Matthew 6:22 Commentary and Bible Study

(Synoptics: Matthew 6:22-23) These such wonderful and original illustrations, and are characteristic of the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved to teach using pictures. Although the eye is singular it is not referring to one eye, but to your vision as a whole; it is just done in a very eloquent and yet simple way. The illustration is taken in two different ways. Some think Christ speaks of the eye as representing what people look at. A good eye looks at good things, honourable things and pure things, while an evil eye looks at wrong things, unclean things, things that should not be looked at. The eye is then morally either good or bad, and sheds light on the character of the whole man because he directs his eye at what interests him, what he regards as his treasure. One person cannot take his eye off what is sinful, while another has control over himself.But here is a simpler and more profound meaning. A good eye is literally a healthy eye, a seeing eye, and a bad is a blind, non-functioning eye. It is an intriguing picture. The eye acts as a lamp to the whole body, but it does not shine in front of you like a torch on a path at night. That may be true but it is not what Christ means. He means that it shines within the body, and gives light to all the other bodily members. It is as if they are all in darkness until the eye shines its light on them. Only the eye can see, but its vision imparts a benefit to the whole of the body. The hand moves to the right point in space because it is guided by the eye which looks at the object to be grasped. The foot avoids the pitfall and places itself on level ground because the eye is on the lookout for it and makes sure that it comes down safely. It is as if the whole body is full of light and as if every organ in the body can see, because the eye shares its sight with the whole body, and every organ takes advantage of the gift of sight. They also see because the eye sees for them and the body wonderfully communicates the gift of one member to all the other members. The eye is then good in the very straightforward sense that it sees and the comparison is between a seeing person and a blind person. But the bodies of the blind are full of darkness. Lacking sight, every member must find its own way in the darkness. In an unfamiliar place, a blind man feels his way forward, groping in the dark. That is the illustration but how should it be applied?Christ makes the physical eye to stand for the spiritual eye. As the physical eye provides sight to the whole body, so the spiritual eye also provides a service to the whole man, to the entire soul. The spiritual eye is intended to give understanding to the whole soul. Either the heart has understanding and knowledge, or it is still in darkness. Whichever way, it will affect every assessment, every response, and every decision. The faculty of discernment makes him see all things either through God’s eyes, or from the interests of self. Those who walk in the light have, who know where they are going, and who have been called by Christ have spiritual sight. They can reach out and take hold of truth in the world around them; they know how to avoid the uneven ground of error which others step on, and the pitfalls of temptation which others fall into. The man with spiritual understanding learns new things each day and his faculty of understanding enables him to make gains in life through every experience. God who created the light, but this would have been no use to his creatures unless he had also created the eye to make use of the light. Similarly, spiritual light comes from the Lord, from his word, and it sheds light on all things that we encounter as we pass through the world. The Lord moves from the illustration to the things being illustrated over the course of these two verses. ‘If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!’ In a sense, there is a light in everyone’s heart; at least, it is what count as light. But that light may in fact be darkness; it may have nothing of truth in it; it may not be instructed by the word of God. What then? The man will still seek to live by it, just as a blind man must still try to move about. But spiritual darkness is much deeper than physical darkness. Sin is progressive, and the thought of where it leads should fill us with horror. Without light from heaven, only God knows how far we will go down that evil path.