Opinion

Bizarre images in the Bible

By Contributed

Jan 30, 2026

Sometimes when I was younger, I used to think how bizarre or unusual some of the stories Jesus told were.

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Like plucking your eye out or cutting your hand off: Matthew 5:29-30, New International Version: “29 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. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Then someone explained it to me: If I’m going on a diet, then I would need to not shop for chocolate and chips and not have them in my pantry — cut off the source.

If gambling was my vice, not to have an internet account; if pornography, throw out the DVDs or block content on phone; or don’t have alcohol around, if that was my vice.

It’s the temptation factor he is speaking about, and actions that encourage it.

It could also be cutting off the person who helps you sin.

I knew someone years ago that would gossip and be negative every time I was with her and it draws you in. I had to end that friendship so I wouldn’t keep joining in. Yes, I lost a friend but hopefully stopped the behaviour (and, so to speak, going to hell).

So yes, it was a dramatic way in which Jesus spoke regarding cutting your hand off, but it was an effective way to get the point across.

So much that I won’t buy those chocolate biscuits when I go shopping tonight.

— Liz Spicer

Chaplain