Matthew 5: 27-28
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Also
EWTN, expert/answer,The Ten Commandments, Colin Donovan STL,
Jesus was quoting from the Ten Commandments -
that’s how old it is. We should do our best even to steer clear of porn …
that’s how new it is.
… Rather ironic,maybe even peculiar, in that Catholics are usually accused by non-Catholics of not knowing their bible.
Maybe it’s an indicator that some memebers would benefit much more from participating in the sacred scripture forums than they would from social justice and/or moral theology forums .
We get that you understand that things are forbidden.
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The verse you use takes us from the merely negative precept of the law to the positive. All scripture is rooted in, and fuifilled by, Jesus himself, the law of love. This is a very challenging verse. It challenges the Pahrisee in all of us to grow from rigidity of mere observance, to the law of love himself, rooted in the law (not one stroke of the law will disappear), but the law fulfilled. Notice that Jesus expands the truth of the verse from it’s righteous condemnation of the specific act of adultery to a searching of your heart and will,to where the seed of sin exists. Did you read the whole chapter? It would seem to conflict with your viewpoint.
Here are a couple of other scripture verses that are challenging.
Matthew 9
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “
Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “
Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Luke 15:
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the **Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ** 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Compare and contrast Jesus’ attitudes toward sinful human beings with our own.
Does Jesus attitude, presence with, and interaction with (speaking with, eating with, touching,healing), sinners, imply His acceptance of their sin?
Does His interaction with sinners do away with The Law?
Are we called to follow Christ and the one true church, or to live our own private Gospel based on superficial and rigid readings of scripture?
As for me,I do not want to sit on the sidelines muttering about people’s sin, I want to do the will of Jesus Christ to the best of my ability. That means living fully with other sinners, in a sinful world, while not being conformed to it.
