Sermon on the Mount, part 10

The generous eyes

 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mat 6:22-23)

The healthy eyes, the NIV translators tell us in a footnote, imply generosity, while the unhealthy eyes imply stinginess. The generosity being called for here is towards enemies and debtors. The light imagery connected with the concept of generosity towards enemies and debtors illuminates the meaning of the call for Jesus’ followers to be light to the world near the beginning of the sermon.

Two masters

 ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Mat 6:24)

Jesus here identifies the driving force of the violence of the legal system: it is all about the money! Modern asset protection consultants say the same thing.  Jesus again emphasises that when entering a business transaction or experiencing an injury or loss that we have a potentially expensive choice to make: whether or not we shall resort to the violence of the court system. To invoke or choose litigation is to serve money. One cannot be free of evil while using evil means to pursue our debtors.