Matthew 6:22

[SoliDeoGloria]

I have been preparing a sermon on Matthew 6: 19-24 because I was asked to for some broadcast...

One thing that perplexes me, and although this may seem stupid, I am having difficulty comprehending what is meant by Matthew says "The eye is the lamp of the body."
What necessarily does it mean that your eyes are the lamp of your body?

I'd appreciate some insight. I don't have time to get to the seminary today and get a commentary on it, and as to what it means.. is perplexing me. I don't understand the relativity of eyes being the light of the body. Unless it means that which you set your eyes upon will fill your body with that, meaning lust will create darkness and wickedness in you and so forth.

Any thoughts?

 

[rbcbob]

I have been preparing a sermon on Matthew 6: 19-24 because I was asked to for some broadcast...

One thing that perplexes me, and although this may seem stupid, I am having difficulty comprehending what is meant by Matthew says "The eye is the lamp of the body."
What necessarily does it mean that your eyes are the lamp of your body?

I'd appreciate some insight. I don't have time to get to the seminary today and get a commentary on it, and as to what it means.. is perplexing me. I don't understand the relativity of eyes being the light of the body. Unless it means that which you set your eyes upon will fill your body with that, meaning lust will create darkness and wickedness in you and so forth.

Any thoughts?

From Robertson's Word Pictures:


Mat 6:22 - Single (haplous). Used of a marriage contract when the husband is to repay the dowry "pure and simple" (tên phernên haplên), if she is set free; but in case he does not do so promptly, he is to add interest also (Moulton and Milligan's Vocabulary, etc.). There are various other instances of such usage. Here and in Lu 11:34 the eye is called "single" in a moral sense. The word means "without folds" like a piece of cloth unfolded, simplex in Latin. Bruce considers this parable of the eye difficult. "The figure and the ethical meaning seem to be mixed up, moral attributes ascribed to the physical eye which with them still gives light to the body. This confusion may be due to the fact that the eye, besides being the organ of vision, is the seat of expression, revealing inward dispositions." The "evil" eye (ponêros) may be diseased and is used of stinginess in the LXX and so haplous may refer to liberality as Hatch argues (Essays in Biblical Greek, p. 80). The passage may be elliptical with something to be supplied. If our eyes are healthy we see clearly and with a single focus (without astigmatism). If the eyes are diseased (bad, evil), they may even be cross-eyed or ****-eyed. We see double and confuse our vision. We keep one eye on the hoarded treasures of earth and roll the other proudly up to heaven. Seeing double is double-mindedness as is shown in verse 24.

 

[greenbaggins]

This is what I wrote about it in my sermon on the passage:

Jesus tells us that the eye is a lamp of the body. This is a physical illustration of a spiritual reality. The physical illustration is that of a sound, healthy eye compared with a bad, sick eye. If you have a healthy eye, then your whole body knows where to go, and what to do. Just think for a moment about those people who are blind. They can sometimes compensate rather remarkably for their lack of eyesight. However, the fact remains that they will always need help in life getting places. If you have bad eyes, then you will often have trouble doing things, going places, and just plain living.

Okay, that's the physical illustration. What is the spiritual truth that Jesus intends to communicate through this illustration? We must remember the context. Jesus talked about treasure right before. Right after these two verses, Jesus will talk about whether we have God or Mammon as our master. So the spiritual reality behind this physical illustration must be related to the idea of treasure.

The physical illustration is meant to convey this truth: if your eye sees earthly things as treasure, then you have a bad eye; but if your eye sees heavenly things as treasure, then you have a good eye. Jesus is here playing ophthalmologist. Only Jesus has the standard. If you into and ophthalmologist's office, you will see a chart with letters on it that keep on getting smaller and smaller. That chart is designed to test your eyes, to see how well they see. Jesus here is giving us one of those charts. The more you can see heavenly things as treasure, the better your spiritual eyesight is. Those heavenly things are hard to see, aren't they? The letters are small, when it comes to spiritual things. That's because spiritual things are in fact invisible! How good is your spiritual eyesight? Do you look to God for your treasure? Are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ Jesus? Or is Jesus just stupid to you? “Put your trust in things you can see,” you say. Jesus has harsh words about such people: they are blind! He literally says, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” You are not seeing things properly. What you need is to have your vision corrected. The only way you can have that done is to let Jesus Christ do it. He is the best spiritual Ophthalmologist. He will take away the scales from your eyes, so that you can see again what is truly valuable.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

It is a comment about spiritual blindness under the figure of physical blindness. Light is what makes the eye "work". But a blind person cannot "turn on a light" and see; he is in GREAT darkness.

Back then, they didn't have glass in windows, clear substance. Obviously the eye isn't a clear "pane" through which light would enter. So we in our age might have put it, that the eye is the "window" of the body, through which light enters.

Instead, the figure is put for a lamp. The lamp brings light into the body. Then if your eye is working right, "your whole body will be full of light." But without the light in the eye, the darkness is permanent. The eye must be "whole" or"single".

 

[SoliDeoGloria]

This is what I wrote about it in my sermon on the passage:

Jesus tells us that the eye is a lamp of the body. This is a physical illustration of a spiritual reality. The physical illustration is that of a sound, healthy eye compared with a bad, sick eye. If you have a healthy eye, then your whole body knows where to go, and what to do. Just think for a moment about those people who are blind. They can sometimes compensate rather remarkably for their lack of eyesight. However, the fact remains that they will always need help in life getting places. If you have bad eyes, then you will often have trouble doing things, going places, and just plain living.

Okay, that's the physical illustration. What is the spiritual truth that Jesus intends to communicate through this illustration? We must remember the context. Jesus talked about treasure right before. Right after these two verses, Jesus will talk about whether we have God or Mammon as our master. So the spiritual reality behind this physical illustration must be related to the idea of treasure.

The physical illustration is meant to convey this truth: if your eye sees earthly things as treasure, then you have a bad eye; but if your eye sees heavenly things as treasure, then you have a good eye. Jesus is here playing ophthalmologist. Only Jesus has the standard. If you into and ophthalmologist's office, you will see a chart with letters on it that keep on getting smaller and smaller. That chart is designed to test your eyes, to see how well they see. Jesus here is giving us one of those charts. The more you can see heavenly things as treasure, the better your spiritual eyesight is. Those heavenly things are hard to see, aren't they? The letters are small, when it comes to spiritual things. That's because spiritual things are in fact invisible! How good is your spiritual eyesight? Do you look to God for your treasure? Are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ Jesus? Or is Jesus just stupid to you? “Put your trust in things you can see,” you say. Jesus has harsh words about such people: they are blind! He literally says, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” You are not seeing things properly. What you need is to have your vision corrected. The only way you can have that done is to let Jesus Christ do it. He is the best spiritual Ophthalmologist. He will take away the scales from your eyes, so that you can see again what is truly valuable.

Thank you very much for this excellent commentary.