Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think what was confusing me was the way the statement is structured. Just looking at light doesn't really make your body full of light in any concrete way, or your heart either. Just looking at evil doesn't make your body full of darkness. But if you take it in the context of the passage that comes before (don't store up treasures on earth), and the passages that comes after (no one can serve both God and finance and don't worry about your earthly needs), it becomes more clear that the eye focused on the hereafter has different priorities than the eye focused on getting ahead in the world.
So, as for 6:22-23, Jesse has answered you well. The eye is often thought of as the window to your soul. In these verses the eye is said to be a light into one's body, so perhaps in this instance, if your eye is evil it reveals the darkness in your being, but if it is single, then it shows the light/goodness in your being. I understand that by saying that the eye is 'single" Jesus means without deceit, malice, or ill will towards one's neighbor or rebellion towards God. Truly, only believers in Christ can have a 'single' eye because non-believers are in darkness of sin and separated from the eternal light and life of God. But in Christ, we are in the light as He is in the light and have our consciouses cleansed by the removal of our sin by Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, a believers has the light of Christ in our beings and His eye was truly "single", without any semblance of actual sin in Himself. He was truly the light of the world and when we are in Him, we too have that eternal light of life in us, too. We, too, can love God and our neighbor as Jesus is explaining in this Sermon on the Mount.
This was helpful, as I noticed that one of the translations for what the eye should be is related to the word for generous, or also candid. Could it possibly translate as trusting, as opposed to cynical? Don't know the Hebrew word for either of these.
Matthew 6 is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus expounded on the Law of Moses, bringing out nuances and deeper meaning and therefore both external and internal responsibilities to obedience.
In verses 22-23 Jesus is speaking of contentions between siblings or fellow believers (brother). He is saying that we are to settle disagreements and offenses with each other right away with sincerity and love. We are not to hold grudges or continue to "grind" about an offense, nor are we to resort to name-calling (fool) as this is not loving your neighbor as oneself.
He is also telling us that we are to restore this relationship before bringing and offering before and unto God, speaking of the OT offerings of fellowship and/or sin.
So, we cannot expect to have right fellowship with God if our fellowship with a brother in Christ is broken. This does not mean we have to have restored fellowship with those who live wickedly or who refuse right fellowship in Christ. But it does mean that we are to work at keeping our Christian relationships clean of offenses and grudges, bickering, gossiping, etc.
This is very difficult to do, so, like the other admonitions Jesus gave in this Sermon, He explained how one is to keep a law from the heart, which only He could truly do. His emphasis was that when we examine our lives and hold them up to the standards He laid out in this Sermon, we see our utter hopelessness in being perfectly aligned with the demands of the law. Therefore, we see our need for a Savior, as we realize that our heart is still sinful even if we keep the law outwardly. We deserve to not enter the kingdom of God on our own merits. But, in Jesus, we have the forgiveness of sins and the power of the Holy Spirit to become more and more like Jesus..
I think that these verses remind me that we can always improve on how we treat others, either in privated or publically, in what we do or say, and in what we think or desire in our hearts.
In Matthew Chapter 6 Verses 22 and 23, Jesus talks about the eye.
He said the light of the body is the eye: and therefore if your eye is single, the whole body is full of light. But if the eye is evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.
Here's what that means from a Hebrew standpoint:
First of all the word "single" has to do with focus, for the good eye is a generous person. The bad eye is a stingy person in the eyes of the Jews.
So if you have a good eye, and you are generous, then your focus is right. If you have a bad or corrupt eye, you are stingy and your focus is in the wrong place.
In other words, when it is focused on the single object of the light, then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
That is a Hebraism by the way. The Jews used to say that a person who had a single eye, a good eye, is a generous person. They are focused on one thing and that's the need of other people. But a person who has an evil eye is a selfish person and is only looking to get for themselves.
Jesus is using this concept again for the body. Your mind, your intake that ministers to your mind and feeds information to your mind, is the eye. If your body is full of light, if it is light then your whole body is full of light. And when it is evil your body is dark.
