Your eye is the
lamp of your body
Luke 11:33-36
Key verse 34a – “Your eye is the lamp
of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of
light.”
Introduction:
Have any of you gone through a tough
time in your life? My first grandson was just two months old when one of his
heart valves ruptured. He was breathing very shallowly, his face was gray, and his skin was very cold.
These were ominous signs of death. Darkness filled his parents’ hearts. My
heart was also full of darkness, because I felt the impending crisis facing his life. In such situations as this,
we all face darkness; there seemed to be no light at all! One of our students
was living with drug gangs. Two of his friends were gunned down, he was hooked on
cocaine, and his life was constantly in danger. He couldn’t see any hope in his
life. How can we see the light, even
in situations like this?
Jesus healed a demon-possessed man by
driving the demon out of him. This man was living in darkness, but, when Jesus
drove the demon out of him, his life was renewed. This new life was the true
light for him and for many of those surrounding him. He smiled with joy and
happiness, And even talked to the crowd
with friendly greetings and remarks. Compared
to his previous situation, his life was full of light, and all darkness was
gone.
Many saw the light that shone in this
man - how he was full of life, joy, vitality, and meaning - but others did not see
it and would not accept such power as power of light, ascribing it to the power
of darkness. In today’s passage, Jesus gives an explanation of why one does not
have light in his or her life. Also, he offers ways in which we can experience
the true light in our lives. I pray that all of us have the true light of life
and may be filled with joy, peace, hope, and vision.
1.
We need light to drive away darkness so
that we can see things (Luke 11:33).
"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it
will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that
those who come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33).
What are the darkness’ most important
characteristics? It is the absence of light and our inability to see things. So,
in darkness, we become confused and filled with fear and uncertainty. On the
other hand, the light’s most important characteristic is enabling us to see
things clearly. A lamp is lit so that people may see the things around it. Also,
it must be placed on a stand, so that the light may shine on everything around
it. The simple truth is that the only remedy for removing darkness is to let
the light shine; there is no other way.
What does darkness do to our lives?
What does the light do for our lives? When I was in middle school, I had to get
tutoring for my English from a teacher living a mile away from my house. The
tutoring hours was started about 7 pm. In fall and winter, it was pitch dark and there were no
street lights. I could barely see 10 yards ahead of me. Also, there were many tall
trees, each about several hundred years old, in which many bats were nesting. When
I got close to them, it looked like a monster or humungous giant to my eyes. The
moment I set out from my house, a bat always seemed to follow me around. There
was barely anyone on the street. I was always fearful to walk to my tutor’s
house. The fear came from the darkness, because I could not see and I felt that
my life could be threatened at any moment. Likewise, darkness was directly
connected to my fear. If it was daytime and I could see everything around, I
would not fear at all. Darkness and fear are tightly bound together, because,
in the darkness, I feel that I cannot defend my life and that my life was vulnerable
to all kinds of unknown attacks, either by animals or people, such as robbers. On
the other hand, when there is light, I can see everything and can navigate my
life safely; I don’t feel threatened or endangered. I can even sing with joy. If
I cannot see anything hopeful for the
next 10 or 50 years, it would be devastating to my spirit. My heart would be
filled with utter darkness! But if I can see a bright future coming in 100
years, then my life would be filled with great joy, even with temporary hardships.
This is not just a principle that I
perceived in my immediate environment. When the whole world was created and
sustained, the sun’s light shone on the earth and all lives on the earth were
sustained by its light. Here, we are talking about physical light and the
absence of light, i.e. darkness.
So, according to what we know through
the light we enjoy every day, we can discern three connected concepts - darkness, the inability
to see, and my fear for my life vs. light,
the ability to see, and comfort for life. Likewise, darkness is inherently
tied to death or lifelessness, but light is invariably associated with life.
At the same time, Jesus was speaking figuratively
about light and darkness; light is representative of the truth that gives life, and darkness represents
living without that light.
In ordinary times, this is not
evident, but when we face danger in our lives, darkness overshadows our inmost
being. There are many ideas, wisdoms, philosophies, and so-called truths, such as false
religions, but none of these provide meaningful help in such times of darkness.
