Scripture

“It is better for you. To lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Observation

The law says that if someone kills another person, they are subject to judgement. But Jesus now says, that getting angry or calling someone an idiot is just as bad and may cause us to end up in hell. If we remember, when offering a sacrifice in the temple, that somebody is angry at us, we need to go and fix that relationship immediately.

If we are taken to court It is in our best interest to settle our differences before it comes to being adjudicated.

Adultery, like anger, starts in the mind. Lusting in our hearts after someone is as bad as adultery.

If our eye or hand leads us into sin, we should remove them from our body. It is better to lose a part of our body than it is to go to hell with a complete body.

Application

Eternity is real and hell is awful.

We occasionally hear of someone who has got caught in a remote location, and the only way to get out is to cut off the trapped body part. If we value our life on earth so highly, then we should value eternal life even more highly

It is easy to allow small sins to escalate. Nobody starts off running red traffic lights. We start by running the amber lights and gradually increasing the transgression. And then one day the light is red, and a car is in the intersection.

Jesus is telling us here that we don’t start off being murderous and adulterers. The sin starts in the mind and slowly escalates.

If we are serious about going to heaven, we will want to take severe action before we find ourselves in hell. Perhaps, we have to cut off the internet rather than a body part, or leave behind corrupting friends.

Eternal life is worth any sacrifice.

Prayer

Lord, please show me what parts of my life are leading me away from you. Give me the grace to cut them off. Amen..