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Week Three, Day Five

Matthew 5:27-32

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.

First Jesus greatly expands the sixth commandment, and then he tackles the seventh. A strict interpretation of the Jewish law said that if a man had sex with another man’s wife he was guilty of adultery. If a woman had sex with any man other than her husband then she was guilty of adultery. Jesus expands that definition to include lust. Well, technically he expands the definition to include heterosexual men who lust.

He then goes on to take a fairly firm stand against divorce. It appears to be an outright ban on divorce for any reason other than unchastity. I always have found it interesting that, while everyone agrees divorce is unfortunate and painful, even conservative Christians do not believe two bitterly unhappy people should not be allowed to get a divorce. Yet here it is in red letters. Jesus is very cut and dried about this, though he is silent about things like homosexuality, abortion and the ordination of women.

There was a day when the church legalistically opposed divorce for any reason. People who were divorced couldn’t be ordained and, in some parts of the country, couldn’t be elected to public office. Over the years, though, the church became more compassionate and tried to listen to the spirit of what Jesus was saying rather than twist his words into a new rule.

In Jesus’ day if a man got tired of his wife or another woman caught his eye, he could simply, quickly and easily divorce her and move on. The divorced woman often ended up homeless and penniless, left to beg or become a prostitute. Jesus’ words were spoken as a way of protecting women and calling men to greater accountability. His were principles of compassion and equity in a world where both those qualities were, and still are, too rare among people of faith. For a time, they were used as a weapon, but, eventually, the church moved toward a more compassionate interpretation of these words in red. One wonders when those values will find wider application by the Church.

Blessings,

Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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