More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

 

 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  

 

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 

 

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

 

- Luke 11:27-36 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke, and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

 

 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  According to the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), these verses are read on most feasts of the Virgin Mary.  Jesus corrects this woman from the crowd, not by denouncing His mother, but rather by emphasizing her faith.  The OSB notes that people are blessed in God's eyes if, like Mary, they hear the word of God and keep it.  It highlights the Greek word μενοῦν/menoun, which is here translated "more than that."  In Romans 10:18, it's translated "Yes indeed."  It corrects by amplifying, not by negating. 

 

 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."  The sign of Jonah, comments the OSB, is two-fold.  First, there is the fact that the rebellious Ninevites were willing to repent at Jonah's preaching.  Second, Jonah coming out of the great fish prefigures Christ's rising from the tomb (Matthew 12:40).  In contrast to the Ninevites' repentance, the Jews' failure to repent at something far greater -- Christ's preaching and Resurrection -- will result in their judgment.   See the Book of Jonah.  Regarding the Queen of the South, see 1 Kings 10:1-10.

 

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."  These teachings appear also in the Sermon on the Mount, but this particular combination is found here in Luke.  Here there are two ways in which we can understand this teaching.  There is first of all the image of a lamp, which must be put on a lampstand so that "those who come in may see the light."  In a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, the OSB says of the teaching that we are to let our light shine (Matthew 5:16) that Christian virtues have both a personal and public function, for our virtue can bring others to glorify the Father.  But here we consider this teaching placed together with the teaching that the lamp of the body is the eye.  This is understood as the mind, or νοῦς/nous in Greek.  This specific sense of the mind -- that which allows us to perceive the things of God -- is described as the spiritual eye of the soul.  The OSB declares that it illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep the mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  Thus, if our perception is illumined in this sense, our whole body or whole being will radiate that spiritual light as does a lamp. Thus, such a person may "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  

 

Today's reading begins with a woman from the crowd, who raised her voice and said to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  We'd be tempted to consider that Jesus is in some sense diminishing what this woman is saying.  But in reality, as the OSB pointed out, Jesus is magnifying the real quality that distinguishes His mother in the eyes of the Church.  She is one who heard the word of God and kept it.  This is what makes her not only holy, but the most venerated saint in the Church.  Among her titles in the Church, she is called the Panagia, meaning "All Holy" in Greek.  She is the one called by the Archangel Gabriel "highly favored" and "blessed among women" (Luke 1:28).  She is the one who responded affirmatively to the word of God, and kept it with faith, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word," she replied to Gabriel (Luke 1:38).  We can hardly consider what qualities constituted the ability to be the mother of Jesus.  How much sympathetic feeling must have been between mother and Son for her to have instigated His first miracle or sign recorded in the Gospel according to St. John (John 2:1-12)?  Again, we might be tempted to read that text in such a way as to think that Jesus is diminishing His mother, when He says to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4).  But we would be wrong in that assumption.  For "Woman" in the context of the Gospels is a noble title, and moreover, in the Greek, Jesus is in fact repeating the same words from a story in the Old Testament, found in 1 Kings 17.  After the prophet Elijah was helped by the widow of Zarephath, her son dies.  In the Greek of the Septuagint, she asks Elijah the identical question, which can be more directly translated something like, "What is between me and you?" (1 Kings 17:18).  Elijah then prays and resurrects her son.  Thus, Jesus is gently reminding His mother of what is to come once His miracles begin, that they will end at the Cross with the loss of her Son.  But Mary is entirely ready to submit to His will, directing the servants also to "Hear the word of God and keep it."  She tells them, "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5).  Thus, the Church has its understanding of the Theotokos (God-bearer), the Mother of God.  St. John's Gospel also tells us that even as the disciples had fled and were in hiding, she was among those who stood at the Cross (John 19:25).  For these, and many more reasons, Mary the Theotokos is venerated in the Church as "Most Blessed," and we are all encouraged to be like her.  For generations of faithful, her sympathy and prayers are invoked and deeply felt.  In the Greek Orthodox Church, tomorrow (October 28) is the Feast Day of her Protection, commemorating a miracle that occurred in the 10th century (read about it here).  It was moved to this date to coincide with what is called Oxi Day; Oxi means "No," in Greek, and this was the day that Greece said "No" to the Axis forces, choosing to fight against those allied with the Nazis.  Such is Mary's veneration among the faithful that this was deemed appropriate by the Church. 

