What Does He REALLY? Mean?

For many years now, I have thought that pretty much any sermon, writing, or reflection about any part of the scriptures quoting Jesus could very appropriately be named, “He CANNOT Be Serious.” There are myriad things that our Lord says that on their face are unbelievable. Consider, for example, what he has to say about everything from giving (she put in all on which she had to live) to forgiveness (do it, and do it often) to prayer (unselfish in that ours is to pray for God’s will to be done) to many other subjects. To be a totally committed disciple of Christ is not easy, even as we are taught to cast our cares upon Him.

Today, we find ourselves encountering yet another one of those things Jesus says that, quite understandably, makes our head, for the implications of Jesus’ command here could end in quite a violent and harmful manner. Yet, if we but allow ourselves to dive deeper into all this, we can see there is a method to his madness that can lead to deep transformation of our lives.

Hear these words from our Lord as found in Matthew 5:29-30 - 

“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.”

I firmly believe that if Jesus were roaming the earth today, his utterances might be categorized as a “hot take,” for to tell folks that it is better for their eyeball to be ripped out, their hand cut off, and any other self-mutilation that rids the body of a sinful component is definitely something that would demand immediate attention, and definitely would be considered inflammatory.

The thing is, though, let us pause and ask ourselves what is it that Jesus wants his followers (and those of us eavesdropping lo these many centuries later) to hear. Is this passage about the mutilation of the body of one desiring to follow Christ, or is there something deeper at play here?

When Jesus makes statements like these, I think one of the reasons why we get so captured by the graphical nature of his illustrations is we would rather find outrage at what we find to be simply ridiculous. What if, instead, we moved away from outrage to the gory details and bothered to ask what is it that our Lord is trying to communicate here?

Jesus is no fool. He definitely knew what he was doing and chose his words carefully. His whole life, his whole ministry, his whole being are all about ridding the world of sin and the effects of sin - a goal that will come to fruition finally and completely when he comes again in glory. As part of his ministry during his time on earth, Jesus was spreading the call to holiness, the call for all to repent, to turn away from a life of sin and death and live a life of complete devotion to God.

Given this is the case, might it behoove us to realize Jesus is using such examples as recorded above for the purpose of illustrating not only his commitment to the eradication of sin but also reminding those who hear his words that sin has no place in the life of one who follows Jesus? Might this be a call for us to look deeper into our own lives and ask if (in our quest to be faithfully devoted to Christ) we are doing whatever it takes for Christ’s will to be done in us?

In other words, let’s not get so caught up in what might offend our sensibilities that we miss the truly transformative word that Christ has for us.

Grace & Peace,
Lamar