Daily Devotion for Lent 2024, Day 13

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell."

                                                                        Matthew 5:27-30 (NRSVue)

At this point in the sermon, Jesus takes on adultery, the avoidance of which, of course, is one of the Ten Commandments.  But he highlights it for men here rather than women.  It is important to understand the culture of that time featured a patriarchy where women were passed as responsibilities from the father's household to the husband's household.  There was a lot of emphasis on lines of succession. Inheritance was kept in the family, even to the extent of the law making sure that property could eventually revert back to original families.

In this world, men had greater rights than women.  There is even a large section on jealousy that was designed to keep women in line.  There's no corresponding section for men to prove themselves faithful.

And so Jesus goes over the top in his example.  No one is actually going to pluck out their eye or cut off their hands.  I've never seen even the staunchest literalist try to say that this passage should be taken as is.  Jesus uses hyperbole in order to emphasize how one-sided gender roles were around adultery.

Since we have a modern sensibility concerning gender equality, we can utilize this passage to emphasize that we should not objectify people as sexual objects.  And while this would have been revolutionary in Jesus' day, it may be even more important in the 21st century when the internet may be pushing objectification to new heights.  

As we move through Lent, how do we have respect for one another?  Do we have respect for who we are rather than for what kind of value we may hold for another?  What-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitudes do seem prevalent today.  Commerce is so ingrained in our culture that sometimes it comes up in relationships too.  Jesus seems to be calling us to a higher morality in how we see others.  When we see others like Jesus, we can keep our eyes intact!

Prayer for the day: Gracious God, we give thanks that you see us as more than commodities to be utilized.  While you do call us to service, you love us regardless of whether we answer or not, simply for who we are.  Help us to embrace this higher ethic for how we see one another.  We pray these things in Jesus' name.  Amen.

 

Photo by Johan Larsson via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.