Does Jesus exaggerate? Does he stretch the truth?
No, he doesn’t mislead us: he says what he means and means what he says. But the way Jesus does this includes overstatement. Our challenge, then, is to discern when his words are to be taken literally and when not. We also need to guard against rationalizing our disobedience by saying, “Well, Jesus didn’t really mean for us to take him literally!” So how do we sort this out? Consider a couple examples:
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell (Matt 5:29-30).
How do we know if Jesus intends these commands to be taken literally? By asking if strict obedience (i.e., self- mutilation) would actually solve the sin problem. If you pluck out one eye (or even both), does it prevent lust? No. If you cut off a hand, does it prevent you from doing sinful acts? No. So Jesus must be making some other kind of point—a figurative one. Let the vivid, disturbing word-pictures arouse you to take any steps necessary to eliminate whatever is causing you to sin or keeping you from God.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26).
How do we know if Jesus wants us to take his words literally? By asking if obeying this order would force us to disobey other commands. A basic rule of responsible Bible reading is to let Scripture interpret Scripture. So if you find one text running in the “opposite direction” of other, rather than assuming you’ve found a contradiction or assuming you’re being taught to disobey one passage in order to obey another, consider: is Jesus using dramatic overstatement to capture our attention? Jesus' point here is, “… even natural affection for our loved ones dare not interfere or take precedence over loyalty to him” (Robert Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings, p. 8).
So, do we take the Bible literally? Yes, by humbly following Jesus’ intended message, whether he conveys it by literal or figurative means.
