Day after the Super Bowl and the world is abuzz with the play calling at the end of the game. Last night two very qualified teams faced one another and battled in what, some say, was one of the more entertaining and well pitted SBs in a long time. I don’t really know, because my Chargers weren’t in it and I didn’t, therefore, watch it. (For my view on the Chargers and football in general see this: Go Chargers!)
One thing is clear. If you are a Seattle fan, you have an opinion. If you are a New England fan, you have another opinion. And, if you are like me, without a horse in the race, you have another perspective altogether. Perpective, how interesting it is to hear another view of “How things are.”
Today we continue our reading through the New Testament by looking at another perspective on the life and ministry of Jesus, the Messiah. We already read Luke’s investigation concerning Jesus, but today we enter Matthew’s gospel and his view of the Lord’s life and ministry. It is obvious from the outset that Matthew is providing a distinctive perspective which is Jewish in nature, because of the genealogy that is presented to validate the historical lineage and time frame of the Messiah’s appearance.
Here is my perspective on what I read today.
“The eye is the lamp of the body.” So says Jesus as He is presenting the Sermon on the Mount. He goes on to say that the perspective of the eye makes a huge difference in how one approaches the world around them. If the eyes are “healthy,” one will have their whole body “full of light.” On the other hand, if the eyes are “unhealthy,” then the whole body will will have the opposite result, “darkness.”
The play between healthy and unhealthy, and light and darkness seems to point to the idea that what we fill our eyes with, becomes the filter for how we view the world. To put it in football terms, if I view everything through the lens of the Patriots, then I will see all things Patriots. If I have the perspective of the Seahawks, then I will view the world as all things Seahawks. Perspective changes the way I view the football world, regardless of who wins the game.
Jesus uses the words healthy (it can also mean “sound”) and light to give the impression that godliness is a crystal clear view both in lighting and clarity of focus. This is balanced against the opposite perspective that darkness and unhealthy, unsound eyes cannot perceive the depths of God’s righteousness. I am reminded of a verse from the book of Psalms that says that in God’s light “we see light.” To truly see how things are in God’s economy, one must have His light, healthy light, sound light.
The opposite of having this light does not seem to me to be a good deal. In fact, according to Jesus, to have those unhealthy eyes puts us in darkness. And not only darkness, but a darkness that is intense. The word for darkness that is used here in the Spanish Bible is the word “tinieblas.” This is no ordinary darkness. This is a darkness so dark that it is like pitch black goo, a super viscous tar that if one were to fall into it, you would never be seen again. Darkness like nothing you have ever known!
Jesus is telling us to get our perspectives right. The only way for that to happen seems to be the overall theme of the Sermon on the Mount. Let us get our focus right by aligning it with the righteousness of God. This is not done by doing stuff, but by falling under His game plan in His Son, with humility, rightly focused on His word and without the worry that so easily wraps us up.
This is a perceptive stance…one that is validated by God…as I see it.
See you tomorrow. Blessings!
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