Matt 5.27-30. It is better to lose one of your eyes than go to hell

Is it hyperbole? Is it really better to go to hell?

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Matthew 5.27-30

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 lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

Hagner, page 121

Jesus again deepens the OT commandment by interpreting it to include what occurs “in the heart,” prior to and as the foundation of the external act. Thus, again, he shifts the attention from the external act to the inner thought. There, in the inner person, lie the real problem and the initial guilt. To lust after someone sexually is to nurture a burning desire for that person in one’s heart. Such lust has a consuming effect. Where lust exists, the discipleship of the kingdom requires dramatic and determined action to rid oneself of the cause. Without pressing the literal meaning of the words in vv 29-30, we may conclude that it is better to suffer minor losses willingly than to suffer the ultimate loss unwillingly. The discipleship of the kingdom is a serious matter that requires true, i.e., unreserved, absolute, commitment. Disciples are called to a standard of conduct that includes even the realm of their thinking.

Again Hagner is doing a psychological analysis rather than asking why Jesus would be born as a human being. Did Jesus really need to go through all that just to tell us to not be lustful? I suspect there is something more significant to Jesus' teaching than the obvious explanation.