ACC ~ Matthew 5 v27 - 32

OVERVIEW:

As anger is the mother of murder, lust is the mother of adultery (ANONYMOUS, CHROMATIUS). The soul was created to have its own authority and thus is free. It is able to avoid anger, if it so wishes. It can choose not to lust, if it so wishes. God does not address his commands merely to the flesh, as if detached from the soul (ANONYMOUS). Once one has kindled the flame of lust, even when the object of lust is absent, the one who lusts is forming continually images of prohibited actions (CHRYSOSTOM). The member of the body as such is not the subject of chastisement but the will and the voluntary motivation that underlies the impulse of the will (HILARY). What is best in us may soon devolve into a vice (JEROME). Insofar as the eye symbolizes, for example, an unworthy bishop, who through his disreputable faith becomes a scandal to the church, Christ advises that he be plucked out, lest the people be held to account for his sins (CHROMATIUS). It is common to think analogically of the right hand as the will of the soul and the left hand as the will of the body (ANONYMOUS). If your spiritual advisor or minister or right hand becomes a stumbling block or leads to evil, cut off the relationship (AUGUSTINE). One should not spare even things thought most necessary if through them any harmful activity threatens to come about (APOLLINARIS).

Our Lord orders that chaste wedlock be preserved by indissoluble law, showing that the law of marriage was first instituted by Christ himself (CHROMATIUS). A Christian man must not only not defile himself, but he must not give others an occasion to defile themselves (ANONYMOUS). The divorcing husband makes the wife an adulteress (CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORE OF HERACLEA). She remains his body, since they are one flesh (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA).

5:27-28 | Committing Adultery

ADULTERY ALREADY

CHRYSOSTOM: For he did not simply say “whoever shall desire,” since it is possible for one to desire even when sitting alone in the mountains. Rather, Jesus said, “whoever looks with lust,” that is, one who thinks about another solely for the purpose of lusting, who, under no compulsion, allows the wild beast to intrude upon his thoughts when they are calm. This intrusion no longer comes from nature but from self-indulgence. The ancient Scripture corrects this from the first, saying, “Don’t gaze upon another’s beauty.” [1] And then, so that no one should say, if I gaze but am not taken captive, he punishes the look, lest through a false security you should some time fall into sin. “What then,” one may say, “if I should look, and desire indeed, but do no evil?” Even so you find your place among the adulterers. For the Lawgiver has pronounced it, and you must not question further. For when you look once, twice or three times, you will perhaps have power to refrain; but if you make this your habitual practice, kindling the furnace within you, you will assuredly be overcome. Your human nature is no different from that of other people. If we see a child holding a knife, though we don’t see him hurt, we spank him and forbid him to ever do so again. In the same way, God removes the licentious look even before the act, lest at any time you should fall in act also. For he who has once kindled the flame, even when the woman whom he has beheld is absent, is forming continually within himself images of shameful things. The images often lead even to the concrete act. Hence Christ takes away even that embrace which is in the heart only. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 17.2. [2]

[1] Sir 9:8.

[2] PG 57:256; NPNF 1 10:116-17**. It is like playing with fire to choose to kindle the furnaces of lust within you by gazing upon another’s beauty.

THE FUEL OF ADULTERY

CHROMATIUS: Because adultery is a serious sin and in order to uproot it, lest our conscience be defiled, he forbade even lust, which is the fuel of adultery. According to the words of blessed James in his epistle, “Lust when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.” [1] The Holy Spirit speaks concerning this to David: “Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.” [2] The symbolism here is that the blessed and truly evangelical person roots out the desires and lust of the flesh arising from human weakness. He does this immediately before they grow, at the onset, through faith in Christ who has been described as a rock. [3] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 23.1.6-7. [4]

[1] Jas 1:15.

[2] Ps 137:9 (136:9 LXX).

[3] Cf. 1 Cor 10:4.

[4] CCL 9a:305.

GOD’S COMMAND ADDRESSES THE WILLING SOUL

ANONYMOUS: Those who care little for their souls do not look sufficiently into their hearts. They do not consider it a sin to get angry with their neighbors without cause and do not think it a sin to lust after a woman who belongs to another provided they do not follow up their lust. But it is a great sin among those who fear God and hold their hearts in high regard. And it is a great sin before God, who looks not only at one’s actions but also at one’s heart. With the inwardness of this commandment the law is not abolished but fulfilled, and without it the Lord’s commandment would be untenable.

