Bible Study Moment

Matthew 6:29-30 includes statements that if your eye or hand causes you to fall into sin, to pluck out your eye or cut off your hand. Some have used these verses to justify their means of punishment to wrongdoers in their communities.
I believe those people need to look at more than just the two verses. Jesus says this in the midst of talking about lust and sustained anger. Within that context it seems to me that Jesus is addressing many of the rationalizations that people give to try to blame someone or something else for their own sin.

Then in Mark 7:1-23 Jesus makes it clear that the root causes of sin come from inside the person, not outside.

Mark Phillips