 

 

 

 

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and were thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole boy will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

 

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the  other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19–24 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  On Monday, our readings focused on Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding three basic practices of our faith: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.  Embedded in those teachings were Jesus' specific gift to us of the prayer we know as The Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father.  Yesterday we read that section of the sermon.  Jesus taught:  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For  they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and were thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments here that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  It says they become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  The heart of discipleship is found first of all disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and secondly by attaching ourselves to God, who is our true treasure.  

 

 "The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole boy will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  According to my study Bible, the mind (νοῦς/nous in Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person, and governs our will.  It adds that keeping the mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life. 

 

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the  other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  If we are slaves serving two masters, then we attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  My study Bible comments that this is impossible, as both demand full allegiance.   Here, it says, Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

 

 Jesus' teaching regarding the inability to serve two masters bears more scrutiny to understand Him better.  In today's age of multi-tasking we might find it a little hard to understand.  But Christ's understanding is of the working of the heart and the soul, not simply the intellectual processes that distract us.  Moreover, we might further take a look at this word "mammon," which has a deeper meaning than simply material riches.   According to Strong's definitions, it comes from a Chaldee/Aramaic word that implies wealth as personified, the wealth in which one places confidence or trust.  This should recall to readers in the United States a motto which is printed on all U.S. currency:  "In God We Trust."  While this is, in fact, the official motto of the country, printed on our currency it implies a familiarity with this teaching by Christ.  It suggests to us in our contemporary period that while we enjoy incredible prosperity and wealth in our country as a whole, our confidence belongs somewhere else.  Our real confidence rests in real power, and there is no greater power nor authority than God.  To trust in riches in the context of Christ's teaching implies this confidence and faith placed in material things, without regard for a higher power or spiritual reality.  It's a reminder of St. Paul's teaching, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10).  This teaching is popularly misquoted, failing to distinguish between money as subject and the actual subject of this statement, which is "the love of money."  This love implies a kind of loyalty, a depth of trust; in effect, at is to make an idol of money.  (The word in Greek translated as "love of money" - φιλαργυρία/philargyria -- literally means "friend of silver," as the most common forms of currency were in weights of silver.)  We can look at the story of the rich young ruler to take another look at this problem of the love of wealth (Matthew 19:16-22).  A young man comes to Christ, asking what he must do to attain eternal life.  He tells Christ that he has followed all the commandments from his youth.  He likely comes from one of the wealthy ruling families in the temple, perhaps from what was considered a type of aristocracy of Jerusalem.  In this sense, then, his wealth would be connected to family identity and inherited position.  But St. Mark tells us that Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21), and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Jesus does not tell this man to sell his possessions and give to the poor simply out of a sense of social justice, conscience, or other politically or socially compelling reason.  He doesn't say that his wealth is evil.  He does not tell this man to do so because he is in some sense "bad."  But it was his attachment to that wealth that was a hindrance to his following Christ, to fully loving God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength (Matthew 22:37-39).  We do not know exactly what type of stumbling block it provided; perhaps through family obligation.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that the command to sell all of his wealth was the first and easiest; and that it is far more difficult to follow all of Christ's commands for one's life.  But nonetheless the sacrifices any of us would be called to make in discipleship are different and specific for each person, and this was necessary for that particular young man.  Jesus encourages us all to detachment, to the understanding that our love of God must come first before all things, for we cannot serve two masters.  Let us understand ourselves as we are created to be.  We will always have such a choice, for this question of serving one master or another is a fitting and pertinent description of our nature, whether or not we want to accept it.  We will always have to choose one first, and cultivate detachment from the other.  Of course "mammon" or "riches" can come in all kinds of forms.  But it's always a question of what our ultimate love is, and where we are headed.  What do we treasure most?  Where is our true good in life?  Everything depends upon how we see -- with eyes guided by the light of Christ, or the darkness of idolatry?  

 

 

 

You cannot serve God and mammon

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

 

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.

 

 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19-24 

 

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer.  He said, "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 

 

  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  By attaching ourselves to treasures on earth, my study Bible says, we cut ourselves off from heavenly treasures.  In this way, people become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  It says that the heart of discipleship lies in disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure.  

 

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness."   My study Bible explains that the mind (in Greek, νοῦς/nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  

 

  "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As slaves who serve two masters, people seek to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  My study Bible calls this impossible, since both demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control that it has over people.  

