To keep our focus on the purpose for the Sermon on the Mount, we have been reading the key verse in Jesus' sermon. It is found in...
Matthew 7:24 (NASB)
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Last week we finished our discussion with a picture of the great prophet Isaiah, and the 24 Elders, on their faces before the eternal throne of Christ.
- Isaiah confesses his sinfulness, and after God's cleansing, he surrenders his life to do whatever God wants him to do. It is the picture which represents the work that remains to be done for the Kingdom of God here on earth.
- The 24 elders come off of their thrones in heaven; remove their crowns casting them before the eternal throne of Christ; and fall to their faces in worship of Christ.
These are great pictures of what a real bond-servant of Christ looks like. But I think we need to understand this in a more practical, down to earth way. That's what our text for today is all abput.
As we continue in the Sermon on the Mount you will notice that the second half of Matthew chapter six is almost a sermon within a sermon. In that chapter Jesus takes His listeners on a journey that brings them to a place free from anxiety and worry, a place of peace. So what does it take to go on a journey? I believe that we need several important things
If you look carefully, you will see that in Matthew chapter six Jesus is showing His listeners how to take a journey that will lead them to live life on the solid Rock foundation of His words, which bring peace.
You could even look at these in reverse, as Matthew wrote them, and they make perfect sense.
Today we want to talk about how we can have insight to give us direction and guidance as we live our lives. Our text is found in...
Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB)
[22] The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
[23] But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
There are a couple of important words we need to take a close look at in this passage.
First - there is the word clear. The Greek word used here means simple, single, as in singleness of purpose. It is the word haploús.
Clear: 573. haploús: Only in Mt 6:22; Lk 11:34 translated single, i.e., not complex, easy, used of the eye as not seeing double as when it is diseased. When the eye accomplishes its purpose of seeing things as they are, then it is haploús, single, healthy, perfect. Singleness, simplicity, absence of folds. This, however, does not involve stupidity on the part of the Christian, but rather phrónēsis (5428), prudence, knowing how to deal with fellow humans and the circumstances of life. Thus the Christian is supposed to be not only haploús, single and without duplicity, but also phrónimos (5429), prudent (Mt 10:16; Ro 16:19). (CWS-NT)
Notice that clear is a descriptive word that Jesus uses here to describe the eye. The eye is used to guide one through the physical world. It is not impossible, but very difficult, to navigate this physical world without clear eyesight. So the eye, with clear eyesight, gives us insight about where to step. When your eyesight is clear you have peace of mind in placing your feet as you walk or run. In fact, with clear vision, we rarely even think about where we are placing our feet. As a person's eyesight fades, often with age, they become unsure of where they are placing their feet. I can identify with this when I remember what it was like when I cataracts.
Jesus uses this idea of eyesight to get across spiritual truth. He wanted us to live beyond anxiety and worry in life. He wanted us to understand that there is a way to see clearly, in spiritual matters, as we make our way through this world.
The Second important word we need to look at in our text is light. If you know anything about the eye and how it works you know that clear vision comes from good light. Listen to Gerald Schroeder's description of how the eye captures light to see the physical world.
"Awe in the finely tuned workings of nature may remain, however much of the mystery is gone. A sunset has lost none of its magnificent beauty, but the ambiguity of what paints the sky red each evening has departed from the experience. We now know it is not the sun or God saying good night to the mountain as the Ulm Uncle told Heidi. It is the preferential scattering of the blue end of the visible light spectrum and the greater penetrating power of the longer red wavelengths that pushes the red photons of light through the atmosphere to the cones of our eyes. (Cones are the receptors in our eye's retina that react chemically and then electrically to the different wavelengths of photons we refer to as light and color.)"
"Consider the eye. Look out the window. Your field of view catches a vista perhaps a mile wide. It all appears projected onto half of a sphere at the very back of your eye, the retina, less than three centimeters in diameter. Yet your brain sees within those three centimeters of information a world a mile wide and knows it is no Disney cartoon the size of a postage stamp. Light from the outside world has reached your retina with only slight distortion." (Schroeder)
Jesus wanted us to understand that there is spiritual light that can give us insight and guidance in life so that we might have peace.
