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Matthew 6:22-23
Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:19-21 to seek the things of heaven (treasures), with the implication that things sought outside of heavenly things will be destroyed or taken away. Jesus then teaches His disciples in Matthew 6:22-23 (NKJV), “The lamp of the body is the eye.” This is interesting as a “lamp” shines outward from an inner source, but the eye sees the light, or darkness, that is on the outside of the body. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:22b, “If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” To tie these statements together in the teaching of Jesus, as there is some disagreement between the scholars, I believe that the explanation of Matthew 6:23 must be in relation to the facts that Jesus has already stated.
In Matthew 20, Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard and of how those who only worked a short time received the same pay as did those who worked for longer periods of time. When those who worked the longest were paid last, they expected to receive more than they were promised because they had seen the amount being paid to those who had only worked for a short period of time was the same as what they had been promised for working the entire day. When their pay did not increase, they complained that they did not receive more. The landowner explained to them in Matthew 20:14-15 (NKJV), “Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” This same passage is translated in the HCSB, “Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business? Are you jealous because I’m generous?” The ESV and the NIV have similar translations to that of the HCSB. The connection from this passage to the passage of Matthew 6:22-23 is that even though the landowner in Matthew 20 was being generous and doing a good thing to help those in need, some people could only see a “dark light” as their eyes were not focused on heavenly things. They could only see the things that were guiding their lives through their “bad” eyes; jealousy, envy, and selfishness. They were not concerned with the needs of others but only themselves. In expressing the “light” that shines from their inner being now would only be, as Jesus teaches His disciples in Matthew 6:23 (NKJV), “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
This is an example of, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
This is a promise that if our eyes are “good” we will be full of light.
This is a promise that if our eyes are “bad” we will be full of darkness.
What kind of light are you taking into your body that you would then shine as a lame to others? When we put our focus on the things of this world we are taking in “bad” light, which will in turn make the light that we are shining on others “bad.” But if we are putting and keeping our focus on the things of heaven, God’s kingdom, we will in turn be shining as a lamp of the “good” things in which Jesus teaches us about in having a “good” eye. What we take into our hearts, minds, and inner being makes us who we are and determines the things which “shine” out of us to others. I encourage you today to focus on the things of heaven as, “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Dear LORD,
We want our eyes to be “good” and our lives to be a reflection of Jesus. Please help us to put our treasures on the things of heaven that our eyes would shine the “good” that would bring glory to You through our lives as our Savior Jesus teaches us to be – in Christ! In Jesus name I pray, amen.