Matthew captures this:
Matthew 4:16 - “the people living in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned."
Only light drives away darkness and
we need the true light that overcomes death’s power. Also, one thing we know is
that, within us, there is no light; it must come from outside. Where or from
whom can the light come to us? How can
it come into our lives? How can that light be ours? Jesus teaches us the
answers to these questions.
2.
Your eyes are the lamp of your body (Luke
11:34).
Luke 11:34 – “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your
eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are
unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.”
Our eyes are the lamp of our bodies
in the sense that, through our eyes, we see things and perceive many outside truths.
So we come to know things through our eyes, and then we are able to do all kinds
of lifeworks and to navigate our lives with joy and peace. We can avoid dangers
and enjoy fun things, but when our eyes
are not healthy and we have trouble seeing things, we cannot have all of the information we need to make sound
judgments in our lives. Such is the case when we are old and cannot see well; we
are not allowed to drive because it is dangerous for blind people to drive. If they
drive a car, they can kill people, or kill themselves, because they cannot see
things clearly.
In Genesis 27, we learn that Isaac
was very old and could not see well, so his ability to understand things was
greatly compromised. His sense of judgment was heavily dependent on what he received
from his two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was a hunter and brought his father
delicious meat. Isaac did not know what else was going on in his sons’ lives. He
was about to give his full blessing to Esau, even though God’s will was not
with him; this is a prime example of how bad eyes lead one to spiritual
blindness and erroneous judgment in life.
So figuratively, our eyes are the
lamp for our bodies. They are the source of light for our whole being. The
health of our eyes will greatly affect the amount of light in our body.
Our eyes’ health is a concern we
have; here, eyes are given in a figurative sense, to signify one’s view of
things. Whatever we see, we must process the information we have in our minds.
If one processes things in view of light and truth, the outcome is good, positive, and godly, but when one processes
things in view of darkness, the result is hopelessness, pain, sorrow, and the shadow
of death. The best example of this is the Pharisees. They processed what they
saw, Jesus’ driving out demons, and concluded that he drove out demons with the
power of the prince of demons. Likewise, the health of our eyes implies the
health of our mind that processes all the information we acquire through our
eyes and ears!
Here we can discern two things: first,
eyes process all the information so its health is
important, and second, we either
entertain light or darkness in our lives.
When one’s eyes process whether all the information is good or
bad, this is vital for our bodies. If one strains out all the bad, dark, or ungodly things, and at the same time,
entertains all godly truth, then his
body is filled with light, but if not, his mind and heart will be filled with
darkness.
So what we entertain through our eyes
will affect our spirit and mind. If what we entertain is good and right, then
our hearts are filled with what is good and right. So it is about what we know,
understand, and believe. In this way, what we see through our
eyes will greatly affect our inner being.
Then what maintains the healthiness
of our eyes?
Let’s think first about what causes
one’s eyes to go bad.
Romans 1:28 – “Furthermore, just as they
did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them
over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.”
When one rejects God’s authority and despises His
word, they will be given over to a depraved mind, which will greatly compromise
one’s eyesight.
How can one make his eyes healthy?
Psalm 111:10 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal
praise.” Proverbs 1:7 – “The fear
of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom
and instruction.”
Proverbs 9:10 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the
Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs
14:27 – “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning a person from the snares of death.”
Proverbs
15:16 – “Better a little with the fear of the LORD than
great wealth with turmoil.”
Proverbs
19:23 – “The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one
rests content, untouched by trouble.”
Proverbs 22:4 – “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and
life.”
Likewise, these people came to
realize again and again that the fear of the Lord is the source of wisdom, truth, and life. It gives health to the eyes so
they can see things correctly. Do you want to have healthy eyes and see things clearly,
seeing light in all situations? Begin to view things according to the fear of
the Lord in the depth of your heart.
To those who saw this and rejoiced in
God’s mighty power, their hearts were filled with joy and Jesus characterized
such men in this way:
Matthew 13:16 – “But blessed are your eyes because they see,
and your ears because they hear.”
