The Master dealt with the beginnings of evil. He did not wait until the
sin had been completed or the wrong accomplished. He cut out the bad
purpose at its birth before it had time to develop. He says:

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. And if
thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, 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 (Matt. 3: 29).

This may seem like a harsh doctrine and yet it is merely an application
to morals of a salutary principle that all understand when applied by
the surgeon. A finger is often removed in order to save the hand; a hand
is removed to save the arm; and an arm is removed to save the body. An
eye, too, is often removed to save the sight of the remaining eye. Is
eye or arm or body more important than the soul?

Christ understood relative values in the spiritual world. He used the
material things in life to illustrate values in the realm of the ideal;
He used the things that are seen to make understandable the eternal
things that the senses cannot comprehend.

And what called forth this powerful illustration--the sacrificing of
the right eye and the right hand to save the body? He was laying the
foundation for a great moral reform, namely, the single standard of
morality. He was attacking a great sin and, as usual, He laid the axe at
the root of the tree. He was dealing with adultery and He traced the sin
to its source. He would purge the heart of the unclean thought; He would
put a ban on the desire before it found vent in accomplishment. He