Every act of adultery arises from lust. Therefore how can adultery be restrained under the commandment of the law, unless the force of lust has been nipped in the bud under Christ’s commandment? For just as anger is the mother of murder, lust is the mother of adultery. Consequently one who gets angry at his brother without cause kills him in his heart, even though he does not actually kill him. It is still murder in the sight of God, who does not regard the action more than the disposition.

So too the man who lusts after a woman who belongs to another has already committed adultery with her in his heart, though he has not had relations with her for whatever restraining reason. He is still an adulterer before God, who looks more at the will than the act. For the overt act of adultery may have been lacking, but not the will. Even those who are unaware of the deeper mystery of human nature can agree on this much: Every carnal nature is subject to these passions. No one, not even a saint, can possibly detach himself from the temptation to anger or lust. Yet they go on to imagine that Christ, as though commanding an impossible thing, is setting up a trap to make people culpable. Anyone who commands impossible things sows occasions of offense and lays grounds for punishment.

This leads us to a reflection on the division between the wills of the soul and the body. We have two natures in us: the flesh and the soul. We thus indeed have two wills, that of the soul and that of the flesh. We may thus say we also have two angers, the anger of the soul and the anger of the flesh. Similarly we might speak of having a lust of the soul and a lust of the flesh. The flesh may come under the compulsion of getting angry and feeling lust, despite its will, since it was not created to have its own authority. It is not now under its own authority, as though created with it, but under the law of sin. For the flesh has been sold into the slavery of sin. That is why the apostle says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot.” [1] But the soul was created to be its own authority, according to the law of God’s righteousness. For that reason, the soul is able not to get angry, if it so wishes, and not to lust, if it so wishes. Thus when we get angry and feel the force of lust, if we are dissatisfied with ourselves and are quick to suppress either our anger or our lust, it is clear that our flesh alone is getting angry or lusting but not our soul. But if we become self-satisfied in these things and decide to give vent to any anger or lust we feel, then our soul as well gets angry and lusts at the same time as the flesh. Therefore, since God knows that the nature of the flesh is not subject to him, God does not bother to command the flesh as such, as if it stood alone. What knowing person then will give a command to someone who, despite good intentions, is unable to obey? Rather, God speaks to the soul, which is able to obey him in all things and which, despite an angry and lustful flesh, is able not to get angry and not to be consumed with lust. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 12. [2]

[1] Rom 8:7.

[2] PG 56:693-94.

5:29 | Pluck Out Causes to Sin

THE MEMBER NOT THE CAUSE OF SIN

HILARY: As the degree of innocence increases, faith becomes more advanced. For we are advised to be free not only from our own particular faults but also from those things that affect us outwardly. For is it not because of sin that the bodily members were condemned in the first place? The right eye is no less sinister than the left. It is pointless to chastise a foot that is unaware of lust and thus involves no grounds for punishment. But our members indeed do differ from each other while we are all one body. We are here being advised to pluck out inordinate loves or friendships if they are the occasion that leads us further into wrongdoing. We would do well to not even have the benefit of a member, like an eye or a foot, if it furnishes the avenue by which one is drawn by excessive affections into a partnership with hell. Even the cutting away of a member might be beneficial if the heart (figuratively speaking) were also able to be cut away. But if the impulse of the heart is left unchanged, the cutting away of a member would be pointless. ON MATTHEW 4.21. [1]

[1] SC 254:140.

THE GIST OF THE HYPERBOLE

APOLLINARIS: He speaks about the numbers of the body but employs hyperbole. It is not that one should literally “cut off one’s members.” Rather, one is called to mortify them and render them useless for sin, as the apostle has said. [1] One should not spare even things thought most necessary, if through them any bad activity threatens to occur. FRAGMENT 23. [2]

[1] Cf. Col 3:5; 1 Cor 9:27.

[2] MKGK 8.

