Matthew 5:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

NIV: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

NASB: but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

CSB: But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

NLT: But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

KJV: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

NKJV: But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus has quoted the seventh of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14), as taught to His listeners by the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:27). This prohibits adultery. Now He begins to show that merely avoiding physical acts isn't good enough to satisfy the intent behind God's command. God wants His people to be pure in heart, as well as in their actions. This is part of a consistent pattern of Jesus' teaching, which is that attitudes and thoughts can be just as much sins as actions and speech.

The connection Christ makes here is striking and would have been shocking to His original listeners. His claim is that lustful intent—all by itself—is a sin, an act of adultery in the heart. Legalists of that era might have claimed that lust and fantasy were fine, if it didn't lead to actual sex. But Jesus describes lustful intent as being every bit as much a sin as adulterous action.

The stakes of this comment are easy to miss, from a modern perspective. Adultery was an especially serious crime in that culture, punishable by death (Leviticus 20:10). Jesus is suggesting that a person's thoughts can be sinful on the same level as a capital offense. Some of Jesus' hearers may have received this statement in despair. How many can honestly claim to be entirely free of both anger (Matthew 5:21–22) and inappropriate desire? Jesus continues to raise the standards, making it sound harder and harder to get into the kingdom of heaven. Who could be so righteous?

In part, Jesus is pushing that very point: that nobody is righteous enough. All are sinful. At the same time, He is showing the expectation Christians ought to have for their inner, private lives. Christ is leaving no room for legalism or technicalities—He is defining sin as something which begins and continues in the heart.

Despite common misunderstanding, Jesus is not saying that all attraction is immediately sinful. The phrase used in Greek here is pros to epithymēsai autēn. This strongly implies something deliberate: an intentional, considered choice. "Noticing" that someone is attractive is not a sin; looking with sexual intent, fantasizing, or leering—what in English might be called "ogling"—certainly is. This phrase implies someone engaging their imagination in lust.

Some scholars suggest this phrase can also imply an additional possibility: looking at a woman in order to get her to lust. This would infer seduction: looking—or behaving—towards that person in a way that tempts them to inappropriate actions or thoughts. Whether that is the literal intent of Jesus' words here, the concept fits in the scheme of His overall point. The desire for adultery, even if it fails to succeed, is just as much a sin as accomplishing it. In either case, it's still about what is going on in the person's heart and not just the action.

Modern readers should also note that while Jesus phrases this—and other statements—using references to men and women, the spiritual principles apply to both sexes.

Matthew 5:27–30 continues to expand on a theme Jesus introduced in Matthew 5:20. True ''righteousness'' is not merely about what a person does but includes what they think and feel. This teaching is meant to explain the reality of sin, and to highlight the need for grace and faith, not good works, in salvation. In this passage, Jesus acknowledges that adultery is a sin, but also declares that attitudes of lust are sinful as well. He does not say that lust is exactly, precisely the same thing as adultery. He does, however, teach that lust is absolutely a sin, even if it never results in physical action.

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of Jesus' most challenging teaching. It begins with the unlikely blessings of the Beatitudes. Jesus' disciples must do good works in order to be a powerful influence: as the salt of the earth and light of the world. The superficial righteousness of the Pharisees is not good enough to earn heaven. Sins of the heart, such as angry insults and intentional lust, are worthy of hell just as much as adultery and murder. Easy divorce and deceptive oaths are forbidden. Believers should not seek revenge. Instead, God intends us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. In short, we should strive to be perfect, as God is perfect.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.