Hi , I used to struggle with this also . Finally I've come to this conclusion , though I may have it wrong and I'll be interested to hear any other explanations , it's about what we are focused on , the previous verses are talking about the difference between worldly things and heavenly things , if we are focused on heavenly things then we will be full of light and others might even see our light which comes from Christ in our hearts , if we are focused on worldly things , money , gain , greed etc then we will show that to the world and we will not be full of light but full of darkness . I only have to spend a short time with atheists , listening to their worldly conversation about cars and houses and holidays and money and I know I'm in the wrong company . I'm sure atheists find me a very boring person to be around as I'm not interested in the same things as they are so I don't have much to talk to them about . Hope that helps , I'm looking forward to reading some better replies than mine :) .
Am having trouble with Matthew 6:22-23. Can see it's a metaphor, but not really sure what the metaphor is. Read the commentaries, but don't feel solid with them. Feedback, anybody? Thoughts and guesses welcome.
For the believer, Jesus is our hope ( 1 Timothy 1:1), He is our peace ( Ephesians 2:14), He is the light of the world ( John 8:12), He is the good shepherd who gave His life for His sheep (All those who have surrendered their life to Him ( John 10:11), He is the head of the church ( Ephesians 1:22), He is the only one who sets us free from our sin ( John 8:36), He is our redeemer ( Job 19:25), He is the only atoning sacrifice for our sin ( 1 John 4:10), He is the Savior of those who receive Him ( Luke 2:11, John 1:12), He is the creator of all things ( Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:1-3), He is the word of God, and He is God ( John 1:1, Isaiah 9:6), He is our only way to salvation ( John 10:9, John 14:6).
There are many, many more descriptors in the Bible that tell us who Jesus is, but it would take many more posts to list them all.
Start at Matthew chapter 6 verse 24+25 , then go to verse 27 , then 31 . Those verses should help you put it all together . Verse 34 is saying , try not to worry too much about tomorrow , get through today , face your challenges one day at a time . Trust in God and He will help you get through your trials . The crux of the matter is in verse 32 , God knows what we need every day , seek God , put Him first in your life and all the things that you need each day will be provided for you by God .
It is a natural incline to show our good deeds towards other people so that we appear "good" in the eyes of men. Our fleshly nature wants other people to publicly praise us and recognize our heroism and bravery to rescue other fellows when they are in times of need.
However, Jesus took a different approach here to teach us that what matters is not what men see or think, but it is what God thinks. This should bring us to re-examine the very intent of our heart when we do certain things.
Let us do things, not to be seen or praised by men but rather to be approved by God.
My understanding of the oneness of the Godhead is that they all possess to the divine nature or essence equally and infinitely. The divine nature is not something that they can get from outside of their Being. It is innate in all three Persons and everlasting. This is just like the Godhead cannot get life from outside of themself due to being self-existent. Same is true of power and knowledge and all other aspects of this one divine essence. This essence cannot be added to nor subtracted from any of the Persons of the Godhead because God possesses this essence to perfection and total completion even though there are no bounds nor limits to the infiniteness of His Being.
I concur with S.Spencer that God's essential nature is that of Pure Spirit, not being made of any particles of matter. It is only Jesus who took upon Himself humanity and therefore, His human body consists of particles of matter, like all other humans. But He did not subtract His Divinity to become man. He kept it because it is Who He is as God. But we will see Him in His humanity forever in heaven, which is the perfect image of God in man.
I hope this helps. This is a big subject. I think of how Jesus said that He and the Father are one. And I also think of how all three Persons of the Godhead are named as God in Scripture in many places. I do no know of a Scripture that easily explains how these three distinct divine Persons are One. I think it is a divine mystery revealed through Jesus but not fully explained.
