What does it mean to look on a woman to lust (Matthew 5:28)?

In Jesus’ longest recorded teaching, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7), the Lord talks about the dangers of adultery. Rather than limiting the sin to a physical act of unfaithfulness, He expands its meaning to include a person’s inner desires and intentions. Jesus explains, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). To look “on a woman to lust after her” (KJV) means to desire her sexually. The lustful man is harboring sinful thoughts that violate God’s righteous standard of purity.

Jesus began His teaching on adultery by quoting the familiar commandment: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’” (Matthew 5:27). Jesus was quoting the seventh of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses (Exodus 20:14). What He said next challenged those who believed they had obeyed simply by avoiding the physical act.

The word translated “lustfully” in the NIV is the Greek word epithymēsai, a form of a verb that means “to long for” or “to focus on something with intense desire.” Paul used another form of the same word in a more general context: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Galatians 5:17, emphasis added).

The Greek word for “desire” can at times describe a holy or righteous longing (e.g., Matthew 13:17; Luke 22:15), but in Matthew 5:28 Jesus clearly uses it to describe an unrighteous sexual desire. His point is that such a longing, even if never acted upon physically, is a violation of God’s standard of purity. To look on a woman to lust after her is therefore condemned as sin.

Scripture records instances when lust led to devastating consequences. One well-known example is David’s sin with Bathsheba. When David saw her bathing, he lusted after her, sent for her, and had sexual relations with her (2 Samuel 11:2–4). At the time, both were married—David to his wives and Bathsheba to Uriah. To cover up his sin, David arranged for Uriah to die in battle. Tragically, this entire sequence began with David’s looking at Bathsheba to lust after her.

There are other examples, too. Amnon lusted after his sister Tamar and was tragically successful in his evil effort to have his way with her (2 Samuel 13:1–14). Samson “saw a young Philistine woman” and demanded her as a wife, “for,” he said, “she is pleasing to my eyes” (Judges 14:1, 3).

After Jesus forbade looking at a woman lustfully in Matthew 5:28, He offered an exaggerated remedy for the lust of the flesh: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). With this statement, Jesus stressed the seriousness of sin and the need for taking action against lust. Half-hearted efforts will fail to overcome it.

Ultimately, sexual lust is offensive to God because it dishonors a person made in His image (cf. Genesis 1:26–27). It reduces people to objects, existing solely for the physical gratification of the one who looks. Such lust lies outside of God’s design for the covenant of marriage, where physical intimacy is meant to be holy and honoring to both individuals involved (Genesis 2:24–25).

When a Christian is tempted to look at someone with lust, he would be wise to follow Job’s example: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1).