Calvary Road Baptist Church
“TWO EYES”
Matthew 6.22-23
Have you ever wondered how in the world, two people can read the same passage from the Bible and come up with two completely different interpretations of that same passage? For example, how can three men, presumed to be genuinely born again Christians, read John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ and one of them come to believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture, one come to believe in a mid-tribulation Rapture, and the other come to conclude from what he has read that there will be a post-tribulation Rapture? Not to mention the fourth fellow who isn’t a premillennialist at all!
Sin plays a role in one’s grasp of Scriptural truths. I’m convinced that those who disagree with me are just plain carnal. Though I jest, you can see how sin interferes with a real understanding of the truth when you remember that the real teacher of the spiritual truths in God’s Word is the Holy Spirit. Grieve Him or quench Him, and He will not illuminate your understanding.[1]
Another reason for differences in interpretation has to do with academic skills. Remember, God gave reading and writing to humanity to study and learn God’s Word. So when someone has limited skill in reading and writing, especially when he does not have any practical appreciation of grammar and the way thoughts and ideas are expressed, he will be limited in his ability to understand the Bible. Why is that? Because the Bible is the most profound literature available for man to study. If you are comic book literate and take no steps to advance beyond that level, you limit your ability to learn God’s Word, resulting in differences in interpretation.
For time, let me mention just one other reason for differences in interpreting a passage in the Bible. Different people employ different methods of interpretation, frequently without realizing it. Since everyone has some manner by which they interpret things they read, whether you are conscious of your interpretation method or not, it affects what you think you have read means.
For example, some people start with the assumption that Scripture is symbolic in meaning and that it merely does not mean what it appears to say. Still, others begin with the assumption that Scripture is entirely literal and that literary devices such as metaphors and similes and hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) are not used. How people with this view interpret Christ’s reference to gathering Jerusalem under His wings or God’s eyes running to and fro over the whole earth is another sermon.[2]
How I choose to approach the Word of God, and I strive to approach my Bible study in this way consistently, is by using what is called the historical-grammatical approach. That is, I seek to understand what the Bible communicates by trying to understand the history of words and phrases, the historical settings in which passages are found, and seeking to understand the grammar used by the writers of our inspired Bible at the time they wrote.
Using this approach, I assume that the Bible was written in such a way to be understood literally, unless the literal sense makes nonsense, or until clues are given by the writer to indicate that he is using symbolism or some recognizable literary device. Does this approach make me infallible? Of course not. Only the Bible is infallible. No student of the Bible can be infallible. Does this interfere with the Holy Spirit’s role in teaching spiritual truth? Impossible. Second Timothy 2.15 contains the command to study God’s Word. And does not the Bible rate a method of study that is thoughtful, that is well planned out, that is serious? Of course.
With that little lesson on hermeneutics or interpretation out of the way, so you’ll know where I try to come from, let’s turn to my text for this message, Matthew 6.22-23. Standing as you turn to that passage, let’s read God’s Word together out loud. Please follow me out loud as I read:
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
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!
This is a challenging text. That’s the reason I tried to school you a little in my approach to understanding God’s Word. Let’s tackle the passage in three stages: First, the context of the statements the Lord Jesus made. Then, the construction of the comments that He made. Finally, the conclusions from the statements that our Lord made.
First, THE CONTEXTS OF THE STATEMENTS
Let’s talk about the Scriptural context for a while. When you assume that God desires that His Word is to be understood literally, whatever variations there might be with the use of figures of speech, then context immediately acquires the profoundest significance. By context, I refer to the surroundings that verses find themselves in. For example: In the passage before us, it is relatively easy to see that this portion of the Sermon on the Mount deals with the subject of treasures or material possessions. Verses 19, 20, and 21 mentions treasures explicitly. And even the most superficial reading of verses 24-34 shows that they, too, deal with issues related to treasures, material possessions, and such the like.
What does that mean? That means you’d better have an extremely compelling argument, a solid line of reasoning, for believing that verses 22 and 23 do not also relate to treasures in some way. You might protest the possibility that references to light and the body could have anything to do with treasures or material possessions, but think about this: Where does the Lord Jesus Christ indicate that He has switched subject matter from treasures to something else for two verses and then back to treasures?
What is far more likely than any switch in subject matter for just two verses out of 16 is the use of some figure of speech, the use of some form of symbology, or some idiomatic expression that graphically illustrates something about treasures or material things. If the Lord Jesus did what I think He did to drive home a particular point about treasures or possessions, then there is a broader context than Scripture that needs to be examined for clues about His meaning.