The disciples were able to see the
light because they feared God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Creator of
life.
John 3:20 – “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will
not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
If we fill our hearts with violence,
sexual immorality, and all kinds of cunning and evil schemes, our hearts will
be filled with such things. Darkness will fill our heart, our view, our thinking, and our way of seeing
things will change under those dark elements. Eventually, it will totally
distort our minds and our view; when Israel filled themselves with ungodly
things, God spoke to them through the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 12:2 - "Son of man, you are living among a
rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do
not hear, for they are a rebellious people.”
Even though they had seen the things
of God and heard the word of truth, the Israelites filled their hearts with so
many ungodly things, that their hearts
became rebellious and could not accept the true light.
We have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Though all have eyes to see, all do not process what they see perfectly and
correctly.
In this event, many saw God’s mighty
hand that brought light to the mute man, but the Pharisees failed to see it.
The reason for this is clear: their hearts were filled with ungodly things.
Jesus again characterized such people like this:
Mark 8:18 – “Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but
fail to hear? And don't you remember?”
On the other hand, for those who saw
this event and rejoiced in God’s mighty power, their hearts were filled with
joy and Jesus characterized such men in this way:
Matthew 13:16 – “But blessed are your eyes because they see,
and your ears because they hear.”
The disciples were able to see the
light, because they feared God, the creator of heaven and earth, the creator of
life.
John 3:20 – “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will
not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
3. What is within you, light
or darkness (Luke 11:35)?
Luke 11:35 – “See to it, then, that the light within you is
not darkness.”
How can one know whether he has light
or darkness in his heart? The Pharisees thought that they knew the truth better
than anyone out there, so they were certain that they had the light of truth in
their hearts. Thus, they were filled with pride in what they knew and how they
walked in the truth.
In many aspects, we are not so different
from Pharisees. First, we all have set our minds on things we know and believe. We are comfortable doing things according to our beliefs and
knowledge. We also reject any idea that does not fit into our premise and principles of truth. We live by the truth that
we are most comfortable with or confident in.
Then how do
we know whether what we have is light or darkness?
Confucius said that, if he came to
know the truth today, he had no regret to die tomorrow. So, in search for the
truth, man makes many attempts to find out the truth.
Many play the lottery, because they
believe that a million dollars may come to them. If that happens, then they think
they would be worry–free, carefree, and would
enjoy life more. They believe that this is the way of life, that life is found in
luck and chances.
One day, Buddha saw the world and
came to realize a deep sense of truth - that life is being born and dying,
without a person changing much, while the world continues on. So he became so
convinced of the truth that life is cyclical that he concocted a religion. But there
was no life or light in it at all.
All of these things are not the truth,
the light, or the answers to life. They are not light, but darkness. Then how
can we know what is inside of us? What Jesus said was so troubling for many,
because it questioned the validity of what we have laid as the foundation of
our lives? Many Muslims tried to do one good thing a day and pray three times,
believing that, if they do so, then they might be accepted by God. Many of them
are so convinced that they would even die for that faith.
Luke 11:35 – “Therefore be careful lest the light in you be
darkness.”
“Be careful” is an imperative command;
you must make sure that whatever is in you shall not be darkness.
Why would someone not be able to discern
darkness from light or vice versa?
·
Truthfully,
Darkness is very temporal and never
everlasting.
·
Light
gives life and any light that does not give life is not true light.
These two are the tests to prove if
what one has in his inner being is true light or not. If anything that one calls
‘light’ fails these tests, then that is not true light.
Let’s go
with the second test first:
This is the test: does it give life
or not? If it does, then it is true light! The mute man was living in misery.
Demonic forces had taken control of his life, and he was overshadowed by death.
But Jesus drove the demonic forces out of this man and gave him life. So what Jesus did, the miracle, is an example of the true light from God, since it gave
life. When one comes to know this light and believe in Jesus as the true Light,
light comes into his heart and his life is filled with light. Matthew saw Jesus
and asserted this truth:
Matthew 4:16 – “the people living in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned."
