Matthew 6:23

My Notes

What Does Matthew 6:23 Mean?

"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!" Jesus describes the spiritual eye as the body's lamp (verse 22). If the eye is healthy ("single"), the whole body has light. If the eye is evil, the whole body is dark. The eye determines whether you live in light or darkness.

The phrase "the light that is in thee" refers to your internal capacity for sight — your spiritual perception, your moral vision, your ability to see truth. If this internal light is actually darkness — if what you think is illumination is actually blindness — then the darkness is profound. You can't fix what you can't see, and you can't see when your light source is dark.

The word "evil" (poneros) in the context of eyes means grudging, envious, or stingy (the "evil eye" in Semitic culture was associated with greed). The surrounding context discusses money (verse 19-24), suggesting that the evil eye is specifically the eye that looks at the world through the lens of greed.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How do you know if your 'light' is actually light or actually darkness?
• 2.What might you be seeing through a 'greedy eye' that distorts your perception of reality?
• 3.Why is darkness-that-thinks-it's-light more dangerous than simple darkness?
• 4.Who could help you test whether your internal light source is genuine?

Devotional

If your light is actually darkness, how deep is the darkness? Jesus describes the worst possible spiritual condition: thinking you can see when you're actually blind. Believing your perception is light when it's actually dark.

This is more terrifying than simple darkness. In simple darkness, you know you can't see. You grope, you stumble, you cry for light. But when your darkness thinks it's light — when your blindness is convinced it's sight — you walk confidently in the wrong direction. You don't grope because you don't know you're blind. The darkness that believes it's light is the deepest darkness possible.

The evil eye, in the surrounding context, is the eye of greed — the eye that looks at the world as something to consume rather than something to steward. When greed becomes your lens, everything you see is distorted. Generosity looks like foolishness. People look like resources. God looks like an obstacle to your acquisition. The greedy eye produces comprehensive darkness because it corrupts every perception.

The question Jesus asks — "how great is that darkness" — is rhetorical. The answer is: immeasurably great. Darkness you know about is limited. Darkness you think is light is limitless. It extends to every corner of your life because there's no part of your perception that isn't affected.

Is your light actually light? Or is what you call clear sight actually a greedy eye calling itself good vision?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture