Jesus assumes his original audience will have good knowledge of "the law." So he appeals to that knowledge saying in essence- you have heard about the seventh command, that you are not to commit adultery, but I call you to more. What is that he calls his followers too? He calls them not even to go there mentally or in their imagination. Jesus knows that adultery starts in the heart long before it is acted upon. And so he calls us to quell things as early as they invade the heart. How do we do that? Well apparently; Jesus at this point wants us to take fairly radical, evasive action. In doing so he calls for the gouging of ones eye and the cutting off of ones hand- of course I am pretty sure this is not meant to be taken literally. But it is a vivid word picture that clearly calls people to take lust seriously & to move intentionally away from temptation. Paul elsewhere says; flee from sexual immorality and Jesus is saying exactly that. Get serious about resistance- don't test your limits and think to yourself; "how much can I get away with." Instead stay well inside the fence- many people have come unstuck because of the temptation of sexual sin.

Grace and power be to us each one as we seek to stand firm in the face of temptation and sin and live as new creations.
From Marcus