Hello Aljenon....In Isaiah 11 :1 ...Also the Davidic Kingdom was Jesse David and Solomon....They were all 3 related as Father Son and Granson.... Isaiah 11 :1....And Isaiah uses these 3 men as symbolic language for a Kingdom that is coming the last day when God will gather the remnant of his ppl... Isaiah 11:11....The rod that came out of Jesse was David the son and the branch that came out of David was Solomon the Granson....And God wd not let David the son build that great temple...God wd only allow Solomon the Granson to build the temple..... Isaiah is using this Father Son and Granson scenario to describe a kingdom coming in the last days that is gona judge this whole world in righteousness....And Jesus identifies with this Jesse David and Solomon Kingdom saying i am the root and the offspring of David...The bright and the morning star.. Rev 22:16 kjv
......And this Isaiah 11 was written approx. 250 yrs after that Jesse,..David and Solomon had long died....But Isaiah is still using these 3 men as symbolic language for a kingdom coming the last days....And this was a Father Son and Granson type of Kingdom coming in the last days.... Isaiah 11:11 kjv....Thus an Israel of God wd have to follow soon.
..... Isaiah 11:1...There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse which was David the son and a branch shall come out of his roots which was Solomon the Granson...ok lemme go
Ephesians 4:4-6. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
GOD IS A SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.
I CAME FORTH FROM THE FATHER, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. John 16:28.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, WHICH IS IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER, he hath declared him. John 1:18.
God is spirit, Jesus came forth from that Spirit, and we are baptized by that spirit.
John 17:22-23. ppAnd the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Hello Aljenon....Its very easy to understand the God head....Its exactly like Abraham Issac and Jacob....The question is what made Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 1...It was their blood line....3 Distincts beings but the 1 singular FATHER OF Israel....Simply b/c they were all 3 RELATED as Father, Son and Granson....That were multiplied as the sands of the seas in multitudes....From the 12 tribes.
.......And the Heavenly Trinity is also Father ,Son and Granson....And they are all 3 related in the Spirit but 3 distinct beings....And out of the Kingdom will come 12 manner of fruit...Rev.22:2...Which answers to the 12 tribes in the spritual realm....Thus an Israel of God that is gonna be as the stars in Heaven in multitudes....The very fact that we have a father and a Son Begs the question of a Granson....And 12 manner of fruit from the KiNGDOM....An Israel of God that are Spirits that is gonna be born in humanity....I Will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh....Everybody is gona get a seed The Living word and is a living being the Children of Promise....Thats y Jesus was saying if i tell you of earthy things and you believe not how shall i tell you of heavenly things....Everything thing in the O.T. was just a shadow of things in the N.T.
......The H.G. the Granson cannot be born in us unless Jesus sows his good seed in us....Thats y Isaiah refers to Jesus as everlasting FATHER....Jesus is able and willing to propagate, and Regenerate himself in humanity via his seed ...Thats y he has to KNOW us....Thus there is a 3 rd PERSON THE H.G. the Granson...Jesus is not impotent he wants to sow his good seed in humanity....Thats y Jeremiah saw all men in travail and birth pains....There is a baby Christ in our future which is the H.G. That Child of PROMISE....Thats y Elijah has to come in that last day and turn the hearts of the FATHERS to the Children....The babes and sucklings he mentioned....That New Born Babe DESIRING THE SINCERE MILK OF WORD...is the H.G. THE CHILD of Promise...
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Answer:
I will be delivered and who it concerns through our Lord Jesus Christ in oral tradition
Psalm 91:3 KJV
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the noisome pestilence.
I commented on 5:22-23
So, as for 6:22-23, Jesse has answered you well. The eye is often thought of as the window to your soul. In these verses the eye is said to be a light into one's body, so perhaps in this instance, if your eye is evil it reveals the darkness in your being, but if it is single, then it shows the light/goodness in your being. I understand that by saying that the eye is 'single" Jesus means without deceit, malice, or ill will towards one's neighbor or rebellion towards God. Truly, only believers in Christ can have a 'single' eye because non-believers are in darkness of sin and separated from the eternal light and life of God. But in Christ, we are in the light as He is in the light and have our consciouses cleansed by the removal of our sin by Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, a believers has the light of Christ in our beings and His eye was truly "single", without any semblance of actual sin in Himself. He was truly the light of the world and when we are in Him, we too have that eternal light of life in us, too. We, too, can love God and our neighbor as Jesus is explaining in this Sermon on the Mount.
