Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:21-42 have always troubled me. “Pluck it out! Cut it off!” if it causes you to be thrown in hell. The logical mind would say, “Kill the baby before it can sin!”, and of course that cannot be the intention of Jesus’ words.
Jesus started by clarifying in the preceding verses that there is no intention to set aside any part of the Law or the Prophets—essentially, the bible. The goal is to surpass, not water down, the biblical standard of righteousness. He ends the chapter with these words: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
It appears to me then that the instructions sandwiched between these two statements are intended to understand the import of God’s concern to establish righteousness and eliminate sin. Law deals with the external expressions of sin (“You have heard that …”) but sin really is born in the heart (“but I tell you …”). Yes I should not respond to those examples literally but I should take to heart their intentions.
At the heart of what Jesus is saying to me is this: “Don’t give sin (anger, lust, vengeance, hatred) a harbour in your heart. It is not worth it. Instead fill your heart with love.”
There are always arguments to rationalise responses that open us to sin: “There is no way to eliminate evil except to be evil. Power must be opposed by power.”; “Evil must be punished. Otherwise there is no justice”; “The only way the pain in my heart can go away is if that person is made to pay for what he has done”; “I no longer love my wife; what is the point of maintaining this farce?” Jesus tells me: “Yes. But can you see what is at stake? Is it worth selling your soul? Are you perpetuating the problem? Is there a more righteous solution?”
Jesus’ harsh words should make me stop to think and consider my immediate issue in the light of the bigger context of God’s efforts to make me righteous like Him. Is there another way to respond? One that expresses the righteousness of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the purity of God? My emotions have spoken; my rational mind has spoken; I need to let my spirit speak and let the wisdom of God guide me as well.