Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 5:27-28

"Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." — Matthew 5:27-28 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord, having explained how much is contained in the first commandment, namely, Thou shalt not kill, proceeds in regular order to the second.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: Thou shalt not commit adultery; that is, you shall go nowhere but to your lawful wife. If you demand this of your wife, you ought to do the same, for the husband ought to lead the wife in virtue. It is a shame for a husband to say that this is impossible. Why not the husband as well as the wife?

And let not an unmarried man suppose that he does not break this commandment by fornication. You know the price with which you have been bought; you know what you eat and what you drink.ⁱ Therefore, keep yourself from fornication. Since all such acts of lust pollute and destroy God's image (which you are), the Lord, who knows what is good for you, gives you this precept so that you do not pull down His temple, which you have begun to be.²

He then goes on to correct the error of the Pharisees, declaring, Whoso looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery already with her in his heart. For the commandment of the Law, Thou shalt not lust after thy neighbour's wife (Exodus 20:17), the Jews understood as referring to taking her away, not to committing adultery with her.³

St. Jerome: Between παθος and προπαθεια—that is, between actual passion and the first spontaneous movement of the mind—there is this difference: passion is immediately a sin, while the spontaneous movement of the mind, though it partakes of the evil of sin, is not yet considered a committed offense.ⁱ

When a person looks upon a woman and his mind is struck by it, that is propassion. If he yields to this, he passes from propassion to passion, and then it is no longer the will to sin that is lacking, but only the opportunity. Therefore, Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her—that is, one who looks at her in order to lust and seeks to obtain her—is rightly said to have committed adultery with her in his heart.

St. Augustine of Hippo: There are three things that make up a sin. First is suggestion, which comes either through the memory or the present senses. If the thought of the pleasure of indulgence follows, that is an unlawful thought and must be restrained. If you then consent, the sin is complete.

Before this consent, the pleasure is either nonexistent or very slight, and it is the act of consenting that makes it a sin. But if consent proceeds to an outward act, then desire seems to be satiated and quenched. When the suggestion is repeated, the contemplated pleasure is greater; what was small before a habit was formed is now more difficult to overcome.⁴

St. Gregory the Great: But whoever casts his eyes about without caution will often be captured by the pleasure of sin and, ensnared by desires, begin to wish for what he otherwise would not.

The strength of the flesh to draw us downward is great, and the charm of beauty, once admitted to the heart through the eye, is scarcely banished by effort. We must therefore be careful from the beginning; we ought not to look at what it is unlawful to desire. So that the heart may be kept pure in thought, the eyes, which are like watchmen that hurry us to sin, should be turned away from lustful looks.⁵

St. John Chrysostom: If you permit yourself to gaze often on beautiful faces, you will surely be captured, even if you are able to command your mind two or three times. For you are not exalted above nature and human weakness.

The woman who dresses and adorns herself to attract men's eyes will also be punished hereafter, even if her efforts fail. This is because she mixed the poison and offered the cup, even though no one was found who would drink from it. For what the Lord seems to speak only to the man applies equally to the woman, since when He speaks to the head, the warning is meant for the whole body.

1. Hom. xvii
2. Serm. ix, 3 and 10
3. cont. Faust. 19, 23
4. Serm. in Mont., i, 12
5. Mor., xxi, 2