“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Just look at what goes before (“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth”) and afterwards (“You cannot serve both God and Money.” Money is what this Scripture is about. Or better yet, it’s place in our lives.
Our eyes are a two-way source of illumination. We take in what we see and process it, and we process that which we see through the filter of our hearts. It looks like this:
But the most important part is how we interact with what we see and process. Jesus says, “If your eyes are good [haplous in Greek], your whole body will be full of light. But what does it mean to have “good eyes?”
Good Eyes
Haplous literally means “single” as in “single-minded”. “Sound.” Or as used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it means “perfect” and “mature.” But it also means “generous” and we see that in the following Scripture:
if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously [haplous]– Rom 12:8
In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity [haplous]. 2 Cor 8:2,
You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity [haplous] will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Cor 9:11
Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity [haplous] in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2 Cor 9:13
So in the Scripture above eyes that are “good” are eyes that are both single-minded (detached from the love of money) and generous. Perhaps both tones are to be understood here.
The opposite of this “good” is eyes that are not just evil or seeing only the love of money but worse–eyes that are trying to do both–love God and love money. Double-mindedness. Addtionally eyes such as these tend to hoard and/or be stingy with material wealth and possessions.
The Result?
If your eyes are good (as in you are single focused on the Lord and being a person of generosity), then your life will be full of light.
If your eyes are bad (trying to devote yourself to both God and money and hoarding wealth and possessions), the life within you will be darkness.
And if the only light you have is dark, even it is dark gray, how great is that darkness!
Conclusion
The love of money is so subtle as it is easily cloaked in self-righteousness and “need.” And honestly my worries with money lead me to one conclusion–I need to go repent.