 

What does it mean to serve two masters?  We live in a world where we can pursue different passions, ambitions, goals.  In Christ's teaching, there is one great and first commandment:  to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and there's a second which is like it, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Let's note that the world love is the active principle in both of these two great commandments.  These are, after all, the two commandments which Jesus teaches contain all the Law and the Prophets (see Matthew 22:35-40).  And in this context we are invited in to consider Christ's words in today's reading.  He speaks of two masters in order to tell us that for we human beings, this is impossible.  We can't serve two.  We will have to choose what we place first.  Jesus speaks of riches in a way for us to understand what hold our own desires and focus have on us; that is, whatever it is that we place first in life.  This word mammon (μαμωνᾶς/mamonas in the Greek) becomes personified so that we can understand this sort of relationship we establish through such choices.  The word had come to mean riches or wealth in Christ's time, but importantly comes from a root meant to indicate what one puts trust in.  When we consider that the root of the word translated as faith or belief in the Gospels means "trust," then we come to understand the competing realities Jesus is talking about.  We cannot trust in both God and mammon; we have to choose one, because it will determine the value of everything else.  What is our true treasure?  By what do we measure the value of all else?  In this context, also, it's important to see that when we make anything our master short of God -- where that depth of trust belongs -- then we become slaves of that thing.  True freedom is found in the reality which Christ brings to us and offers us.  So wealth, once we make it our ultimate treasure, becomes the thing we slave for; this in turn in our modern age can be seen also in the images of addictions of all kinds, whether that be drugs, or gambling, another person, a cult, or whatever else we give our souls to.  In short, worship -- faith -- only belongs with real confidence in one place.  Jesus literally speaks of treasure, which is another definition for mammon.  What is our true treasure?  What do we place first in substance, power, authority, value?  What do we treasure first?  All else will be subject to that.  He speaks of the eye; how do we see things?  What do we gaze upon to want or desire?  If it's not the light of Christ that fills the eye, then we have darkness -- and how we see determines our whole lives, even the place of the soul and the path it follows in life.  In His explanation of the parable of the Sower, Jesus illustrates the pitfalls of those who cannot produce good fruit by suggesting "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" as thorns which choke the good word (see Matthew 13:1-23).  Let us understand this is a choice of what we put first, what we cherish.  In our very next reading, Jesus will expand upon this subject, addressing our anxieties over the material things we need in this context.  He will teach, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  Let us choose wisely what and Whom we serve, and all else will be placed in proper relationship.  For this is the very definition of righteousness.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness

 

 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  

 

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

 

- Luke 11:27–36 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.  Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.  When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." 

 

  And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  My study Bible tells us that these verses are read on most feasts of the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church.  Jesus corrects this woman from the crowd, not by denouncing his mother, but by emphasizing her faith.  People are blessed in God's eyes if, like Mary, they hear the word of God and keep it.  The Greek word μενοῦνγε/menounge is translated here are more than that.  In Romans 10:18, it is translated as "Yes indeed."  This word corrects by amplifying, not by negating.  

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."  The sign of Jonah is explained by the study Bible as, first of all, the fact that the rebellious Ninevites were willing to repent at Jonah's preaching, and second, that Jonah coming out of the great fish prefigures Christ rising from the tomb (Matthew 12:40).  In contrast to the repentance of the Ninevites in the Book of Jonah (Jonah 3), the failure of Jesus' fellow Jews to repent at something far greater -- the preaching of Christ and His Resurrection -- will result in their judgment.  For reference to the queen of the South, see the story of the queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10:1-10.

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light."  Here and in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preaches about disciples bearing the light He brings into the world, thus being light in the world (see Matthew 5:13-16).  God is the true and uncreated Light.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible notes, light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel in contrast to all other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light" (John 1:4-9; 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  My study Bible also notes here that light is necessary both for clear vision and for life itself.  Faith relies on this divine light, it says, and believers become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) who shine in a perverse world (Philippians 2:15).  For much of the Christian Orthodox, the Paschal (Easter) Liturgy begins with a candle lit at the altar and passed to illuminate all in the Church with the invitation, "Come receive the Light which is never overtaken by night."

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."  My study Bible explains that the mind (νοῦς/nous in Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.   It says that it illuminates the inner man and governs the will.  To keep the mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life. 

In yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus spoke about casting out demons and spiritual warfare, after He was accused of performing exorcisms by the power of Beelzebub, or Satan.  In the final verses we read, Jesus taught, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."   This is a picture of a person who goes from bad to worse, without repentance or "change of mind."  It is an illustration of how we choose one way, and continue down that same road.  In today's reading, Jesus ends with words teaching us about illumination, choosing the light, and shows that this also magnifies and expands.  Each "way" will continue to grow within a person.  He says, "The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness."   The earliest teaching document known to us in the Church was written before the end of the first century, and it's known as the teaching of the apostles.  This is called the Didache ("Teaching").  It speaks very much of the "two ways," the way of life and the way of death, also found in Jewish tradition.  This is also what is illustrated by Jesus' teaching on darkness and light.  Jesus' explanation about one's eye being darkened, and that darkening the whole of the body, indicates a pervasive growth of the choice for one way; by the same token, the eye being full of light also affects the whole body.  This can be understood as metaphor for the whole of oneself, which is affected by how we see and how we hear (see Luke 8:16-18).  It's important to understand that human nature is not to stand still; we are not fixed eternal points in the sense that God is in the fullness of God's being, which we cannot comprehend nor estimate.  We are fixed in time, and hence we are creatures with movement.  By Jesus' way of speaking, we understand that we are either going in one direction or another; and this explains the importance of the capacity for repentance, for changing our minds and thus changing much more than a simple intellectual process.  For "mind" in this sense involves the whole of the capacity for how we see, how we understand, how we take in even the things of God which are revealed to us in ways that are not obvious, affecting spirit, soul, body, thinking, strength.   Therefore Christ's words come to us today in the context of yesterday's casting out of the demon by the finger of God, the Holy Spirit, who gives us light and helps us to be the shining lamps Christ calls us to be.  As He indicates, the refusal of what He offers, the refusal to open the mind enough to take in His words and follow them, will have eventual consequences, for it is road we join, a way, not a fixed point that stands still.  

 

 

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19-24 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the prayer we call the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father:  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  By attaching themselves to treasures on earth, my study Bible says, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures. This attachment makes people become slaves to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  My study Bible tells us that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and then attaching ourselves to God, who is our true treasure.  

 

 "The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  My study Bible says that the mind (in Greek, nous/νοῦς) is the spiritual eye of the soul. It illuminates the inner person, and governs the will.  So, to keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life.  

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As slaves who serve two masters, my study Bible comments, people attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  But this is not possible, because both demand full allegiance.  Here, Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

If we look up the definition for this word mammon used by Jesus (μαμωνᾶς/mamonas as transliterated in the Greek), we find it is Aramaic, a Semitic term.  According to HELPS Word-Studies it means "the treasure one trusts in."   As such we may easily view what Christ is saying as a kind of competition for our trust, or where we choose to place that trust.  In the Greek of the New Testament, the word that is often translated as "believe" has as its root "to trust."   This is the word, for example, in John 6:29, in which Jesus teaches, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  So Christ asks us to trust in Him -- and if we link this to the teachings and meanings surrounding mammon, then we see a side-by-side choice:  we can put our trust, the full weight of our faith, in riches -- or we have the choice to put that trust in God and rely upon God.  Jesus puts it starkly, in clear terms:  "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."   This is all about how we think, what we put our faith into, where the weight of value rests for us.  Jesus begins, in today's reading, by speaking about the things we treasure, where our treasure is:  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth . . .but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  What is the heart?  It is the center of who we are; it tells us what we trust, what we love, where we place our values and what we give the most substance.  In the Orthodox tradition, the mind and the heart are closely related, and a true balance when we pray is "with the mind in the heart."  Here Jesus is teaching us to place our values correctly, so that our understanding is based on light, because the way we "see" will determine everything about who we are.  There is a negative corollary to an eye full of light, and that is what is also called in Scripture an "evil eye" (Matthew 20:15).  Actually the word in today's text which is translated as "bad" (in "if your eye is bad") literally means "evil" in Greek (πονηρὸς/poneros).  Most often the evil eye is connected with envy, and we can see how that is linked to where we place our treasure, and what we trust in.  To be full of light in this spiritual sense is to be illuminated with the light of Christ, to see things as He asks us to see them, and to understand as He asks us to understand.  But to do this requires placing our values first on the rock of faith, putting our trust in Him as the One we count on for the ultimate good, the fullest truth -- and perhaps most importantly, our deepest sense of who we are called to be.  Let us serve God in all things, this being the measure of how we live, and what we bring into being.  Our foundation begins with our trust, our treasure, and what and whom we serve.   Let us set our hearts on what is of the greatest value.  Material goods can be gained, worked for, manufactured.  But the treasures in heaven are priceless.

If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19-24 

 

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught about prayer:   "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and  the glory forever.  Amen.  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  One becomes a slave to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  This is also a part of the cultivation of dispassion, detachment.  It notes that the heart of discipleship is in disentangling ourselves from the chains earthly things would place upon us, and attaching ourselves to God, who is the true treasure.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  My study Bible explains that the mind (in Greek, nous, the root of words like "noetic" in English; metanoia in Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person, and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to Christian life.  

