“Sexual Purity” (Matthew 5:27-32)
1. Adultery (vs. 27-30)
 a) “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14 – 7th commandment). Scribes & Pharisees viewed this as a 
     physical act, a theft, that was punishable by death (Lev. 20:10).
 b) Jesus stressed the broader intent of this commandment was sexual purity. “looks” present tense, p???- 
     with a view, in such a way, with lustful intent. The initial look & admiration of beauty is not wrong. It 
     is the look where the eyes are feeding your imagination & lustful desires/cravings. “lust”- satisfying a 
     God-given sexual desire in a way that He forbids. “already”- committed adultery with that woman in 
     your heart, even if you never do the physical act.
 c) Counsel: “right eye makes you stumble”- If the organ that is feeding the lust in your heart (mind, 
     emotions, will) is making you stumble/causing you to sin/setting a trap for you. “tear it out/throw it 
     from you”- hyperbole to take as drastic step as you need to cut off whatever you are doing to visually 
     feed that evil craving. Jesus reasoned it is better to lose an eye & enter the kingdom than to have your 
     whole body with eyes filling your heart with sexual enticement and be thrown (2nd time) into hell. This 
     is a graphic way of spelling out the consequence of sin & what repentance looks like. “right hand”- the 
     heart fed by sexual stimuli directs the hand to engage in sexual sin. Cut if off & throw it from you, 
     because it is better to have a hand perish in this life than to have your whole body go into hell.
 d) Application: Sexual purity is a heart issue. The root issue is whether you will trust that God is good 
     and worth obeying in His timing & leading to the spouse with whom you can gratify your sexual 
     appetite. Your heart & mind need to direct your eyes (Job 31:1) to avoid the lustful look at a person or 
     image on a screen, as well as your hands not to pick up that object that will make you stumble into sin 
     (and feet to avoid places of temptation that will pull you down). Dress to look nice, not to cause lust.
2. Divorce (vs. 31-32)
 a) “send his wife away/divorce” (a Jewish wife couldn’t divorce her husband, but could appeal in court). 
     Duet. 24:1-4 gives the grounds of “some indecency in her.” Rabbinic School Hillel (lax view)- this 
     included the widest possible trivial details, including burning his dinner or finding someone else more 
     attractive. Shammai- serious sexual offenses. Deut. Called for the husband to give her a certificate of 
     divorce to free her to marry another, but disallowed her to marry another and eventually return to her 
     first husband (a protective measure for the wife because of the hardness of human hearts, Matt. 19:8).
 b) Jesus gave one ground for divorce: unchastity/sexual immorality, p???e?a?- a general term for sexual 
     sins of various kinds. I Cor. 7:12-16 gives another: desertion because of your faith in Christ. If you 
     divorced before you came to Christ, consider pursuing reconciliation. Many times the grounds 
     mentioned above have happened. Circumstances get messy requiring much wisdom.
 c) Apart from the exceptions, the husband by sending away his wife would be making her commit 
     adultery, because she would marry someone else to make a living. Anyone who marries such a 
     divorced woman also commits adultery, as well as the first husband’s marriage to another (19:9). 
     There is much pain for spouses/families, who have experienced divorce. It calls for mercy with light 
     from Christ’s followers. If you have committed adultery with remarriage, ask God for forgiveness & 
     seek to build a strong marriage.
 d) Scripture gives other guidance (I Cor. 7:10-11), but the Lord wants us to be pro-marriage for life 
     (Malachi 2:14-16, Matthew 19:5-6). Treat “divorce/unfaithfulness” as curse words. Don’t even joke 
     about them. Each spouse can work hard on becoming more Christ-like so your marriage can grow, 
     rather than being pre-occupied with how un-Christ-like your spouse is. One flesh intimacy is worth it. 
     Pray daily for your marriage, those in our church family, and the future spouse of each child.