What is the bad eye in Matthew 6 23?

[Lou Newton]

What is the bad eye in Matthew 6 23?

Lou Newton, former Steel Mill Crane Designer and Physics Teacher

Matthew 6 NIV

“22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 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! “

Jesus is saying that our eyes ( and ears) are the way we see and hear others. If we think evil of everyone then we walk in darkness.

We are told to think better of others than ourselves:

Philippians 2 NIV

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

If we re constantly looking down on others, then that is evil and our eyes are “bad”.

If a person is often thinking of crude thoughts when they see a woman, or thinking of how they can take advantage of those they see, then there “eyes” are bad.

1 Cor 13 NIV

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

If we look upon others with love then we are walking in His Holy Spirit and we are walking in the light. If we look down on others instead of loving them then we are walking in darkness instead of light. That darkness is great and will take us to destruction if we do not repent.

We must walk in the light as Jesus is in the light:

1 John 1 NIV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

How do walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. By confessing that we are sinners and then Jesus forgives us and purifies us from all unrighteousness. When we confess our sin and then ask Him to take our life and do with it as He pleases, His Holy Spirit will come to live in us. Then we will be full of His light instead of darkness.

All men are full of darkness unless they are born again and walk in His Holy Spirit.

Romans 8 NIV

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

John 3 NIV

“3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

All men that do not have The Holy Spirit of The Lord Jesus are walking in darkness.

All men that have His Holy Spirit and follow Him are walking in the light.

[Lou Newton]

Glen B Smith
To:lou newton

Wed, Mar 18 at 8:03 PM

What is the bad eye in Matthew 6 23?

Simply put – garbage in garbage out.

How a person thinks is pivotal.

What we see or hear has an impact on our morality and behavior.

This is observable in both Christians and unbelievers.

The TV guide was an accurate prediction of how my students would act the following day.

How things effect people may be different.

At the top of my list I avoid horror, debauchery, explicit sexual scenes, pornography.

I am immune to base and vulgar language, mainly because I am a visual learner.

I would like for all women to dress modestly – much more than any fashion trend in my lifetime – I sympathize with the requirement of the dress of an orthodox Muslim woman and of Catholic nuns. As a guy, I know nearly all guys are attracted to various aspects of females, and I observe female fashion is all about exploiting these attractions.

Therefore, I am neither innocent nor entirely to blame that I must always rely on my relationship to the Lord to look away from temptation – it is everywhere in modern society - on many female bodies.

As a side note, sexual harassment by males on females is not a male issue but a social one. The me-too movement ignores the role females have in encouraging harassment.

There is more to sinning than walking in the darkness or walking in the light. I know non-Christians who are more moral and ethical than most Christians; in other words, their eye is not as bad as mine. I know myself better than any but the Holy Spirit, and I fail the test that some non-Christians may pass. When we assume sanctification as the measure of walking in the darkness or walking in the light, we delete divine grace.

I observe and read that the Holy Spirit is revealing the character of the Father to all men throughout all times with or without the gospel proclamation. Every person from the beginning of time to eternity has the opportunity to walk in the light received through the Holy Spirit - or to walk in darkness. Heaven is going to be a surprise- a surprise about who is in heaven.

18 March 2020 the old scribe

Hi Glen,

Matthew 6 NIV

“22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 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! “

We need to look at the words of Jesus again.

1 John 1 NIV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

The Holy Spirit did NOT say, through John ,that if we obey the law we will walk in the light and we will have fellowship with God. .7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

We have to walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. Jesus is light and truth and He walks perfectly in the light and has no darkness in Him at all. There is one and Only one way for us to do this. That is to confess that we are total sinners and be forgiven of our sin and then we have fellowship with The Lord Jesus. His Holy Spirit is the Light in us. Jesus is Light. There is no light except for The Lord Jesus.

Those who have not confessed their sin and asked The Lord to be the King of their life are walking in total darkness. For Jesus is the only source of Light. He is The Light. 23 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! “

Jesus is not talking about some walk in more light by following the law; and some walk in darkness by not following His law. He is talking about those that do not walk with His Holy Spirit are walking in darkness, and those that walk with His Holy Spirit in them are walking in the Light.

Here is strong evidence that is true:

Luke 18 NIV

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector


⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Pharisee trusted in following the law. The tax collector confessed his sin and asked God to save him. The tax collector was the one that was walking in the light. The Pharisee was walking in darkness and how great that darkness was.