Which leads us to what I refer to as cultural context. Whenever you study the Bible, you commit folly if you ignore the cultural context in which the passage is set. And what do I mean by cultural context? Who are these people who spoke and who are spoken to? The Lord Jesus Christ was the Jewish Messiah, speaking to Jewish men of His day. And when the Lord Jesus Christ communicated to those men, He spoke to them in their language, with their prejudices and assumptions in mind. Two particulars along this line.
First, when the Lord Jesus spoke to His apostles, He spoke to men who had completely different beliefs about the way eyes functioned than you or I do. You and I know that eyes work by receiving light that has reflected off, bounced off, objects. We see as a result of our brain processing the various colors and patterns of light that have reflected off of various objects in our direction, have then been focused by our eye lenses to the retinas on the backs of our eyeballs, which sends signals to the brain via the optic nerves. This is called the intromission theory of vision.
Do you realize that for another 1500 years after the Lord Jesus spoke the words of our text, people continued to believe that the mechanism by which we saw things was opposite to what we presently understand? People used to think vision resulted from light sent out by our eyes to the objects that we saw. They held to the extramission theory of vision.[3] They never thought much about seeing as a result of light that originated from the sun, and never had an explanation for why it was so difficult to see at night if the source of light for sight came from your own eyes.
When the Savior was teaching His apostles, He taught them within the context of their understanding. Did He know better? Of course, He did. Remember, He created the sun and the moon and the stars. But He did not waste His time teaching His disciples science. He taught them spiritual truths to prepare them for the day when He would no longer be with them.
Second, the Lord Jesus Christ, within the context of the culture in which His men lived, communicated to them in the form of idioms. What is an idiom? As I am using the term, an idiom is a phrase or an expression whose meaning is quite different than when the normal rules of grammar are employed. For example: When we say “Holy cow!” we are expressing surprise, astonishment, and wonder. We are not describing a bovine object of worship, a marvelous moo-cow.
Here’s another one: “He’s straight, man.” That does not mean that no gaps can be seen when this man stands up against a wall. It means that he is morally upright and legitimate. Not a lawbreaker or sexually deviant in any way. People have always used idiomatic expressions. When foreigners or others unfamiliar with our brand of English hear our idioms spoken, they are lost as to their meaning. The same can be true when studying the Bible.
I submit to you that the cultural context in which our passage is set, especially the way in which men of old time thought eyesight worked and the use of idioms that don’t follow normal rules of grammar for a language, can make it quite challenging to understand if we are not careful. So, my claim is that Matthew 6.22-23 is a passage related in some way to treasure or material possessions, but having some cultural and idiomatic complications that make understanding the passage a bit more difficult than most Scripture passages.
Next, WE LOOK AT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATEMENTS
Let’s take three cuts at the construction of these two verses:
First, the usual constructions. In verse 22 and the first half of verse 23, we have two “if ... then” statements that I’d like us to consider. The last half of verse 23, we’ll hold off on for now. Most of the time, when these statements are found in the New Testament, they proceed along the line “if such, and such is true, then the following will be true.” If the sun is visible in the sky, then it is daytime and not nighttime. If the usual construction of “if ... then” statements are thought to apply to these two statements, they make no sense and cannot be true. Let’s take verse 22 and the first sentence in verse 23 separately and examine them.
Verse 22. “The light of the body is the eye.” Just as I mentioned when we were considering cultural context, this phrase reflects the belief held in Christ’s day that the eye was a source of light, not a receiver of light. Notice what follows: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Setting aside what the first part of this sentence means, for now, the phrase “thy whole body shall be full of light” suggests that the condition of the eye determines the condition of the body. Folks that is not true.
Verse 23. “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Again setting aside what the first phrase of this sentence means for just now, the usual construction of this sentence would mean, again, that the condition of the body is determined by the condition of the eye. But this is not true. For that reason, I suggest that we look up some other verses in the Bible.
Notice these occasional constructions. Matthew 12.28. Occasionally these “if ... then” conditional statements in the Bible break form and need to be understood differently than is usually the case. This verse is just such an instance:
“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
Ask yourself this question: “Does the kingdom of God come because Jesus has cast out demons, or have demons been cast out because the kingdom of God, in the person of Jesus, has come?” The second of the two, obviously.
Proverbs 24.10:
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”
Question. Does fainting in the day of adversity make your strength small? Or does small strength result in fainting in the day of adversity? These are two of a number of examples that show us something about how these many “if ... then” statements in the Bible are to be understood. It’s not always “if such and such is true, then the following is true.” Sometimes it’s “if such and such is true, it’s because this is true.”
