This Sounds Painful
Matthew 18:8-9 NKJV
8 "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
There are things that Jesus has said that have been easily understood. Forgive, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And there are things that have been taken literally. And literally taken the wrong way. Our two verses today fall into that category.
Cutting off your foot or your hand and casting it from you. Plucking out your eye and casting it from you. These verses, taken literally, will cause you some serious trouble. And every now and then, we hear of someone who has done literally as Jesus said to their own hurt. But Jesus was obviously not talking about literally cutting off your body parts or gouging out your eye. Jesus once spoke about taking the plank out of your eye before you try to remove the speck from another's eye. But we are bright enough to ascertainthat Jesus was not speaking of a two-by-four being in your eye. He was speaking figuratively. He was saying that you need to deal with your own big stuff before you critique someone who has a speck in their eye. The speck is small, and the plank is much bigger. Jesus was saying that we need to deal with our own problems first, not worry about another person's problems. And if we can't see our own faults, how are we going to be able to see to help another with their faults?
Back to cutting off your hands and feet and gouging out your eye. The key to understanding this verse is that Jesus said if your hands or feet cause you to sin, if your eye causes you to sin. We are quick enough to realize that the hands, feet, and eyes do not operate independently of the mind. Jesus was speaking of having problems with the flesh. If what you are doing, indicating your hands. If you are walking, indicating your feet. And if what you are looking at, indicating the eye causes you to sin. Then, instead of falling further into sin, this is the time to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
Now, crucifying our flesh is not pleasant. It never feels good, but it keeps us out of sin. Saying no to things that we do, where we go, and what we look at, is the way to cease from sin. Peter would later say in 1 Peter 4:1, "… he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin." This is what Jesus was talking about. Self-mutilation was never the intent behind Jesus words. Saying no to our flesh, though painful, is the way to stop sinning.
Keep your hands and feet and protect your eyes. But say no to the sinful desires that rise up in your flesh and feelings. Painful? Yes. Productive? In heaven's eyes, absolutely.