Matthew 5:27-28

Matthew 5:27-28

[27] Ye have heard  that  not  commit adultery:  [28] But  say  That  whosoever  looketh  on a woman  to  lust after  her  hath committed adultery  with her  already  in  his  heart. 

What does Matthew 5:27-28 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus proceeded to clarify God"s intended meaning in the seventh commandment ( Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). The rabbis in Jesus" day tended to look at adultery as wrong because it involved stealing another man"s wife. They viewed it as an external act. [1] Jesus, on the other hand, saw it as wrong because it made the lustful individual impure morally, an internal condition. The Greek word gyn can mean either wife or woman. Certainly the spirit of the command would prohibit lusting after any woman, not just a married woman. Fantasized immorality is just as sinful to God as physical immorality (cf. Exodus 20:17). The fact that fornication that takes place in the brain has fewer bad consequences than fornication that takes place on a bed does not mitigate this truth.