Jesus tells us in these two verses:
Matthew 6:22-23 "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!"
First of all, what was the “eye” Jesus was referring to? Was it the physical eyes we see things in nature, or was he referring to something else? King Solomon tells us in this verse:
Ecclesiastes 2:14 "The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all."
The wise man’s eyes are in his head. He could see things the fool could not see with his natural eyes. For example, the psalmist tells us in Psalms 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The fool said there is no God because he could not see God with his physical eyes, not wanting to consider the invisible things of him that are clearly seen (Romans 1:20). Solomon continues in the same verse “but the fool walketh in darkness.” John tells us in this verse:
1 John 1:5 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
The fool walketh in darkness because he can’t see the light of this world. Jesus is the light of the world, the true Light:
John 1:9 "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
Without the true Light lighting the way, the fool can’t see what’s in front of him, and the destiny that lies in wait for him. His natural eyes are no use because his mind is blind. Interestingly, King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:14 that “the wise man’s eyes are in his head.” Do you know that the pineal gland, a pine cone shaped organ in our head, acts as a “truth detector” capable of picking up subtle abnormalies and inconsistences, lies or subliminal messages?
The pineal gland is said to be the “third eye” in our human body. It is linked to perception and spiritual experience. Even Adrenochrome, which is harvested from the raised-adrenochrome-level blood of terrified children, comes from the pineal gland. Adrenochrome is a drug used by the rich and powerful in Hollywood and politics to restore their youth. Jesus tells us in:
Luke 11:34 "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness."
The light of the body is the eye. He was not referring to our physical eyes, but the eye in our body that could see things that our physical eyes could not see. If the fool walketh in darkness, that means that the wise man who sees the true Light, walks in the light. That, according to Jesus can only happen if “thine eye be single.” The word “single” only appears twice in the 1611 King James Bible, and it means pure, uncompounded or unmixed in the simple sense. When the eye is “single,” it sees things as they really are, not mixed with the biases or opinions of others. Jesus continues “thy whole body also is full of light.” This connects to:
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
When the body is full of light, when the body is so filled with the true Light, it will shine before men. Paul reveals to us in these two verses:
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Born again believers are walking bibles known and read of all men, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. This is the “light” from the body that so shines before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven. The bible tells us in two places:
Psalms 119:105 "נ (NUN).Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Proverbs 6:23 "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:"
The written word of God, which consists of the commandment of God and the law of God, is light. This is the “light” which other men see in the body of born again believers, that points them to Jesus, the true Light of this world.
John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
That is also the mechanism by which God the Father draws men to Jesus, and that is through the body of born again believers, the church, which Jesus calls “the light of the world:”
Matthew 5:14 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
Jesus says in John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus was God the Son born the Son of man, the Word made flesh and dwelt among us. He was the light of the world when he was in the world. Likewise, born again believers are also the light of the world as long as we are in the world, and it is through the church that God the Father draws people to the true Light (Jesus).
1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
The church is the “body of Christ.” Link this to Luke 11:34 "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light.” The light of the body of Christ is the written word of God, and the “eye” is the window by which the body of Christ receives the true Light. Even our physical eyes are made like a pair of lens, so that light from an external source may enter. When the eye is “single,” when the eye of the mind is capable of seeing the things of the Spirit of God and receiving them as they really are, the light from the written word of God illuminates the body from within, so that a born again believer is full of the light of the word of God.
Matthew 6:23 "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!"
Again,think about the eyes as a pair of lens by which light from outside can enter in. If the eyes are tainted with opinions and biases, it won’t allow the pure light of the word of God to enter in. Without the light of the word of God, the whole body is full of darkness. It happen because the eye is evil, and because the eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness.
Proverbs 28:22 "He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him."
This verse tells us that an “evil eye” belongs to someone who hasteth to be rich (love of money), and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him. He is not just greedy, but is also proud and one-sided with the pompous ideas he loves that will make him get rich fast, not wanting to consider the things that he failed to do that will make him poor faster. He is partial in his judgment, and is incapable of seeing and receiving the truth as it really is. He is not satisfied with the truth, but seeks to corrupt it with biases and opinions. There is no fear of God and “love of the truth” with an evil eye.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
The absence of the love of the truth is automatically the love of a lie. An evil eye hates the truth and loves a lie. He would rather reject what is plainly written in the word of God for something which he conjures out of his own imagination, or perhaps from a theory or philosophy which he loves. There is no love of the truth in him that he might be saved. The hate of the truth is just like what the psalmist tells us in these verses:
Psalms 52:3-4 "Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue."
An evil eye loves evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. What about “devouring words?” Devouring words are like what Paul tells us in these verses:
2 Timothy 2:17-18 "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."
“Canker” is another word for cancer. These are words that will consume as doth a cancer. According to the Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (1828), canker is a disease that causes the bark of a tree to rot and fall off. In a human body, it is a virulent disease that corrodes, corrupts or destroys anything that stands in its way, until the whole body be consumed. An example of cancerous words are given in Paul’s testimony against Hymenaeus and Philetus who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrew the faith of some. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like the Preterists of today who teach that the resurrection is past already. Their evil eye could not read the word of God and receive it as it is written.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
An evil eye is also the “window” by which the Devil can make inroads into the lives of people with his lies and deception. It is the lies that blinded the minds of people from the truth. That is how the gospel is hid from them that are lost. It began with an evil eye which hates the truth and loves a lie. Rather than receiving the truth as it is and allowing it to change a person from within, the evil eye seeks to do the opposite. It seeks to change the law of God to justify a man’s sin. We have an example of that in:
Matthew 15:4-6 "For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
God’s commandment is to “Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” The scribes and the Pharisees, instead of teaching God’s commandment as it is written in the law of Moses, taught people to say “it is a gift” for the things they have gifted them instead of using those gifts as a means for them to honour their parents, so that children are dispensed from the law of Moses in their duty to honour their parents. Thus, they have made the commandment of God of none effect to the people by their tradition. Referring to the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus tells us in:
Matthew 15:14 "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
In this verse, Jesus calls the scribes and the Pharisees “blind leaders of the blind.” Blind, because they are as the fool who said in his heart, “There is no God.” Blind, because of their evil eye which won’t allow them to see the true Light (Jesus). Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:14 “the fool walketh in darkness.” Those would be the blind leading the blind. Jesus further tells us in Matthew 6:23 “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” He calls the “light” in them, darkness. This is witnessed by:
Luke 11:35-36 "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."
There is no light of the word of God in them, illuminating the body from within. Instead, it is another “light” called darkness filling the whole body. Verse 36 makes a reference to the word “candle” which Solomon calls the “spirit of man” in:
Proverbs 20:27 "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly."
The candle of the LORD in a born again believer is the spirit of the new man in him, which after Christ, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ezekiel 36:26 tells us “a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,” for believers born of God. Their body is full of light because of the candle of the LORD, illuminating the body from within “as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.” (Luke 11:36) But if the body is full of darkness, that means another spirit is giving out darkness (called “light”) from within. That is the spirit of the “old man,” being the opposite of the new man, which is corrupt and serves sin.
John 10: 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
Max, thank you
“Born again believers are walking bibles known and read of all men, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God” 🙏. Beautifully said!