nothing happened (matt 5:27-28)

Matthew 5:27-28

You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus' previous example of how surface-level righteousness is not enough was murder, which is at least still recognised as wrong in our society, where as his second example of adultery may not be. Currently, people may not be bothered to be viewed as an "adulterer" and, although it does probably still carry some degree of shame for most people today, the audience Jesus was speaking to would be shocked at the accusation of adultery. They were no doubt proud that they had not broken the law because they had not committed adultery but Jesus again goes deeper and proves us all guilty of the same root sin by looking at others lustfully.

No doubt, we could excuse our "looking with lustful intent" and even harbour some sort of pride that no action has been taken and no "cheating" has taken place, but Jesus blows that idea out of the water. We are all guilty. At what point did David sin with Bathsheba? Was it only when they went to bed, or had it started long before that when a random glance at a roof turned into an inquiry and a meeting?

We may keep the letter of the law externally but we break it internally. We might make a distinction between the two but God doesn't.