What about many other truths that claim to be light? Muslim beliefs
claim to be true, but such beliefs never give life; they may have the
appearance of light, but is not the true light, because such beliefs do not
provide life at all and may instead force people to do what they cannot do. No
other religion besides Christianity provides life. The same is true for all
human philosophies and sciences and many political and social ideologies. Many
are captured by the ideals of feminism, naturalism, humanism, and many other isms. So it is for
all political ideologies, such as communism, capitalism, socialism, and totalitarianism. Even the best of human efforts do not give any life
at all, so they are not the true light either. Why? It is because all these
have no connection with the Lord, the creator of life. The result is clear;
they cannot deliver life and can never give true light.
But Jesus, by healing a demon-possessed
man, gave proof that he can and will give life to mankind living under the power
of darkness. Jesus also raised Lazarus to life and proved himself as the Giver
of life. So for those who are living under the shadow of death, he is the one
and only true light. Jesus declared this truth:
John 8:12 – “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life."”
Jesus demonstrated that he gives
life. He declared that he is the light of the world. He lived as the light of
the world and gave life to all sinful men through his death and resurrection.
So Jesus is the one and only light of the world. No one else! No religious, political,
or social ideologies can provide life to any man.
Let’s go on to test the first principle; does the claimed truth or light last forever?
All the false lights of this world
are temporal and never last forever. When I ask Muslim students if they know
whether they would go to heaven or not, invariably they say “I don’t know, I guess I would”. Mohamed died
and is still in his tomb. He had many ideas, but never proved them to be true.
Particularly, in regard to life and eternity, his teachings are totally
ignorant. What about Buddhism? They seem to support life, but one of the main
themes is to accept the power of death as the inescapable way of life. Feminism
seems to liberate women and to shed great light on them. Nevertheless, feminism
gives very temporal benefits, because the essential fate of women has not
changed since the fall of human beings. Capitalism and materialism are all
temporal and have no lasting value. Steve Jobs built Apple into a world-class
tech company, but, at the age 56, he died of liver failure. One thing we must realize
and admit in the depths of our hearts is that anything that is temporal cannot
give us life nor have anything to do with life.
What about Jesus? Even though he was
God, he came down in flesh and lived among us for a while to give us the true
light that brings us to eternity with the Lord. Jesus died, resurrected, and showed himself to many of his
disciples. He proved that he is eternal and gave us the true conviction that we
too can resurrect and live eternally with the Lord, the creator of heaven and
earth! Jesus, the only one who could overcome the power of death, declared
himself to be the light:
John 8:12 – “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life."”
This light is in his life and in his
word. This enduring life is promised in Scripture:
Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away.”
John 5:24 - "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my
word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but
has crossed over from death to life.”
Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, also confirmed
this by saying:
1 Peter 1:25 – ““but the word of the Lord endures
forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.”
What does this tell us? The true
light is not in the world, not of the world, not in human intellect, nor of human
wisdom. There is only one true light; Jesus is the true light, because he is
the creator of life. This Jesus shone the true light into the darkness by his
miracles, his words, and his life. When we let this light come into our
hearts, minds, and spirits to fill us , then we will be filled with the life
that endures forever. There won’t be any more darkness.
What are we to do then?
Luke 11:36 – ““Therefore, if your whole body is full of
light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp
shines its light on you."”
Though we are under darkness, we can
fill our inner being with light by letting light come from the outside into the depth of
our beings. Since Jesus is the only true light, we have to let his light shine
into our hearts. Then our whole being will be filled with light.
Most likely, the entire village had
been under great duress because of this mute man, a man totally beyond anyone’s
control and very threatening to his own
life as well as the lives of others. But Jesus, the only true light, shone as
he drove the demon out of this man. Likewise, the healing of the demon-possessed
man resulted in the light that shone into the darkness of many hearts.
When we see this light, accept it deep into our hearts, and are filled with light, we can not only see well, but we are also filled with joy, hope, and a vision for eternity. We have the
kind of life that can never be taken away or smashed. Life in Jesus endures forever! This
is the true light for you and for all of us!
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