.
Matthew 6 is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus expounded on the Law of Moses, bringing out nuances and deeper meaning and therefore both external and internal responsibilities to obedience.
In verses 22-23 Jesus is speaking of contentions between siblings or fellow believers (brother). He is saying that we are to settle disagreements and offenses with each other right away with sincerity and love. We are not to hold grudges or continue to "grind" about an offense, nor are we to resort to name-calling (fool) as this is not loving your neighbor as oneself.
He is also telling us that we are to restore this relationship before bringing and offering before and unto God, speaking of the OT offerings of fellowship and/or sin.
So, we cannot expect to have right fellowship with God if our fellowship with a brother in Christ is broken. This does not mean we have to have restored fellowship with those who live wickedly or who refuse right fellowship in Christ. But it does mean that we are to work at keeping our Christian relationships clean of offenses and grudges, bickering, gossiping, etc.
This is very difficult to do, so, like the other admonitions Jesus gave in this Sermon, He explained how one is to keep a law from the heart, which only He could truly do. His emphasis was that when we examine our lives and hold them up to the standards He laid out in this Sermon, we see our utter hopelessness in being perfectly aligned with the demands of the law. Therefore, we see our need for a Savior, as we realize that our heart is still sinful even if we keep the law outwardly. We deserve to not enter the kingdom of God on our own merits. But, in Jesus, we have the forgiveness of sins and the power of the Holy Spirit to become more and more like Jesus..
I think that these verses remind me that we can always improve on how we treat others, either in privated or publically, in what we do or say, and in what we think or desire in our hearts.
In Matthew Chapter 6 Verses 22 and 23, Jesus talks about the eye.
He said the light of the body is the eye: and therefore if your eye is single, the whole body is full of light. But if the eye is evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.
Here's what that means from a Hebrew standpoint:
First of all the word "single" has to do with focus, for the good eye is a generous person. The bad eye is a stingy person in the eyes of the Jews.
So if you have a good eye, and you are generous, then your focus is right. If you have a bad or corrupt eye, you are stingy and your focus is in the wrong place.
In other words, when it is focused on the single object of the light, then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
That is a Hebraism by the way. The Jews used to say that a person who had a single eye, a good eye, is a generous person. They are focused on one thing and that's the need of other people. But a person who has an evil eye is a selfish person and is only looking to get for themselves.
Jesus is using this concept again for the body. Your mind, your intake that ministers to your mind and feeds information to your mind, is the eye. If your body is full of light, if it is light then your whole body is full of light. And when it is evil your body is dark.
For the believer, Jesus is our hope ( 1 Timothy 1:1), He is our peace ( Ephesians 2:14), He is the light of the world ( John 8:12), He is the good shepherd who gave His life for His sheep (All those who have surrendered their life to Him ( John 10:11), He is the head of the church ( Ephesians 1:22), He is the only one who sets us free from our sin ( John 8:36), He is our redeemer ( Job 19:25), He is the only atoning sacrifice for our sin ( 1 John 4:10), He is the Savior of those who receive Him ( Luke 2:11, John 1:12), He is the creator of all things ( Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:1-3), He is the word of God, and He is God ( John 1:1, Isaiah 9:6), He is our only way to salvation ( John 10:9, John 14:6).
There are many, many more descriptors in the Bible that tell us who Jesus is, but it would take many more posts to list them all.
However, Jesus took a different approach here to teach us that what matters is not what men see or think, but it is what God thinks. This should bring us to re-examine the very intent of our heart when we do certain things.
Let us do things, not to be seen or praised by men but rather to be approved by God.
God is looking on your heart. Who can know the Heart But God!
Any comments?
John 4:24 - God is a spirit
John 1 - Jesus was the Word and the Word is God. He was there in the beginning and made everything (verse 3)
1 John 5:7
What I take out of this is God the Father is a spirit, God the Son is a spirit, the Holy Ghost is a spirit.
