Eye Disease

Dear class,

Today's readings are taken from Genesis 25; Matthew 6 and Psalm 127.

In Matthew 6, Jesus continues His discourse in the oft touted "Sermon on the Mount".

We read of an interesting passage in Mat 6:22,23 that is seemingly out of the blue.

Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

To help us understand better, let's look at some terms:
The "light" here can be understood as "illuminator". The ASV, NKJV and ESV renders it as "lamp". Thus it is the eye that brightens the body.
"Single" can be understood as clear. NKJV renders it as "good" while the ESV, "healthy". A good, healthy, undiseased eye that is able to render clear vision.
"evil" is the opposite of "single". The NKJV and ESV renders it as "bad".

As we examine the context of the Sermon on the Mount, we realise that Jesus started off talking about the "beattitudes" and rounding off that section with the well known "salt of the earth, light of the world" verses (Mat 5:13-16).
Christians are to be different! They are to shine as beacons in this dark and perverse world. To give hope and direction, through Christ, to the lost.
Jesus went on to warn against hypocrisy and pitfalls that Christian's might succumb to and just before the verse in question, a exhortation to focus on heavenly goals. Later in chpt 7, we would read of the danger of having a beam laden eye (Mat 7:1-5).

All these point to the fact that the Christian is supposed to shine as lights. Yet how is this light to truly illuminate depends on how well we reflect God's glory which is determined by how clearly we "see" or our mental disposition. Are we still carnal in our thoughts, rendering good for good, evil for evil? Do we go about "showing off" our spirituality? Where do we set our sights upon in this world? If we have diseased eyes, a clouded mind, we won't be effective reflectors but on the contrary, render only darkness. Why do we "see" darkness? It's not because of "light" but rather the absence of it. Instead of being lights, we would become as what Jesus said "the blind leading the blind" (Mat 15:14).

Let us be forewarned - eye disease is a real threat to us all. We need to take care of our "eyes" by constantly applying the eye salve of the Word. We need to exercise our eyes by doing good things as in the light and not the dark. We need to set our sight on the things up high and not develop tunnel vision and myopia, focussing only on earthly things. Only then can we be effective lights for Christ, to bring home the lost and yea indeed, our very own souls.

in Him
Paul

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But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ~ Hebrews 3:13

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ~ 2 Corinthians 7:1