Much of what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is direct, and to the point. He says what he means and means what he says. It’s challenging for sure, but not very confusing.
Until chapter 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.…..”
So how am I to know if my eye is “good” or my eye is “bad”? How do I get a good eye and avoid a bad eye?
We gotta take off our Western cultural lenses and put on Middle Eastern lenses to see and understand what Jesus is talking about. His audience that day was 1st-century Jews, oppressed, sandal-clad weary people who followed Jehovah God but were curious about this new rogue Rabbi. They would have immediately understood this cultural phrase. This common Jewish idiom is still used in the Middle East today.
The phrase “has a good eye” means a generous person—someone whose eyes see needs, and who takes action to bless. Not surprisingly, the verses immediately preceding and following verses 22-23 refer to money. To have a “good eye” is to be generous. To have a bad eye is to be stingy, tightfisted, someone who ignores people’s needs, one unwilling and not wanting to share.
I’ve known a dear friend for close to 40 years. He’s part of the Emmanuel Faith family. He has a good eye, the most generous man I’ve ever known. He wasn’t raised with money. He wasn’t raised with faith. He became a Christian in his mid-thirties when a friendly stranger at McDonald’s asked him if he’d ever read the Bible, and if he wanted to know about Jesus.
Over the years, I’ve often watched this man open his wallet and give away large wads of cash—without even thinking of counting it. He’s funded college educations for other people’s kids. Yes, he’s generous to his own family—but he’s also generous to missions, ministries, churches, and individuals—His generosity blesses people he doesn’t know and will never meet. He’s not just generous. He honestly loves being generous. It’s not a mental decision….but a heart gushing with joyful gratitude for our generous God and Savior.
Are you known by friends and family, your church community, as someone with a good eye? Jesus is saying your generosity…..or lack thereof…..your whole body is gonna follow that.
Proverbs 22:9 “Whoever has a good eye will be blessed…..
I don’t know about you, but I want a good eye.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member