Verses 27 through 30 form another section. This section is similar to the preceding one. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The commandment in the Old Testament says that we should not commit adultery, but the commandment of the New Testament says that we cannot even have adulterous thoughts. The word woman in the original language refers to another man's wife. If the woman is not another man's wife, there would be no possibility for adultery, because adultery is unfaithfulness in marriage. If this is not another man's wife, this cannot be considered adultery; it is fornication. The Bible judges fornication, but not as much as it judges adultery. Here it is saying that an adulterous thought is produced towards another's wife.

Second, the scope of the word in the original language for look here is not as broad as that of our word look. The word look brings too many under the category of this sin. In the original language it does not imply a casual looking but an intentional looking. Looking could simply be glancing at something accidentally on the street. Watch may be a better word because watching is an intentional looking. Furthermore, in the original language the watching here is done with a specific purpose. We could translate, "every one who watches a woman with the purpose of lusting after her." What the Lord condemns are not the sudden thoughts that enter your mind. What He is dealing with is the further watching for the purpose of lusting, after a sudden thought comes in. In other words, our sins do not lie in Satan's inciting of the flesh by giving us filthy thoughts. Our sins lie in the further watching after Satan has given us a sudden thought. This is adultery. Sudden thoughts are from Satan. Watching is from you. Sudden thoughts are temptations. Your watching is your accepting of the temptations. We must know how to differentiate between these two things.

Verse 29 says, "So if your right eye stumbles you, pluck it out and cast it from you." If your right eye causes you to watch, pluck it out and throw it away. "For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna." If the lust is not removed, if the sin is not dealt with, a person will be "cast into Gehenna." Then verse 30 says, "And if your right hand stumbles you, cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to pass away into Gehenna." These are words that the Lord Jesus spoke to the disciples. Christ told those who belonged to Him and who desired that their righteousness would excel that of the Pharisees and the scribes (v. 20) that they have to deal with their sins. If they allow sin to develop in them, though they will not eternally perish, there is the possibility that they will "pass away into Gehenna." This is what the Lord shows us in the book of Matthew.