Let me suggest the necessary constructions of these sentences. Realizing that it’s the condition of the body that determines the condition of the eye, generally, and that “if ... then” statements are occasionally to be understood as I have just explained to you, allow me to paraphrase the first two statements in Matthew 6.22-23. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (and we’ll deal with what this means momentarily), it will be because your whole body shall be full of light.” “But if your eye is evil (whatever that means for now), it will be because your whole body shall be full of darkness.” And the final “if ... then” statement we hold off on for just now. Because what the Bible teaches as truth is always true, we are compelled to accept that the constructions of these “if ... then” statements are not to be understood as the usual constructions, but as examples of the occasional constructions sometimes found in the Bible.
I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE AS WE HAVE EXAMINED THE CONTEXTS OF THE STATEMENTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATEMENTS. NOW LET’S FINISH UP WITH THE CONCLUSIONS FROM THE STATEMENTS
Two threads that we need to grab hold of and tie off, and then we’ll be finished:
First, the idioms. A few minutes ago, I mentioned what idioms are, phrases that people use, which don’t mean what the normal rules of grammar would suggest that they mean. But you might have noticed that I didn’t actually suggest what the idioms meant. Well, now, I will. We have two idiomatic expressions in these two statements. In verse 22, there is the idiom “if thine eye be single.” And in verse 23, there is the idiom “if thine eye be evil.”
Proverbs 22.9:
“He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.”
The word “bountiful” in this verse is synonymous with “good.” What can be said about the idiom “good eye, bountiful eye”? According to this verse, it’s an expression of generosity. Ah! Now things are beginning to come together in this passage. When the Lord Jesus refers to a person with a good eye, He is actually using a cultural idiom to refer to someone who is generous.
Proverbs 23.6:
“Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats.”
Why are you advised not to eat the bread of the man with an evil eye? Because the man with the evil eye is stingy, that’s why. He begrudges any morsels of the food that you eat. Verse 7:
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
Because he’s so stingy when he offers food and drink, he doesn’t mean it.
The idioms seem to confirm that the Lord Jesus Christ has not departed from His general subject matter of treasures that He was teaching about in verses both before and after Matthew 6.22-23. He has just decided to use idiomatic expressions that His audience was, no doubt, familiar with to teach them something about the proper handling of treasures or material possessions. Looking at our “if ... then” statements again, and now tying in the meanings of the idioms, here’s what we have:
Verse 22:
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (which is to say, if you are generous with your possessions), it’s because your whole body is full of light.”
Verse 23:
“But if thine eye is evil (that is if you are stingy with your possessions), it’s because your whole body is full of darkness.”
Now let’s see the implications associated with these idioms. Throughout the Bible, light is used to describe moral purity, to describe uprightness, and even to describe the holiness of God. Moral light, then, is good, while that which is not good is referred to as the absence of light, darkness. The implications, then, seem to be very clear to me.
Verse 22. If you are generous, it is because your whole body is full of light. That is, if you are generous, it is because things are spiritually right with you on the inside.
Verse 23. If you are stingy, it is because your whole body is full of darkness. That is, if you are not generous with that which God has given to you, it is because things are not spiritually right with you on the inside. But look at how the Lord Jesus Christ concludes. It’s a final “if ... then” statement. And what does it mean? It means that if you are not generous, you have a profound spiritual problem.
You are aware of how many lost people, many of whom are professing Christians, refuse to attend Church and worship God with the saints because, as they say, “All that preacher talks about is money.”
What insight, therefore, this passage gives us into the spiritual realities that lie behind a person’s generosity, both generosity with God and generosity with others. People are stingy only when something is terribly wrong on the inside.
Christian? Are you a generous person, or are you a stingy person? Because the Lord Jesus was speaking to His Own here, wasn’t He? Do you share what you have with the Lord and with others? Or not?
Let me urge you to demonstrate a spirit of generosity to reflect your spiritual health and vitality. How can you do that? You can do that with your time, you can do that with your talent, and you can do that with your treasure.
Time is important, is it not? You are to redeem your time, are you not? Do you imagine the two occasions when Paul urged his readers to redeem the time because the days are evil, he expected their redemption of time to take the form of missing Church?
Next, there is talent. What can you do for the cause of Christ? Do you do what you can do to serve God? If not, why not? I would like to know, as the person charged by God to equip you for service to Christ.
Third, and finally, there is treasure. Remember, these two verses are all about material things, treasures, and generosity. Do you regularly give to the cause of Christ through this Church? If not, I urge you to begin doing so next Sunday. Are you thinking, “I cannot afford to do that”? My friend, you cannot afford not to do that.
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[1] 1 Thessalonians 5.19; Ephesians 4.30
[2] Matthew 23.37; Luke 13.34; 2 Chronicles 16.9
[3] https://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/views/extramission.htm
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church