Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, Chapter 5 · Verse 27
Verse 27.
Yée hauehave heard that it hath beene said of olde time: Thou shalt not commit Adulterie.
Here our Sauiour Christ goeth about to restore the seauenth commandement, touching Adulterie, to his true sense and meaning, and so to his proper and right vse, by purging it from the false and erroneous interpretation of the Iewes; for which ende, he first laies down the false interpretation of the Scribes and Pharises, verse 27. and then adioyneth the true sense thereof, verse 28. especially; yet so, as he continueth the same in the verses following.
For the first; before the interpretation of the Iewes Teachers, hee prefixeth this Preface: Yee hauehave heard that it hath bin said of olde time; or, of the ancient Teachers, the meaning and vse whereof, wee hauehave before shewed, verse 21. Then after follow the wordes of the seauenth commandement, Thou shalt not commit Adulterie; which are the proper words of the H. Ghost; yet here must not they be takē in that sense, which the Scribes and Pharises gaue vntounto them: for the better conceiuing whereof, this one thing especially must be opened; namely, what is Adulterie here forbidden. Adulterie properly, is the breach of wedlockeAdulterie. by such parties, some one whereof, at the least, is either maried, or espoused: I call it the breach of wedlocke, to note the propertie of this sinne, which is not in any other sinne, vnlesse it be of this kinde, though the sinne bee farre more grieuous. Idolatrie is a more hainous sinn… then Adulterie, beeing a breach both of the first and second commaundement, of the first Table; and yet it comes short of Adulterie, in this qualitie of breaking wedlocke: for wedlocke may bee kept of those which are Idolaters. Secondly, I say, betweene any parties, if one bee maried; meaning the husband as well as the wife, to confute the opinion of some Iewes, and by some lawes also maintained, that the man hath a priuiledge aboue the woman, so as hee breaketh not wedlocke, when he goeth in to another woman, besides his wife; which is false: for though he hauehave a prerogatiue ouer his wife, in beeing her head; yet hee hath no priuiledge to free him from matrimoniall fidelitie, but is as much bound to keepe himselfe vntounto his wife, as she is to keepe her selfe to him. The preheminence of superioritie cannot free the husband frō the bond of mariage, the husband is bound to the wife, as much as the wife is to the husband; and shee hath power ouer his bodie, as much as he hath ouer hers, 1. Cor. 7. 4. Thirdly, I say, or espoused, because Adulterie is not onelyonly committed by such parties, whereof one or both, be fully maried; but also by them, whereof one is single, and the other contracted onelyonly; and therefore is the same aDeut. 22. 22, 23, 24.punishment alotted to both: for contract in right is mariage. Thus wee see the sinne here directly forbidden, according to the letter of the Law. Now, though the Lord vnderunder this one includes all the sinnes of the same kind, as we shall anone perceiue; yet the Pharises tooke this litterall signification, for the whole meaning, and taught that the sinne here forbidden, was bodily adulterie onelyonly; and so made the adulterie of the heart to be no adulterie; which exposition Christ here confutes.
First, here obserue the fraud and cunning of these Pharises; theyThe vse. Fraud in expounding Scripture. would seeme faithfull interpreters of the Law, in that they keep themselues so close to the words, that they will not passe one iot beyond the litterall sense: but yet in the meane time they omit the full meaning and true vse of this Law. The like hath beene the practise of heretiks in all ages; as the Arrians, who denied that Christ was God, stucke fast to these words of Scripture, bIoh. 14. 28.the father is greater then I, and to such like. And the Papists to vphold their breaden God, by transubstantiation, will needes keepe tke litterall sense of these words of Christ, This is my bodie, whereby they ouerturne the nature of that sacrament. And theRhem. Mat. 26. sect. … ▪ 9. like might be shewed by sundrie examples, in all ages; whereby we are taught, not to stand vponupon the proprietie of the words of Scripture onelyonly, but to labour to hauehave the true spirituall sense ioyned with them.
Secondly, here obserue how grieuous a sinne Adulterie is, in thatAdulterie a grieuous sin. Christ by name doth expresly forbid it, among all the sinnes of this kind; yea, the very Pharises doe eueryevery where condemne it: for though they would easily dispense with cMath. 15. 4, 5, 6.disobedience to Parents; yet the woman taken in Adulterie must be put to death, Iohn 8. 4, 5. The greatnes of this sinne might be shewed by many arguments; for if he be d1. Tim. 5. 8.worse thou an infidel, that careth not for his familie, then farre worse is the Adulterer, for he destroyeth his familie. Salomon ePro. 7. 30. 32.(we know) maketh Adulterie worse then theft, and yet theft is a notorious sinne, greatly hated, and seuerely punished of all nations. Againe, Adulterie destroyeth the Seminarie of the Church, which is fMat. 2. 15.a godly seed in the familie, and it breaketh the couenant betweene the parties and God, it robs another of the pretious ornament of chastitie, which, is a gift of the holy Ghost, it dishonoureth their bodies, and maketh them the temples of the diuell; and the Adulterer maketh his familie a Stewes, for as Dauid dealt with Vrias, so his owne sonne Absalon dealt with him: and lastly, it bringeth Gods vengeance vponupon the posteritie: and therefore Iob calleth it gIob. 31. 12.a fir… which shall deuoure vntounto destruction: yea, the greatnesse of Gods punishment vponupon Adulterers, partly in this life, and principally after death, may plainely shew the greatnesse of this sinne; for this and other sinnes, God in his wrath ouerthrewe hDeut. …9. 23.Admah and Zebomi, Sodome and Gomorrah, with five and brimston… from heauen; and the place where they stood, it made a poole of poysoning water vntounto this day. And although the Lord doe not shew such extraordinary reuenge against sinne, yet his wrath is a consuming fire against whole families, townes, and kingdomes, for this sinne; though Dauid repented of his Adulterie, yet for that very sinne, the sword i…. Sam. 12. 10.must not depart from his house for euer. And for the life to come, kHeb. 13. 4.Adulterers, and wh…rem…ngers, God will Iudge. Againe, l1. Cor. 6. 9.neither fornicators, nor adulterers, &c. shall inherit the kingdome of God: they may indeed repent, and so bee saued, but then they cease to be adulterers.
Now if Adulterie be so grieuous a sinne, worser then theft, &c. then we must wish that in all places, it were as seuerely punished, as theft is; so would families be reformed, and become good Seminaries, both for Church, and common wealth. Secondly, the grieuousnesse of Gods wrath against this sinne, must admonish eueryevery one to beware thereof, for it brings the besome of destruction, to sweepe all away, both in Church and common wealth.