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As a slave who serve two masters, people try to keep an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things (note the keyword "attachment").  But this kind of slavish attachment to both earthly and heavenly things is impossible -- both demand full allegiance, my study Bible tells us.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

What is mammon exactly?  Some translate this word as "riches."  Others suggest "treasure."   When these Gospels were written in Greek, apparently their authors did not feel there was a sufficient Greek word that captured it exactly and so we're given mammon.  Here and in Luke 16:13, Jesus speaks of mammon in a personified way, and indicating opposition to God, so suggesting an evil force akin to a god or the demonic.  Originally it seems have been a Chaldean word that indicates "what is trusted in."  So taken altogether, it seems that the point of Christ's juxtaposition of God and mammon here is teaching us about valuing the material, or what we "treasure up," as if we rely on it to save us and fulfill all the needs we have.  This is by nature, effectively, something that is opposed to God, as it is God who not only truly saves us, but God who asks for our primary dependence and loyalty.  Elsewhere, in the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23) -- Christ's foundational parable for His gospel mission -- Jesus speaks of the "deceitfulness of riches" as that which is symbolized in the thorns that choke the word of God in human beings.  That "deceitfulness of riches" gives us another key to Christ's view of the character of mammon, akin to one we think is a friend, but who betrays us.  This is the sum total of the effect of trusting in mammon, and Jesus' warning takes on a greater weight as He speaks of needing to choose whom we serve.  Whether or not we'd like to say we're capable of choosing both or of loving or serving more than one thing at once, Christ's words are true -- this is the way that life works.  It is the foundation of creation itself; we seek Creator first to set all things in order.  To choose to serve the "creature" or even something man-made like material treasure is to be out of balance, confused.  In a sense it is the blind leading the blind; or, in this case, something with no capacity for understanding leading us altogether, like the Israelites using a golden calf to worship God (Exodus 32).  Jesus begins today's reading by speaking about treasure and the heart.  Many interpretations suggest that this is about using one's wealth in an unselfish way, through charity.  But clearly the teaching on mammon asks us what we trust in, and to make a choice what we will serve first (and obviously, we may also serve God through acts of charity; see James 1:27).  The single-mindedness Christ asks us for is embodied in His use of the eye as metaphor.  Our focus must take in the light of God to guide us, leaving out the darkness that would fill us with its own bad effects.  The nature of the mind is one that does not compartmentalize efficiently or well, and certainly not for a lifetime; our own self-contradictions if not resolved will result in a darkness indeed.  Jesus says, " If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   He warns us about a kind of darkness that is like a black hole; it simply keeps absorbing whatever there is into its darkness.  Christ always portrays human beings as those who are on a path somewhere, and so we must carefully choose what we follow, what ultimate guides us, where our loyalty lies.  A truly materialistically-minded person may choose to believe that we are simply a bag of cells, components of matter, and so a kind of neutral -- even stagnant -- entity which outside forces can't much change.  But this kind of trust in matter alone is deceitful and blinding, for life and the forces around us are persuasive indeed, especially when we're not really paying attention and not making a clear choice.  Christ emphasizes over and over again the importance of our focus, and here indicates the stark choice of what we serve first -- for this choice will come up over and over again in our lives.  Let us consider where our heart is, and where our eye (our mind) is focused. In the Greek text, the word rendered "good" (in if therefore your eye is good) can literally be translated as "single" or "simple," but that word is used in the Gospels to mean "pure" or "unadulterated."  If we take these meanings altogether, we have an admonition regarding how we look out at the world, and what kind of things block not only our vision but the light that illuminates our minds, bodies, and souls.  Jesus speaks of a wholistic life, and the importance of our own clarity and direction. 

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness

 

 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." 

 

- Luke 11:27-36 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."   Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.   When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

 

 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, these verses are read on most feasts of the Virgin Mary.  Jesus corrects the woman from the crowd, my study Bible explains, not by denouncing His mother, but by emphasizing her faith.  People are blessed in God's eyes if, like Mary, they hear the word of God and keep it (Luke 1:38).  My study Bible further explains the translation,  in which the phrase "more than that" is from the Greek word μενοῦνγε/menounge.  This same word is translated, "Yes indeed" in Romans 10:18.   The correction by the use of this word is through amplification -- not by negation.

 

 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."  My study Bible explains the sign of Jonah as first of all, the fact that the rebellious Ninevites were willing to repent at Jonah's preaching (see Jonah 3), and that Jonah coming out of the great fish (Jonah 2) prefigures Christ rising from the tomb (Matthew 12:40).  By contrast to the repentance of the Ninevites, the failure of the people to repent at something far greater -- Christ's preaching and Resurrection -- will result in their judgment.  For the reference to the Queen of the South, see 3 Kings 10:1-10.

