“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”
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A lamp set on a stand shines its light brightly throughout the house so that everyone who comes in can see clearly.
That’s the image that leads off this passage. The wording is almost an exact repeat of Luke 8:16, which is almost an exact repeat of Matthew 5: 15. This homey illustration was obviously one that Jesus used on several occasions, applying it in different ways, different times. In our present passage it’s not about good deeds shining out bright and clear (as in Matthew 5), nor about the secrets of the Kingdom being shared with vivid brilliance (as in Luke . Rather, it’s about the brightness (or lack thereof) of light which we allow to shine into our own lives.
Jesus says our eye is like a bright lamp illuminating every aspect of our life. I think he’s speaking both literally and figuratively. Literally, what we set our eyes upon shines its influence into our very being. Figuratively, what we pay attention to with our mind and imagination and emotions shapes us. Both literally and figuratively, the “eye”can bring about either good or evil, light or darkness.
Jesus describes a situation where the eye is “good” – the word literally means healthy or whole or sound or single. If what we let in is healthy, whole, and sound then that goodness will fill up our being. Or, taking the other nuance, if we single-mindedly focus on what is good, that’s what will shape us. I’m reminded of Paul’s exhortation: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). He’s captured Jesus’ teaching – let the light within you be characterized by goodness.
On the other hand, if your eye is “bad,” it’s a different story. The image is of an eye that is diseased or blind. The “light” is therefore distorted, or indeed “dark.” Darkness spreads through the whole of one’s being. Literally, what the eye sees has reverberating impact:lustful images breed lust; unrelenting focus on consumer advertising breeds greed, covetousness, and discontent; endless “evil eye” engagement with those who have hurt and wounded us breeds anger, bitterness, and lack of forgiveness. But figuratively, there is also the interior theatre screen of the imagination where those same images are replayed, amplified, augmented, and intensified. Such “light,” entering through the diseased eye, is actually darkness.
The children’s song says, “Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see.” Indeed. Embrace the good and put aside the bad. Let the light shine. May “your whole body be full of light, and no part of it dark.” May it be to the glory of Jesus, the nurturing of interior health, the shaping of life after his own, and the goodness of his ongoing work within us.
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Lord Jesus, I submit my eyes to your Lordship. Guard my physical eyes, strengthening them to turn away from all that will distort and darken. Guard the eyes of my imagination, training my attention on you and all that reflects your goodness. May your light be within me. Deliver me from evil. To your glory. Amen.
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Reflect:
Think about the different sources of “light” to which you regularly submit your eyes. Are there any that are diseased or dark that need to be curtailed? What steps will you take?
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Photo by Joel Staveley on Unsplash
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