The good eye, the evil eye

We had bible study on Matthew 6:19-34 this evening during CG and the verses that caught my attention were these two:

22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (ESV)

It may seem unusual in our modern understanding for these two verses to appear in a passage about not laying treasure on earth but in heaven, and not serving two masters but one.

However, seen from an exegetical context, it actually make perfect sense. The meaning of a bad eye or in some translations evil eye is being stingy and set on wealth and material things. Having a healthy eye means being generous. And it is notable and interesting that the eye is in the singular and not plural, pointing to the person who sees.

In that context, when a person whose eye is bad is a person who wants everything that he sees, whereas a person with a good eye wants to give to others what he has.

It strikes me because I notice myself having an evil eye lately, and this is a good and timely reminder and commandment for me to guard my eye and focus it on Jesus and Jesus alone.

pearlie