God the Son took on the flesh and was a man temporary. A vocal minority falsely assumes Jesus was a man first, but John 1:3 debunks that.
I believe human beings are also spirits. We are not our bodies, but just temporarily inhabit them. 1 Corinthians 15:44
My understanding of the oneness of the Godhead is that they all possess to the divine nature or essence equally and infinitely. The divine nature is not something that they can get from outside of their Being. It is innate in all three Persons and everlasting. This is just like the Godhead cannot get life from outside of themself due to being self-existent. Same is true of power and knowledge and all other aspects of this one divine essence. This essence cannot be added to nor subtracted from any of the Persons of the Godhead because God possesses this essence to perfection and total completion even though there are no bounds nor limits to the infiniteness of His Being.
I concur with S.Spencer that God's essential nature is that of Pure Spirit, not being made of any particles of matter. It is only Jesus who took upon Himself humanity and therefore, His human body consists of particles of matter, like all other humans. But He did not subtract His Divinity to become man. He kept it because it is Who He is as God. But we will see Him in His humanity forever in heaven, which is the perfect image of God in man.
I hope this helps. This is a big subject. I think of how Jesus said that He and the Father are one. And I also think of how all three Persons of the Godhead are named as God in Scripture in many places. I do no know of a Scripture that easily explains how these three distinct divine Persons are One. I think it is a divine mystery revealed through Jesus but not fully explained.
......And this Isaiah 11 was written approx. 250 yrs after that Jesse,..David and Solomon had long died....But Isaiah is still using these 3 men as symbolic language for a kingdom coming the last days....And this was a Father Son and Granson type of Kingdom coming in the last days.... Isaiah 11:11 kjv....Thus an Israel of God wd have to follow soon.
..... Isaiah 11:1...There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse which was David the son and a branch shall come out of his roots which was Solomon the Granson...ok lemme go
I accidentally sent that prematurely.
Hopefully someone can provide us a more detailed or better view of this. God bless.
I would say the spirit.
Ephesians 4:4-6. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
GOD IS A SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.
I CAME FORTH FROM THE FATHER, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. John 16:28.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, WHICH IS IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER, he hath declared him. John 1:18.
God is spirit, Jesus came forth from that Spirit, and we are baptized by that spirit.
John 17:22-23. ppAnd the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
.......And the Heavenly Trinity is also Father ,Son and Granson....And they are all 3 related in the Spirit but 3 distinct beings....And out of the Kingdom will come 12 manner of fruit...Rev.22:2...Which answers to the 12 tribes in the spritual realm....Thus an Israel of God that is gonna be as the stars in Heaven in multitudes....The very fact that we have a father and a Son Begs the question of a Granson....And 12 manner of fruit from the KiNGDOM....An Israel of God that are Spirits that is gonna be born in humanity....I Will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh....Everybody is gona get a seed The Living word and is a living being the Children of Promise....Thats y Jesus was saying if i tell you of earthy things and you believe not how shall i tell you of heavenly things....Everything thing in the O.T. was just a shadow of things in the N.T.
......The H.G. the Granson cannot be born in us unless Jesus sows his good seed in us....Thats y Isaiah refers to Jesus as everlasting FATHER....Jesus is able and willing to propagate, and Regenerate himself in humanity via his seed ...Thats y he has to KNOW us....Thus there is a 3 rd PERSON THE H.G. the Granson...Jesus is not impotent he wants to sow his good seed in humanity....Thats y Jeremiah saw all men in travail and birth pains....There is a baby Christ in our future which is the H.G. That Child of PROMISE....Thats y Elijah has to come in that last day and turn the hearts of the FATHERS to the Children....The babes and sucklings he mentioned....That New Born Babe DESIRING THE SINCERE MILK OF WORD...is the H.G. THE CHILD of Promise...
I love to look, listen, gather and learn as much as I love to engage.
Sometimes it's best to just say Amen when you can't improve a reply.
God bless.