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."  We have seen the teaching about the lamp that must be placed on a lampstand to give light everywhere, as it refers to the teachings of Christ lived out in the lives of His followers (Luke 8:16).  Here, Christ uses the same image for the illumination that comes from Himself to us, but it is an image of the mind illumined through His word and our discipline in following Him.  The mind (in Greek, the νοῦς/nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul, my study Bible explains, and thus it is the lamp of the body.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  There is a deeper connection to the "eye" in the sense that we may speak of how we see as the way we view the world, the illumination (or darkening filter) through which we see everything.  

 

If we look more closely at this final paragraph, we see Jesus speaking distinctly about choices we make through which we will come to view the world.  These are choices that govern our outlook through which we will live our lives and see our places in the universe.  He says, "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye."  He first makes clear that the lighting of this lamp, the eye of the mind, governs our entire outlook and even experience of life.  This is not something that partially illuminates or sheds light on small part of life, but rather determines a whole outlook.  In other words, the eye of the mind has the far reaching effect of governing our condition in life, the way in which we find ourselves situated to life and in the world.  "Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."  If our "illumination" is good, then this will light up our whole lives, our whole way of being and experience in life, our souls.  But if it is dark, this darkness permeates also our experience and filter of life, how we see and view everything; it limits us to what is not light, distorting our view and understanding, limiting the reality we may perceive.  This is why discipleship is important; it is why we keep asking, seeking, and knocking (Luke 11:9).  The pursuit of this light, of this illumination, is therefore worth doing with passion, with all the strength we have, as a daily practice, and with the understanding that it is crucial to the full outlook of our lives, our well-being, the choices that we make, the opportunities that we find, because there are no barriers to this eye and its far-reaching consequences in us.  If we live with a darkened mind, then our whole world is darkened, our outlook darkened, our capacity to feel and to know is blunted, our perception of necessity dimmed.  By comparing the people who fail to repent -- that is, to turn toward that light and change their minds -- negatively to the Queen of the South or the Ninevites, Jesus is giving a stark warning about the powerful consequences that result from such a refusal of the lamp of illumination which He offers.  The Queen of the South brought the light of knowledge and wisdom to her people and we read about her to this day; the king of the Ninevites saved his people from a terrible blight due to his acknowledgement of a need for repentance.  He was willing to listen to the wisdom of God, as did the Queen of the South.  But the failure to heed a prophetic word of God will have equally powerful consequences, only in a negative form.  The choice for darkness limits us to a life in which failure to heed the wisdom of a worsening circumstance results in harsher or more blunted conditions, the inability to see spiritually what road we're on leads us to deeper mistakes and more profound consequences.  In Luke 6:39, Jesus uses this same illustration of light and darkness of the eye, only He takes it to the point of blindness:  "“Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?"  As Jesus goes through the cities of Israel, He is now on His way to Jerusalem and to His Passion.  His disciples go before Him to herald the advent of the Kingdom come near (see this reading from last week).  This call still goes out to all of us, Christ's illumination and His command, "Follow Me," remain a call to discipleship and the light which will illumine the mind and shape our outlook and experience of life.  For the light still shines in the darkness for us, but the darkness will not comprehend it (John 1:5).

 

 

 

 

No one can serve two masters

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19-24 

 

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  It says that they become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  If we look at the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30), we find Jesus counseling a person who was extremely attached to his possessions to an extent that they interfered with his spiritual life.  My study Bible adds that the heart of disciples lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and secondly attaching ourselves to God, who is the true treasure.  However, our possessions may be used in service to God, if we put the kingdom of God's first and seek God's will for us in prayer (Matthew 6:33).

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  The mind (Greek νοῦς/nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul, my study Bible says.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to Christian life.  As Jesus' words express here, the loss one suffers through the failure to do so is very great.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things, a note in my study Bible tells us.  But this is impossible because both will demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but rather because of the control it has over people. 

