The Eyes Have It

Scripture verses that caught my attention today: Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Observation: Makes sense, but seems almost impossible.

Application: I’m curious as to what it would be like to have truly ‘healthy’ eyes. Does anyone really have them?

The concept of beauty comes to mind. Most eyes are drawn to beauty, however that might be defined. It seems to me that a ‘healthy’ eye would see everyone as beautiful in his or her own way. Sadly, that’s seldom, if ever, the case. As an example, I have a remarkably honest colleague who told me some 20 years ago that, whether he wants to or not, the first thing he does when he sees any woman is to take a nanosecond and analyze her from the standpoint of sexual attractiveness. That doesn’t sound like a very ‘healthy’ eye. But I suspect it’s often how many, if not most, eyes work.

This is but another reminder of why recalling the events of this Holy Week is so important. In Jesus we find one whose appearance was despised and rejected. Instead of wanting to be NEAR him, the crowds shouted “AWAY with him…let him be crucified.” Their eyes, much like ours, were full of darkness. They couldn’t recognize the beauty of the one before them. One of the ancient church Fathers called it the “sweet exchange” and put it this way: “O the sweet exchange, O the incomprehensible work of God, O the unexpected blessings, that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous person, while the righteousness of One should justify many sinners!”

Prayer: Lord, thanks for your ways of literally bringing light to all darkened lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: 1 Samuel 22, Psalm 17 and 35, Matthew 6)