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YOUR EYE IS THE LAMP OF YOUR BODY

"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."

This passage is about the healthy stewardship of our own spiritual practices. The first part is about good practices: a sound use of our eyes for the whole body. The second and third sections are about bad practices. The first part contains words of encouragement. The second and third parts have words of stern rebuke. The sad reality of life is that most of the time we do not like rebukes in any form: constructive feedback, mild suggestions, reprimand, clear instructions, serious challenges, and final judgment.

First, “When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light.” (33-36)
In this first section Jesus speaks to his disciples. The overall tone is very encouraging. Look at verses 33-34: “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” A lamp should be in the proper place where it can brighten the room. Likewise, Jesus should be in the right place—in our hearts. For healthy spiritual practices three body parts—eyes, ears, and mouth—are quite critical. Ears are for careful listening. The mouth is for prudent speech. Our eyes are for seeing and experiencing.

Here, Jesus emphasizes the healthy practices of our eyes. Biologically speaking, light enters our bodies through our eyes and enables us to see. Spiritually speaking, the word of God enters our inner beings through the eyes of our heart. (Eph 1:18) The eyes of our hearts are good when we have a learning mind and repent before God's word. God's word comes in and enlightens our entire inner being—mind, heart, and soul. Otherwise, our minds, hearts, and souls remain in spiritual darkness.

Verses 35 and 36 read: “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.” Here, Jesus speaks on how to gain spiritual insight. It is to turn from darkness and toward God and let his word come in. We can do this when we honor Jesus from our hearts. Zechariah calls Jesus “the rising sun” who comes to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace. (Zec 1:78-79) Simeon calls Jesus, “a light for the Gentiles.” (Lk 2:32) Jesus' light fully illuminates our inner beings.

Would you like to check how good your eyes are? Physically, can you see me from the back? Jesus said, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving…” (Mk 4:11,21) Do you perceive and understand the secret? Do you master the spiritual routines that strengthen you? Ultimately, our eyes are to cultivate the right kind of perspective. What is your view of your future? What is your attitude toward others? What is your perspective about life in general? We are all sinners and thus people are both good and evil. Therefore, those who look good still show their weak aspects sooner or later. Those who look so hopeless surprise us when we do not give up too soon. This perspective keeps me from being too favorable about any particular person or too critical of another. In regard to God, our perspective must come from deep study.

One perspective, after many years of Bible study, is that God is always good. This life is too often disappointing. Our souls are easily poisoned by events in this world. The details of this world are sometimes very ugly and dirty. Our sensitive souls easily become too cynical or pessimistic. It is no wonder that no atheist is ever an optimist. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Ps 107:1) Humanly speaking, our Lord Jesus was pitifully born in a manger, lived poorly, and died sadly on the cross. But one obvious truth Jesus taught is that God is good. When I heard Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” and “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit;” (Lk. 23:34, 46) I committed myself not only to this God that this Jesus loved but to Jesus and his own perspective in life. No matter what happens, God is good and his love endures forever. Since then, I commit to this perspective in life. Because of Jesus Christ, I keep this sense of hope in this world.

Second, the destructive power of hypocrisy (i.e., practices with no spirit). (37-44)
This part of the passage is about common pitfalls of many religious leaders in Jesus’ time. Look at verses 37 and 38. When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. Probably, he wanted to have more personal time with Jesus. So Jesus went in and reclined at the table. Just think about seeing your waiter coming out of the bathroom without washing his hands and then daring to pick up your food on the table. That’s what the Pharisee felt when Jesus did not first wash before the meal! This was quite shocking to the Pharisee. Jesus could have accommodated the rules of that house to which he was invited. Yet, according to verses 39-52, Jesus intentionally did not do so in order to address larger issues of the religious people in his time. Jesus no longer afforded just being nice to these people. Jesus decided to challenge them all.

Look at verses 39-41. Jesus saw the Pharisees who looked clean on the outside but were greedy and wicked on the inside. They were experts at being superficially clean. Yet, it was the last thing for them to think to invite poor souls to their dinner table and share a time of fellowship with them. Jesus challenged them to pursue holiness within and live a sacrificial life. This includes giving money, time, and heart for the needy.
 
Look at verse 42. Tithing is giving 10% of one’s income to God. This was instituted as a way of having a welfare system in ancient days. It was to support the religious workers (i.e., Levites and priests) and the poor. The Pharisees were quite meticulous in measuring 10% of everything they received. Since they lived in an agrarian society, much of their income was in the form of agricultural products—like mint, rue, and garden herbs. Probably, they measured very carefully and tried to give exactly 10% up to 0.1 ounce. But their hearts were far from justice or love of God. Jesus did not denounce their act of giving. He said, “You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.” Jesus wanted them to tithe with the right motivation of the law—justice and love of God. In a word, Jesus urged them to obey the laws of giving both in practice and spirit.

Look at verse 43. The Pharisees were very status-conscious people. They loved to occupy the important seats in the synagogues. They loved human recognition and respect from people. In reality, they were spiritually dead like unmarked graves and their influences on the common people were terrible.

Here is the issue regarding external practices and our internal spirit. Jesus defines a healthy and mature spiritual state in terms of integration of practices and spirit. This is about having spiritual disciplines with good spirit. Sound habits require both healthy practices and sound spirit. For the healthy diet of spiritual growth requires regular worship, daily walk with God, and fellowship and sacrifices—our practices of giving. Spirit without body is a ghost, not a person. But body without spirit is dead as well. Therefore, we need sound practices within both body and spirit.

Why is hypocrisy so destructive? It destroys credibility. Hypocrites never become successful in presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Churches that are filled with hypocrites become irrelevant in the world. Hypocrites are not merely these Pharisees in Jesus’ time. In fact, in Jesus’ time the hypocrites have at least routine practices. However, it was the early form of spiritual decay. At least one thing was still there. Their spirit was not right but their body was still there. However, the evidence of hypocrites in the modern age go far deeper. Both spirit and body are gone. They are everywhere—even among us here. Just take this simple test of hypocrites. First, let’s do some simple practice tests. How many of you do any form of regular prayer or devotion in the morning? How many of you practice tithing (i.e., offering at least 10% of your income or time to grow for Christ and his kingdom?) Second, how strong is your motivation? After the renovation of this church Dr. John Jun (General Director of UBF) presented a simple prayer direction: fill this house of worship. How many of you are serious about this prayer topic? How many of you are willing to take actions toward this direction? As pastor I cry because of the poor practices among Christians. As pastor I beat my breast because of the little motivation to fulfill even a simple prayer topic like this.

Jesus did not rebuke these Pharisees from the beginning. Jesus approached them with a call for action. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus’ approach at first toward the Pharisees was quite personal and gentle as we read about his conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. However, soon the pattern was clear. These Pharisees refused to listen. They hated Jesus’ feedback, teachings, and instructions. They hated any criticism. The moment came when they longer want to hear from anyone. Many terrible leaders have wonderful past achievements as well. Emperor Nero was once great. He was humble and talented. Slowly he removed one by one those who would give him any healthy feedback. When leaders no longer have anyone who can give hard messages, then they are surely on the path of corruption and incompetence. This is all the more true for any aspiring spiritual leaders.

We all need hard messengers for genuine growth. At this time it is good for all of us to ask simple questions: “Who are my critics? Who gives me a hard message? When is the last time that anyone ever pointed out my faults and need for growth?” If husbands do not allow their wives to ever give sound advice, then they are finished in the matter of spiritual growth.

Third, the destructive influence of bad practices. (45-54)
The simple law of life is this: bad practices do not stay on an individual level. They spread to much bigger circles of life. At this time, one of the teachers of the law answered Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also." He certainly wanted Jesus to tone down his rebuke. What did Jesus do? Jesus seemed to be waiting for this, “Oh, right. You want this, too? Here it is!” Then Jesus turned his attention fully on these teachers of the law and started giving them the greater dangers that were ahead for the people in general—in fact for their whole generation!

Look at verse 46: Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” What is this about? Teachers of law enact more laws, more regulations, more dos and don’ts to the people. They are not able to do all of them, yet they kept making more regulations. People wondered how to do everything. No one lifted any finger to help these people who were burdened. Jesus pronounced serious judgment on the leaders.

Verses 47-51 are Jesus’ serious charge to them. The religious leaders were responsible for the godlessness, injustice, and corruption of their society. God sent prophets to the people of Israel to proclaim the message of repentance. But many times the spiritual leaders did not repent; they became angry and killed the prophets. The experts in the law knew these facts of history and they knew their forefathers were wrong. So they built beautiful tombs for the prophets, but they did not repent. Without repentance, they became just like their forefathers in their pride and self-righteousness. Jesus warned them that they would be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah. This happened when they crucified Jesus on the cross.

Look at verse 50: “Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.” This was a very serious charge. The generation would be responsible for all the wrongs since the beginning of time. It probably has to do with their rejection of Christ. After a short while, the teachers of the law conspired against Jesus. They accused Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor. They incited the crowds. It was the crowds of people who shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” It was these religious leaders and the crowds of people that demanded Pilate to condemn Jesus. The city Jerusalem paid the heavy price for this rejection of Christ. The city was totally destroyed in AD 70.

Here, we read about the outcomes of bad practices. Bad practices spread quickly. Why do churches die as a whole? The best example is the churches in Europe. Each time I visit countries in Europe, I cannot but feel the reality of Jesus’ warning. European churches have rapidly lost their relevance for about the past hundred years. By 1950 it was expected that many English men and women attend regular Sunday churches—more than half of the population. It was the norm for people to go to churches regularly. The dying process started in the church pulpit. The pastors stop preaching the word of God as the word of God. Authoritative and powerful preaching slowly disappeared. Sunday attendance responded accordingly. By 1980s the trend was set. The church was rapidly in decline. Now, the average church attendance in England or Germany is no more than 5%. Why is this so? Practices without spirit lose credibility and power. Christians and churches that lose credibility and power are no longer worthy to keep. The sprit first disappear, then the practices are gone as well. With decreasing church attendance, decreasing devotion becomes so obvious. Christians do not offer themselves. Does this mean just not offering money for mission? No! People don’t offer themselves as living sacrifices for God and his kingdom. Christians do not volunteer for world mission. Christians simply do not invest anything major for the cause of the kingdom of God. The Christian culture slowly dies. Now how about us?

We have seen what spiritual bad practices do to us individually and to the larger world. Let’s go back to the Jesus’ teaching on the right practices. Jesus says, “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.” Jesus wants his disciples to cultivate their eyes. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scoring its shame, and say down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2) Fix your eyes on Jesus! Then, we fear God who is awesome and holy; we do not fear lesser things in this world. Fix our eyes on Jesus! Then, we stay humble before God who is Almighty and great; we are not swayed by little ups and downs in this world. Fix our eyes on Jesus. Then, we see that God works for our good in all things; we remain hopeful in all things. In brief, the matter of this life is where our eyes are fixed. How are your eyes? What are you looking at? What do you fix your eyes on?

May 23, 2010; Dr. Paul Hong; Toledo, UBF

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV®;. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.