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  If we break down this last statement by Jesus in today's reading, we see that He is asking us to make a choice regarding what it is we'll put our trust in.   According to Strong's Concordance, mammon is derived from an Aramaic word.  While it is used to indicate money, it also has a more general derivation indicating that it means a treasure in which a person trusts, and therefore a valued currency.  If we understand the word this way, what He is doing, then, is contrasting God and worldly wealth in terms of their absolute natures.   Do we serve material wealth?  Is material wealth like God?  Or is God a reality far beyond something confined to material substance here in this world, and therefore worthy of our worship as God?  This is a question of asking us to make a choice regarding what it is we serve.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us what we understand as the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father, in which we are taught to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Jesus is asking His disciples to think about the vast difference between that personal God to whom we are to "pray in secret," and who "sees in secret," and who is "in the secret place" (see Monday's reading), and the material things that make up the world.  Do we worship something inanimate, trust in what is always mutable and changeable -- or do we serve God and allow the rest to fall into place behind that service?   Jesus speaks of the lamp of the body, the eye with which we see, indicating the mind and how it perceives and comprehends what it takes in.  We need to clarify and to keep the mind clean and not polluted or toxic so that we can truly perceive what our lives are about, truly understand and make good choices.  As He says, "If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  If our capacity to discern, to know, to think is clouded over with distractions and falsehoods and the darkness of spiritual ignorance, then imagine how great that "pollution" is, as it is our perception which leads our whole body, our whole lives, our capacity for decision-making.  Everything hinges on it.  So we come to the first verses in today's reading, in which Jesus asks us to consider what our treasure is -- and especially where our treasure is.  This is because everything else He speaks of, including our capacity for thinking and perception, and ultimately where we are going to place our true loyalty and what we're going to serve in life, comes from this basic question about "treasure."  It seems that what Jesus is saying is that what we treasure will define who we are, and give us our deepest identity, our heart.  Therefore He gives us His starkest warnings about how we think, what we dwell upon, what we trust in.  As is so often emphasized in this Bible Commentary, the root of the word for faith (πίστις/pistis) is really "trust" in the Greek of the Gospels; it's all about what we put our trust in, what gives something true value and substance.

 

 

 

You cannot serve God and mammon

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19–24 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 - 7 of Matthew's Gospel.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught about prayer:  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.   And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from earthly. treasures.  They become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  It says that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and then attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  The mind, my study Bible says, (Greek nous), is the spiritual eye of the soul; it illuminates the inner human being and governs the will.  To keep the mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  My study Bible writes that as slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  But this is impossible, since both demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.

In today's reading, Jesus is really trying to get us to take a look at our relationships to the things that are around us.  He asks us to examine our own attachments, and set them in proper order.  The material life has such a strong hold over us if we allow it to be first in our priorities that it becomes a truly demanding master, making slaves of us.  It is hard to realize when one is in this sort of slavery, because we are clearly dependent upon material things and live a material life.  However, the Incarnation itself is a model for us regarding our lives.  Just as we are not to be slaves to our passions, we cannot put the material first.  As my study Bible comments, it is a demanding master.  If we do not put God first, to remember our capacity for worship and put it in the proper place, we will find ourselves worshiping mammon, the material life.  Everything will be measured in terms of material value, when our true dependence is first on God, and then with this priority firmly in place will we be able to come to terms with a proper use of and relationship to material goods.  It is easy to be deluded about the material life, especially within a prosperous world that puts so much emphasis only on this aspect of life.  It's easy to be "out of order" in terms of what our real needs and relationships are.  But worship only belongs in one place, and that is to God.  The mind, or nous in Greek, to which my study Bible refers, is the part of ourselves capable of real perception, and it is this that Jesus refers to as the "eye."  As the lamp of the body, it gives us light, meaning light by which we can truly see what is what in life.  So we must take good care that this eye is pure and without impediment or obstacle in it.  But if we're not capable of this clear perception, if we can't perceive the things of God, our whole world is going to be darkness.  We're never going to see the right path through life.  Jesus is not saying we don't have material goods; He's telling us how easy it is for material goods to have us!  That is, for us to be slaves to material life, rather than putting ourselves in proper order  by our love and loyalty to God first, Who then places things in proper order and priority for us.  This is where we understand that we have treasure in heaven, and the true light by which we need to be guided in life.  It will give us the values we need and the priorities to live by.  We also need to read today's passage in light of yesterday's, in which we were taught the Lord's prayer, and Jesus' words reminded us twice about the power to forgive.  If we take this in context, we understand Jesus' use of the word "debts" to indicate ways in which we've been hurt or sinned against, and it is clear that an attachment to a materialist perspective will lead us to store up those kind of "debts" as well in a disordered way.  This materialist viewpoint will lend itself to a perspective on the hurts and scores we need to settle that renders us unable to see the priorities God would teach us for our true inner health and well-being, the right way of relatedness and righteousness in the world.  Therefore, Jesus is teaching us about the slavery of mammon, how if we don't "see" properly, this materialist viewpoint will pervade all of our lives and leave us in darkness on a number of levels, creating improper order in our lives.  Our focus instead needs to be rooted in God and the things of God, and only then will we have a truly righteous understanding of how we are to live the rest of our lives, what values we assign to things.  His verdict is categorical, and serves as a great warning:  "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  There is nothing in this world that it is proper to put first, to worship, to make an idol out of, whether that be a political party or leader, a slogan, a drive for material things, an image we seek before others, another human being, friends or family, even an image we have of ourselves and what "success" means on material terms, and this would certain include the drive for material power and position.  There is only one person deserving of worship who has walked in the world, and that is Jesus Christ, both God and man.  What is your true currency in life?  What is your bottom line?  By what light do you see?  What do you put first before everything?  These are the questions we ask ourselves, if we want to avoid real slavery.  We've got to make a choice.

