Luke 11:34 #VOTD [+ Memorization Tutorial Video]

Verse of the Day 2.23.18: Luke 11:34

1. Text
2. C4C Translation
3. Commentary
4. Memorization

Today, C4C is studying Luke 11:33-36 — a passage about Christ-like, spiritual enlightenment resulting in Christ-like behavior.¹ Like a lamp that illuminates a room enables people to conduct themselves wisely (as opposed to being in darkness), a pure eye allows an enlightened person to conduct themselves wisely in life.²

Text

34 ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου. ὅταν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς ᾖ, καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου φωτεινόν ἐστιν· ἐπὰν δὲ πονηρὸς ᾖ, καὶ τὸ σῶμά σου σκοτεινόν.³

34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.⁴

C4C Translation

Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is pure, your whole body is also full of light; when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness

Eye

Whereas body refers to a person in their entirety, one’s eye metaphorically refers to “one’s spiritual vision or openness to God’s word, i.e., Jesus’ teaching.”⁵

It is helpful to note that in this first century Greco-Roman context, the eye was not thought to receive light from the outside, but to allow the light from one’s own body to proceed from the inside. The eye was thought to be “the conduit or source of the light that makes sight possible.”⁶ Therefore, figuratively, if one’s eyes were healthily allowing one’s inner light to shine through, one’s body must be full of light — and vice versa.

Pure

The adjective translated pure (ἁπλοῦς | haplous), which only occurs here in the New Testament (and in the parallel passage in Matthew (Mt 6:22), probably has a moral or ethical sense of purity. However, similar to being “pure in heart”, this purity in eye connotes singular, undivided devotion to Christ⁷— the true Light (Jn 1:9; 8:12).⁸

Bad

The adjective translated bad (πονηρός | ponēros) pertains “to being morally or socially worthless, wicked, evil, bad, base, worthless, vicious, degenerate.”⁹ This adjective is essentially being employed as the polar opposite of pure. Broadly, this seems to include anything that is unChrist-like — not of God.

Light

In this context, light refers to the preaching of Jesus.¹⁰ Just like the purpose for lamps are to be a light for those near the lamp, Jesus, as opposed to being sent just for the Jews, is meant to be a “light for the Gentiles” (Isa 49:6).¹¹

Darkness

Darkness, in this context, refers to obstinate unwillingness to receive the light — the teaching of Jesus.¹²

Commentary

Whereas those with “bad eyes,” who demand miraculous signs (Lk 11:29), betray their unwillingness to accept the teachings of Jesus, those with “pure eyes” manifest their willingness to conform to the teaching of Jesus. Spiritual darkness entails a primary allegiance to self instead of the Savior.

As many apologists affirm, many objections to a Christian worldview are really emotional and volitional objections masquerading as intellectual ones.

When sensing hostility from skeptical objectors to Christianity during his presentations, Dr. Frank Turek often asks, “If Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?” Remarkably, it is not uncommon for some people to reply emphatically, “No!” Of such people, in Stealing From God, Turek remarks:

That’s because reason or evidence isn’t the issue for such people. They don’t have an intellectual objection to Christianity—they have an emotional, moral, or volitional objection. They’ve been hurt by Christians or think they’ve been let down by God. But more often, as several atheists have admitted, they simply don’t want to give up their autonomy and submit their will to God.¹³

If we are resistant to any of Christ’s teachings, it seems wise to check our motives.

Memorization

Memorize Luke 11:34 after watching a brief video tutorial illustrating the How To Memorize Any Bible Verse in Less Than Five Minutes method below: