Jesus’ Use of Hyperbole
“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:29
Jesus spoke many times in parables, and He also spoke in hyperbole, that is, He exaggerated for effect. Did He really mean for someone to pluck out their right eye if they could not control their lustful thoughts after seeing an attractive woman? Jesus implied that the man who imagined having sexual relations with a woman, other than his wife, was the same as committing adultery with her. We know that God included adultery in His Ten Commandments as one of the sins to be avoided at all costs. Jesus was emphasizing the importance of avoiding adultery, whether actual or imaginary, by a rather drastic measure. Is giving up an eye worth indulging in sexual sin and then receiving eternal punishment? Besides, even if a man couldn’t control himself and thus plucked out both eyes, it wouldn’t stop his mind from lustful thoughts. It is in the thought life that sin originates. Likewise, Jesus used hyperbole to emphasize the need to refrain from stealing, the eighth commandment. He said to cut off one’s right hand if one could not control it, or as folks like to say, if one has “sticky fingers”. Again, is giving up one’s hand worth anything that the hand could steal? I think not. The physical acts of adultery, theft, and other sins are bad enough, but the ungodly, lustful desires always precede the physical acts.
In Luke 14:26, Jesus said that in order to be His disciples that we had to hate our parents, siblings, spouses, and children. We know that Jesus would never desire for us to hate anyone. He even said that we were to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), and that if we are angry with our brother without a just cause, we would be in danger of judgment (Matthew 5:22). The fifth commandment states that we are to honor our mother and father (Exodus 20:12). Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:28 that men are to love their wives as their own bodies. Proverbs 17:17 tells us that a friend loves all the time. John 13:35 makes clear that we must love one another in order to be Jesus’ disciples. I think that is sufficient to show that love is the overriding factor when it comes to honoring Christ. So what did He mean by saying that we must hate our families in order to be His disciples? He used this expression to show us that our love for Him must make our love for our families and others seem like hate. And that is a pure and genuine love.
In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus if seven times was enough to forgive someone who had sinned against him. Jesus said that not seven, but seventy times seven should Peter forgive. This wasn’t exactly hyperbole, but more of a reverse hyperbole because Jesus didn’t mean after 490 times of forgiving someone, the offended could stop forgiving. Jesus rather meant that there is no limit to forgiveness. How many times has God forgiven us? I can say without a doubt, speaking for myself, it is far more than 490 times. John wrote in I John 1:9 that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from our sins. As long as we are repenting of our daily sins, God is forgiving us. It must keep God pretty busy during His day, but since He never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4), He will always keep His promises, day or night.
If we think it unusual for Jesus to use hyperbole to make His point, we do it all the time. For example, “I have been to that restaurant a million times”; “I am bored to death”; “I am so hungry that I could eat a horse”. I doubt that. There is one other question that folks have when reading God’s word, particularly on a superficial level and particularly the King James Version. Words used sometimes don’t mean what they mean today. For instance, when Jesus said to “suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me” (Matthew 19:14), He most certainly did not mean for them to suffer. The Greek word for “suffer” is “aphiemi” which means to “let or allow”. When I took accounting classes in college, one of my professors said to always ask, “does it make sense?” Thus when scripture is read, we must always refer back to other passages when we find one that doesn’t seem to make sense. I also find a helpful tool is to analyze what the passage is not saying in order to narrow down the possible meaning. The above love/hate discussion is a good example of using scripture as its own commentary. The Bible never contradicts itself regardless of what some folks think. Any verses that seem to contradict can always be solved by applying context, the era when it was written, and the different contributions by various writers. Four people can witness an accident and have four different accounts of what occurred.
If one allows the Holy Spirit to intercede as one studies the word, and if one takes the time to actually study and not just skim over a passage, then God’s word will be revealed to the one who is diligent and hungry to know God. As has been said many times, “anything worth doing is worth doing well”, and this includes the study of God’s word, known as God’s mind as revealed to men and women.