 

 

 

 

You cannot serve God and mammon

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Christ Blessing, "The Savior of the World" c. 1600, National Galleries of Scotland

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

- Matthew 6:19-24

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 -7).  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:   "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   What are treasures in heaven?  This statement comes immediately after Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, something that was emphasized twice in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus used the language of debt.  The implication seems to link our capacity for forgiveness with the treasures in heaven gained through faithful living.  My study bible says that through attachment to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  This becomes a slavish pursuit, as opposed to the freedom that we have in Christ (such as that freedom which forgiveness brings).  It adds that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things (among which we could name the pursuit of retribution or revenge, for example), and attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   My study bible notes that the mind (nous in the Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs one's will.  To keep our mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  To keep one's eye "good" here, therefore, means that one's whole focus is on the good, the things of God.  This is again a subject that also links us back to mercenary, covetous, or envious thinking.  How do we see?  How do we look at others and at the world?

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  Here is another emphasis on the personal freedom that comes from pursuing spiritual truth as one's highest goal.  My study bible says that as slaves serving two masters, people try to maintain an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things.  But this isn't possible, because both demand full allegiance.  We will find this choice appearing again and again in our lives.  My study bible adds that Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control that it has over people.

What is it to be a slave?  One's will, one's choice is abrogated, taken on by others to whom one serves.  In the language of Jesus, in today's reading, slavery becomes something that steals one's soul away from oneself, taking away the freedom to choose.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke about forgiveness using the language of money, of accounting.  To forgive a debt is to wipe it off the books, so that it doesn't need fulfillment, one doesn't need to demand payment.  In today's reading, Jesus continues speaking about monetary matters, and forms of materialism.  He speaks of treasures on earth, and treasures in heaven.  How are we to understand these things?  If we look at life with a purely materialistic point of view, everything becomes a question of gain or debt.  This doesn't leave us free to consider what it is to forgive, or to forego material gain for the sake of spiritual gain.  It doesn't leave us with a free hand to consider what might be better for us in the long run, and those transcendent values that spiritual life gives us.  Perhaps there is no greater question to answer with regard to how we look at life  than the question of whether our higher allegiance is to God or to mammon.  (If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.)  This basic question which Christ poses to us in today's reading is really about priorities and variables open to us in our choices.  If my life is simply dependent upon whether or not I gain materially, then this tends to overlay all of my thinking about everything.  How many squabbles over inheritance take place not because there is an actual question of fairness, but because the priority of material value overshadows all other issues surrounding the death of a loved one?  Once we make mammon our top concern, then everything is subordinate to that priority, including relationships with family members -- and even the dying loved one.  Jesus links forgiveness (in language involving debt) to these words on a materialistic outlook vs. our allegiance to God because it still pertains to our capacities for real freedom of choice.  Can we forgive any debt, or are we obliged to "get our own back" no matter what?  Are we free enough to choose a better pursuit, something that will enrich us personally far more -- even in ways which are immaterial and intangible -- than simply pursuing what we think is owed to us because of unfair dealing?  What are we free for?  Everything here is finally about true freedom that trust in God can give us, and the slavery that a purely material mindset entails.  Can I choose to give to charity as much as I want to, even if it doesn't seem to make financial sense?  Can I give to someone in need because theirs is greater than mine, even if that doesn't make purely material sense in terms of my own assets?  Am I free to pursue the life God would ask of me, even if I will not immediately see a financial reward?  These questions aren't about money per se.  They are rather about our freedom to set our priorities, freedom of the slavery to mammon.  That slavery, as Christ says, is a darkness indeed, that covers our entire outlook.  In my own personal experience, I have found no question more incisive than the one Christ poses to us regarding allegiance to God or mammon, and none more absolute in terms of a difference in outlook regarding how we conduct our lives.  Let us remember that Jesus asks us not to forego wealth altogether, but rather to choose our master.  It is a question of what we seek first.  In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we abide in His word, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).   Let us ask ourselves whether or not an allegiance to material considerations alone opens up our possibilities for choice, or limits us to something with far less potential, and less desirable, than where God may lead us.     What is it we have to lose?