew 5: 27-32

The gospel passage of today will take up the second and third hyper-theses in the Sermon on the Mount. (Refer to http://www.pottypadre.com/heart-of-the-matter/) These are linked to the ninth commandment which deals with the aspect of adultery and divorce.

The mission of Jesus was to bring about a kingdom of righteousness and justice and that is why He wants His disciple’s righteousness to exceed that of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. That Jesus has exposed the self-serving interpretation of the Jewish leaders, has been reason enough for them to want to poison the minds of the people and even more to kill Him.

These hyper-theses of Jesus are really the fleshing out of His mandate for the disciples, in the context of living out the law in the kingdom. Jesus wants more from the disciples, more from us. He is not asking; He is demanding it from those who chose freely to be His disciples. Remember He says, “If you wish to be my disciple.”

Jesus wants His disciples to think beyond the ninth commandment. He wants them to understand that lust kills love. But hang on, lust gets to all of us at some stage in our life and the question you might ask yourself is ‘will I therefore go to hell?’