February 3, 2021
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But 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! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:21-24 KJV)
Jesus used parables about routine daily activities to help teach people about the Kingdom of Heaven and about the nature and character of God our Father. One of those parables, is recorded in Matthew 20:1-16, which is often referred to as the Parable of the Vineyard Workers. In this story, a landowner went into the marketplace several times one day, and each time, hired workers to come work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, he told his foreman to pay them all the same daily wage even though some of them worked all day, some part of the day, and others for only one hour. The workers who worked all day were indignant that they were all paid the same wage. The landowner’s response was, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15 NIV).
I read this parable this morning and while pondering it, I asked my Father to give me something to receive and to obey. During this process I read the parable in several translations. I found significant differences in the wording in those translations. The King James Version of Matthew 20:15 says, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” I do not know about you, but I do not consider “envious” and “evil eye” being synonymous or interchangeable in a sentence.
As I pondered the words “evil eye” I remembered this phrase being used in the KJV account of Matthew 6:21-24 where Jesus warned his followers that they could not serve two masters. This led me to reading these scriptures in the Complete Jewish Study Bible which is a paraphrase translation that focuses on the fact that Jesus was an observant Jew, and his disciples were Jews, and therefore understood what he said through the uniqueness of Jewish culture. A commentary in this translation indicated that the phrases “good eye” and “evil eye” are Jewish idioms. Having a “good eye” meant being generous and having an “evil eye” meant being stingy.
This opened a whole new understanding for me of why Jesus talked about having a good eye or an evil eye in the middle of him teaching about not storing up wealth in this world. The English word good is translated from the Greek word “agathos” in the Bible and means that which is intrinsically good. Jesus said that no one, but his Father was good (Matthew 19:17). The very core characteristic of the nature of God our Father is love, being and seeking the welfare of another. Jesus said that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for another (John 15:13). What could be more generous than the love of the Father being lavished on us his children. (1 John 3:1)?
If this be so, then what could be less loving than to be stingy, to withhold what is in my hands rather than using it to bless someone in need (Proverbs 3:28). Jesus said’ “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9 NIV). He spoke this in the same context of Matthew 6:19-24 where he spoke about having a good eye or evil eye! As I ponder the life and teaching of Jesus, I do not think that having a good eye (being generous) or evil eye (being stingy) is limited only to how I use worldly wealth. It must also include all that I am, including how I use my talents, giftings, my time … to bless and to encourage people…. including those who are different from me and that I may disagree with.
Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth and from that fullness he has given us grace upon grace (John 1:14-16). I am to abide in that grace and then pour it out on others with the assurance that I will never exhaust his grace being poured out upon me. I do not want it to be said of me that I have an evil eye. For I am made in his image, I am his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works (loving my neighbor as myself) that he created in advance for me to do (Ephesians 2:10)
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NIV)
Blessings,
Kevin