but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Verse 28. No specific Barnes text on this verse. (v) "looketh on a woman"
The Pharisees confined this commandment to the outward act, but Christ exposes the root: whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart. The mind's corruption defiles the soul as surely as any bodily transgression.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:27-32
Christ condemns the lust of the flesh itself, not merely the outward deed. The eyes are the door through which temptation enters the mind, so He uses them to strike at the root: any polluted thought, not only deliberate purpose, renders a man an adulterer before God. The Papists' claim that lust is not sin until the heart fully consents is too gross and stupid to merit refutation.
AI summary