Sermon on the Mount
"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:29-30
The infection was serious. Due to extreme circumstances, the gangrene had been allowed to infect the patient’s toes, feet, ankles, and calves. The only realistic option for treatment was amputation at the knees. One key aspect of amputation is that all of the infected, dead, or problem tissue has to be removed. The surgeon has to remove the source of the problem or it will persist.
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He spoke of amputating appendages and plucking out eyes if they are the source of sin. They are not the source. The blind or half-blind man can still sin with the mind’s eye. The maimed man can still sin without the use of his hands. The source of sin is found rooted deep inside each person. Jesus identifies the source of sin in Matthew 15:19, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” The source of sin is not the input of your senses, but rather it is what is already inside of you, and you can’t cut it out.
Thankfully, there is someone who can. Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord GOD said, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) You cannot cut out the source of sin in your life, but your God can cut it out and replace it with a heart that serves Him.
O God, Create in me a clean heart, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Amen