THE ANALOGY OF THE EYE

JEROME: Since Jesus spoke before about lust for a woman, he now rightly refers to an unruly thought or feeling as an eye. By the right hand and other members of the body the onset of the will and emotions is suggested. Thus what we conceive in the mind we might complete with an act. Hence we must be aware that what is best in us may soon devolve into a vice. If your right eye and your right hand are an occasion of sin to you, how much more is this true of the left members. If your soul begins to slip, how much more the body, which has a greater tendency to sin. In other words, in the right eye and the right hand of one’s siblings and wife and children and relatives and neighbors, an emotion is indicated. If we perceive they are an obstacle to us in contemplating the true light, we must cut off those parts. Otherwise, in our desire to profit from others, we may perish for all eternity. Hence it is said concerning the high priest whose soul is dedicated to the worship of God: “He shall not defile himself for mother and father and children.” [1] That is, he shall have affection only for the One to whose worship he is dedicated. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.5.29. [2]

[1] Lev 21:11.

[2] CCL 77:31-32.

REMOVING AN UNWORTHY BISHOP

CHROMATIUS: But since the body has been mentioned, this can be understood more properly of the body of the church. In this body the eye, like a precious member, is recognized as the bishop who enlightens the entire body by the light of a divine commandment. The passage properly applies here: “If your right eye is an occasion of sin to you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is better for you that one of your members should perish than your whole body should be thrown into hell.” Hence, if this type of eye—symbolizing an unworthy bishop—through his disreputable faith and base dealings becomes a scandal to the church, Christ advises that he be plucked out, lest the people be held accountable for his sins.

For it is written that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” [1] And again: “Keep yourself from every kind of evil.” [2] The hand is understood to signify a priest who, because of his disreputable faith or life, becomes a scandal to God’s people. The Lord orders that he be cut away, that is, removed, lest the church become defiled by his sin. For the church, according to the apostle, ought to be holy and spotless. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 23.3.1-2. [3]

[1] 1 Cor 5:6.

[2] Cf. 1 Cor 5:13.

[3] CCL 9a:306-7.

5:30 | Losing a Member, Saving the Body

ON REJECTING BAD COUNSEL

AUGUSTINE: In this connection, I can think of no more fitting example than that of a dearly beloved friend, for that which we ardently love is certainly that which we may rightly call a member. And we may rightly call this member a counselor, for he is, as it were, an eye that shows the way, and because he is on the right side, we may rightly call him a counselor in divine matters. In this way, a friend on the left side is indeed a counselor, but a counselor in earthly matters, which pertain to the needs of the body. However, it would be superfluous to talk about him insofar as he may be an occasion of sin, since not even the friend on the right side is to be spared. But a counselor in divine matters is actually a stumbling block if, under the guise of religion and doctrine, he is trying to lead us into some pernicious belief. Let the right hand therefore be understood as a beloved helper and minister in divine works. For, just as contemplation is properly represented by the word eye, so action is rightly represented by the word hand. In this way, the left hand signifies the works that are necessary for this life and body. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.13.38. [1]

[1] PL 34:1248; FC 11:57*. If your spiritual advisor or minister or right hand becomes a stumbling block or leads to evil, cut off the relationship.

THINK OF THE RIGHT HAND AS THE WILL OF THE SOUL

ANONYMOUS: I believe that all these things [the eye and the hand and the foot] are spoken of in reference to the soul, as we said before. He speaks of the soul as an eye; that is, a mind through which the soul sees. On this he says in another place: “If your eye, is sound, your whole body will be full of light.” [1] This carnal eye without the soul is not an eye. It is the mirror of that interior eye: the mind. The body has its own mind, even as it has its own soul, according to the apostle’s words on the mind of the soul: “Therefore I myself with my mind serve the law of God but with my flesh the law of sin.” [2] Concerning the mind of the body, he says, “Puffed up by his mere human mind, such a one is not united to the Head.” [3] Likewise concerning the hand or the foot. He may be thinking of a person’s right hand as the will of the soul but the left hand as the will of the body. This bodily hand is not a literal hand but the organ of that hand. For unless the will moves it, whether for good or for evil, it is not moved at all. Thus a person’s right hand is the will of the soul, but the left hand is the will of the body. Hence the parts of the soul are referred to as “right” and the parts of the body as “left,” for the soul was created with its own authority, which gives it a tendency either to good or to evil. It was also created under the law of righteousness, that it might see what is right, hear what is right and act and walk accordingly. The parts of the body are referred to as “left,” since the flesh was not created with its own authority that it might tend to either good or to evil. It has become prone to evil under the law of sin, and it cannot see or hear or do what is right. Thus all holy people are referred to as “right” but sinners as “left.” INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 12. [4]

[1] Mt 6:22.

