Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 5:27

"Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery:" — Matthew 5:27 (ASV)

28

You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say to you, that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

In this case our King again sets aside human interpretations of God's commands, and makes the law to be seen in its vast spiritual breadth. While tradition had confined the prohibition to an overt act of unchastity, the King shows that it forbade the unclean desires of the heart. Here the divine law is shown to refer, not only to the act of adultery, but even to the desire, imagination, or passion that would suggest such an infamy. What a King is ours, who stretches his scepter over the realm of our inward lusts! How sovereignly he puts it: But I say to you!

Who but a divine being has authority to speak in this fashion? His word is law. So it ought to be, since he touches vice at the source and forbids uncleanness in the heart. If sin were not allowed in the mind, it would never be made manifest in the body; this, therefore, is a very effective way of dealing with the evil. But how searching? how condemning! Irregular looks, unchaste desires, and strong passions are of the very essence of adultery; and who can claim a lifelong freedom from them? Yet these are the things that defile a man. Lord, purge them out of my nature and make me pure within!