Paul uses this idea when he writes his letter to the Ephesians. He talks about the eyes of the heart.
Ephesians 1:15-20 (NASB)
[15] For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
[16] do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
[17] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
[18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
[19] and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
[20] which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Paul gives a lot of detail here, and he is using the same idea that Jesus uses about the eye for being used for spiritual navigation.
In verse 17 he tells us that we can receive, from God the Father of Jesus Christ, a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Christ). That means that we can have spiritual insight, from the creator of the universe, here and now, in this present life. I would call that significant insight to live by. In fact that knowledge alone should give us confidence to live our lives in complete trust of His care for our real needs in this life. I don't know about you but that gives me peace.
In verse 18 Paul makes it personal, giving us even more clarity. He talks about the eyes of the heart. A portal from the throne of Almighty God to the very heart of a man. This gives enlightenment and knowledge for living life in God's way, which expels anxiety and gives us peace.
Then, to make sure that what Paul is teaching is believable for his listeners, he talks about the power behind this enlightenment. Look at the words Paul uses in verse 19. "The surpassing greatness of His power." Not just any observable power but, "His power toward us who believe." His power according to His strength and might. This is not just any exhaustible power, this is the power of the Creator of the universe.
In verse 20 he gives an example of this great power and what it is capable of. "He raised Him from the dead." Resurrection power -- I don't know of any greater power. It is one thing to use power to destroy, mankind has demonstrated that anyone can do that. But! It is quite another thing to use power to give life to the dead.
That is the power available to you and I for living life here on this earth. Wow! Talk about something that can dispel anxiety. That does it for me. Paul is not the only one that used this idea of the use of the eye to illustrate spiritual enlightenment. John used it as well.
1 John 1 (NASB)
[1] What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-
[2] and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us-
[3] what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
[4] These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
[5] This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
[6] If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
[7] but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
[9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
Did you notice the connections that John makes here starting with what was from the beginning, the creation and the Creator. Then to the physical parts of his body that were witness to his power, ears, eyes, hands. John connects what he has seen with his eyes to eternal life. Then the very source of that life, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Clear light to give us a clear pathway through life.
Then John makes it intimately personal. "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." In other words, John wants us to know that the clear light dispels the darkness.
There is one more passage that I must read in the context of our discussion here. As we read this passage keep in mind what we have been talking about. The power of Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, is available for our spiritual insight. It is found in John 9, and it shows Jesus dealing with the need for physical sight, and then making the application of spiritual insight.
John 9 (NASB)
[1] As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
[2] And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
[3] Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
[4] "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
[5] "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."
[6] When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,
[7] and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam"(which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
[8] Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, "Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?"
[9] Others were saying, "This is he," still others were saying, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the one."
[10] So they were saying to him, "How then were your eyes opened?"
[11] He answered, "The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went away and washed, and I received sight."
[12] They said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."
[13] They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind.
[14] Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
[15] Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, "He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see."
[16] Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.
[17] So they said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" And he said, "He is a prophet."
[18] The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight,
[19] and questioned them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?"
[20] His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
[21] but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself."
[22] His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.
[23] For this reason his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
[24] So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner."
[25] He then answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."
[26] So they said to him, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?"
[27] He answered them, "I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?"
[28] They reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
[29] "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from."
[30] The man answered and said to them, "Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
[31] "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
[32] "Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
[33] "If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."
[34] They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?" So they put him out.
[35] Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
[36] He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"
[37] Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you."
[38] And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him.
[39] And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
[40] Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?"
[41] Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."
This insight or enlightenment is not just pulled out of thin air. We are not to just run through life hoping that the Spirit of God will speak to us, enlighted us at just the right time. This insight from God is available right here and now. It is not something that we must guess at and hope we are right. It is available to us right here and now. All we need to do is pick it up and prayerfully read it each day of our lives. His word is the light that gives eternal life.
Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB)
[22] The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
[23] But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Please stand for prayer.
NASB - New American Standard Bible (NASB). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2002
CWS-NT - AMG Complete Word Study Dictionary - New Testament (CWS_NT). Cedar Rapids: Laridian Electronic Publishing, 2007.
Schroeder, Gerald L. The Hidden Face of God. New York: The Free Press, 2001