“If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
Matthew 6:22
It’s a strange verse this, on first reading it doesn’t seem to make much sense.
In order to understand it we have to dive into the culture of the ancient world.
Many people will have heard of the ‘Evil Eye’. It’s the idea that people can bring harm to others by looking at them with hatred – an optical curse.
In the ancient world this was very much seen as a reality. People wore protective amulets, or had tattoos to ward off the Evil Eye.
There are many passages in the bible and the apocrypha which refer to this belief.[1]
In Middle East understanding the heart is the source of light which shines out of the eye and rest on those we see around us.
This light can be malevolent (the Evil Eye) or benevolent, as our gaze rests on others it is either a cause of curse or a cause of blessing.
“The eye thus reveals the character of a person.
Good-hearted people possess good eyes and throw off good light;
evil -hearted persons possess evil eyes and throw off evil light.
Moreover, since this light actually falls on whatever a person looks at, it also brings into being what the heart producing it intends.
In this way generous persons can look on others and do actual good, while envious persons can look on others and do real damage.
A culturally sensitive translation would therefore read differently:
The eye is the lamp of the body.
So, if your heart is generous (ἁπλοῡς, haplous), your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is evil (πονηρός, ponērós), your whole body will be full of darkness.”[2]
So Jesus’ statement is referring to how we look upon, and by direct inference, how we treat those around us.
Do we see people as deserving of our care and concern? Do we look benevolently upon them and seek out opportunities to do them good?
Or do we look at others with disinterest or contempt, do we ignore their plight, do we fail to help when we can?
How we look is revelatory of who we really are. Our heart is seen through our eyes, through their way of seeing the world and the conduct it leads us to.
How do you see?
How is your ophthalmic health?
Do you see well?
[1] Prov 23:6; 28:22; Deut 15:7-9; 28:54-57; Sir 14:3-10; 18:18; 31:12-13; 37:7-12; Tob 4:15-17; 4 Macc 1:16; 2:15; Matt 6:22-23; 20:1-15; Mark 7:22; Luke 11:33-36; Gal 3:1
[2] Dr. Richard Rohrbaugh, The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, p3
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