[2] Rom 7:25.

[3] Col 2:18-19.

[4] PG 56:695.

5:31 | Divorcing One’s Wife

LET NO ONE PUT ASUNDER WHAT GOD HAS JOINED

CHROMATIUS: In all things our Lord and Savior reforms for the better the justice of the ancient law. Indeed, it seems that long ago a license for divorce was granted by Moses on tenuous grounds to the Jewish people who were living licentiously and serving their pleasures. This was due not to the system of law but to the unbridled pleasure of a carnal people unable to uphold the righteousness of the law according to rigorous standards.

This concession was allowed, according to what the Lord himself said in another place in his reply to the inquiring Sadducees. For when they asked why Moses had allowed a bill of divorce to be given, the Lord answered, “Moses, by reason of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to put away your wives, but it was not so from the beginning.” [1] And now, not without good reason does our Lord and Savior, with that license removed, restore the precepts of his former constitution. For he orders that chaste wedlock be preserved by indissoluble law, showing that the law of marriage was first instituted by himself. For he said, “What therefore God has joined together, let no one put asunder.” [2] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 24.1.1-3. [3]

[1] Mt 19:8.

[2] Mt 19:6; Mk 10:9.

[3] CCL 9a:309.

FOUR INJUSTICES SIMULTANEOUSLY COMMITTED IN DIVORCE

ANONYMOUS: When he spoke about someone who gets angry without cause and who is consumed with lust, he deftly introduced the commandment about putting away wives. For if he who gets angry with his brother without cause is liable to judgment, how will that person not be liable who, without the sin of fornication, so hates his wife that he puts her away? But you say, “My wife has a lot of faults.” So what? Are you without fault? If we must bear the weaknesses of strangers according to the apostle, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ,” [1] how much more must we bear those of wives? If a man looks with lust at a woman, he commits adultery with her in his heart. How will that person not be held to account for adultery who puts away his wife and gives her occasion to commit adulteries, so that she too commits adultery with another and he with her? For a Christian must both remain undefiled and not give others an occasion to defile themselves. Otherwise their wrongdoing redounds to the sin of him who becomes the cause of sin for others. Note also that whoever gives a certificate of divorce according to the law commits four injustices at the same time. First, as far as God is concerned, there is a killing that is occuring. [2] Second, the man has put aside a woman who has not committed fornication. Third, he has made an adulteress out of her. Fourth, if he takes her back again, he still commits adultery. None of these injustices are committed, however, when Christ’s commandment has been kept. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 12. [3]

[1] Gal 6:2.

[2] A murder is taking place, the death of a relationship.

[3] PG 56:697.

5:32 | Making a Woman an Adulteress

HE MAKES HER AN ADULTERESS

CHRYSOSTOM: How can one who is meek and a peacemaker and poor in spirit and merciful cast out his wife? How can one who reconciles be alienated from her that is his own? … Even in this case he makes one exception: “for the cause of fornication.” One who does not look with unchaste eyes upon another woman will certainly not commit fornication. By not committing fornication he will give no occasion that they should become alienated. Thus you see Jesus presses his point without reserve and builds up this fear as a bulwark, urging on the husband great danger, who if he does cast her out, makes himself accountable for her adultery. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 17.4. [1]

[1] PG 57:260; NPNF 1 10:119**.

DISSOLVING A MARRIAGE

THEODORE OF HERACLEA: Through these things he clearly teaches that it is not unreasonable divorce which dissolves a marriage in God’s sight. Rather, irresponsible action dissolves a marriage, even if the divorce is legal. For the whole teaching of Christ judges things according to one’s disposition. [1] FRAGMENT 34. [2]

[1] Or intention.

[2] MKGK 66.

SHE REMAINS HIS BODY

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He has mixed his statement about divorce with one concerning fornication, for men who turn away from their own spouses out of a desire for intercourse with other women have committed adultery. The same applies to women. Thus he does not allow the divorced woman to remarry. The man she lives with must pay the penalties of an adulterer. For even if, to all appearances, she is separated from her husband, in spiritual reality she remains his body. At the beginning, she was joined and fitted by God to her husband as “one flesh.” [1] For the same reason, neither is the man able to marry another woman. FRAGMENT 33. [2]

[1] Gen 2:24.

[2] MKGK 107.