FRIDAY, TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Kgs 19: 9, 11-16; Ps 27: 7-9, 13-14; Mt 5: 27-32
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BOLDLY RESIST TEMPTATION
Jesus continues with the sermon on the mount, with the sixth commandment. You shall not commit adultery. Jesus expands the commandment from being something we observe outwardly to something which pertains to the heart. He says it is not enough to just keep the commandment about adultery. We should avoid sin even in our heart against a woman (or a man).
There is a deep connection to some Old Testament passages – I will put my law in their minds and I will write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33) and I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you (Eze 36:26). Jesus is making sure we understand that God is concerned not just with what we do outwardly, but with the cleanness of our heart.
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Rom 6:14). Jesus is giving us the grace to be holy and he says that sin shall no longer be your master. He has given us a new heart and he has given us his spirit to guide us.
How then are we to follow Jesus? Boldly! As we confront sin in our own lives, let us be bold in plucking it out. As soon as we see sin germinating or sprouting in our life, let us pluck it out and throw it away. It is going to be much more painful and much more difficult when sin has become a deep-rooted tree in our life. So let us not delay in uprooting sin and the roots of all sin out of our life.
To follow Jesus means to reject sin, even in the smallest ways. We are given a new heart and a new spirit for this exact reason. When the world and media today feeds us that lust and adultery are normal and happening everywhere, let us boldly resist temptation, reject that lie and let us rely on the grace that Christ gives us to be pure in this area.
Response: It is your face, O Lord, that I seek.
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