27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27–30)
Most of us have heard Jesus’ words about adultery and lust. And if you’ve spent much time around Christian teaching on the subject, you’ve probably heard plenty about guarding your eyes, controlling your thoughts, and maintaining sexual purity.
But what if we’ve been looking at this passage from the wrong perspective?
We usually read verse 5:28 as being about the internal sexual purity of the person doing the looking. Jesus may also be asking us to think about the dignity of the person being looked at.
You Have Heard It Said…
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
“You have heard it said…” Sound familiar?
Previously, Jesus took the commandment against murder and went beneath the act itself. Murder can grow from anger, contempt, and the willingness to diminish another person’s humanity. Jesus wasn’t simply making the commandment harder. He was revealing what had been at stake all along.
Now he turned to the seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery.
Most of his listeners could probably check that box. No adultery here. Commandment kept.
But Jesus wasn’t interested in checking boxes. He had already announced that life in God’s kingdom involved a righteousness surpassing that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).
What did that greater righteousness look like?
Looking Is Not the Same as Seeing
The Greek wording of Matthew 5:28 deserves a closer look.
The word translated looks comes from blepō, meaning to see or look (and keep on looking). The following phrase indicates purpose: looking at a woman in order to desire her.
Jesus wasn’t suggesting that every passing glance constituted adultery or that noticing someone’s attractiveness was inherently sinful. He was describing something intentional—a look meant to cultivate desire. There’s a difference between recognizing beauty and mentally possessing someone.
But what happens to the person on the other side of that look?
A World Where Women Had Less Power
First-century Jewish society was largely patriarchal. Men generally held the legal, economic, and social advantages. Women commonly depended on fathers, husbands, or male relatives for security and standing.
A divorced woman could face considerable vulnerability, especially without family support. Although women had agency and influence, the balance of power was unequal.
Into that world, Jesus challenged men to reconsider how they regarded women.
In a culture where women could be treated as possessions or extensions of a man’s household, Jesus placed responsibility squarely on the man doing the looking. He didn’t blame women for being attractive or tell them to become less noticeable. He challenged men to examine their own hearts.
And that went deeper than sexual desire.
When Desire Becomes Possession
Sexual desire itself isn’t the enemy. Human sexuality is part of God’s good creation. But desire can become distorted.
The Greek word translated as lust, epithymeō, means to desire or long for something. The word isn’t inherently sexual or negative. Its meaning depends on what is desired and how.
Interestingly, the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament – uses this same verb in the tenth commandment: You shall not covet.
That connection is worth considering.
Coveting isn’t merely noticing something desirable. It is allowing desire to become an appetite for what we have no right to claim. When directed toward another person, that appetite can reduce someone to an object for our satisfaction.
This is where Jesus’ teaching about lust connects with his earlier teaching about murder, anger, and contempt.
- Contempt looks at another person and says, You’re worth less than I am.
- Lust looks at another person and says, Your worth lies in what you can give me.
In both cases, the person is no longer being seen as a person.
Love asks, What is good for you? Lust asks, What can I get from you?
Gouge It Out? Cut It Off?
Then Jesus said something shocking.
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away … And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away”
Seriously?
Jesus often used exaggeration to make a point, and this is among his most graphic examples.
He wasn’t advocating self-mutilation. Removing an eye wouldn’t remove the heart’s desires. Cutting off a hand wouldn’t eliminate the capacity to exploit someone. His point was that whatever leads us toward destructive behavior must be taken seriously.
The goal wasn’t simply to stop lusting. It was to become people who see and treat others differently.
What Does Life in the Kingdom Look Like?
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was describing life under God’s active rule.
He had blessed the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. He had called his followers to be salt and light. Now he was showing what that meant for everyday relationships.
Remember our earlier exploration of righteousness? Biblical righteousness isn’t simply about being morally correct. It involves doing right by God and others.
In this passage, that includes doing right by women.
The early Christian communities began working out the implications.
Consider Paul’s instructions to married couples in 1 Corinthians 7:3–4. In a world where husbands generally possessed greater authority, Paul described marriage in remarkably reciprocal terms.
The wife had a claim upon her husband’s body, just as the husband had a claim upon hers.
The mutuality is striking. The kingdom Jesus announced challenged familiar assumptions about power, privilege, and whose interests mattered.
Learning to See Differently
Maybe we’ve spent so much time over the years asking how to avoid lustful thoughts that we’ve neglected to ask what Jesus might want us to see.
The person standing in front of us bears God’s image. Their dignity doesn’t depend on their attractiveness, usefulness, or ability to satisfy our desires.
In the previous passage, Jesus showed that the opposite of murder isn’t merely refraining from killing. It’s learning to seek the good, dignity, and reconciliation of the person in front of us.
Maybe something similar is happening here.
The opposite of lust isn’t simply looking away. It’s learning to see differently.
