The Imperishable Riches of the Kingdom of God

So the basic principle of light and darkness is clear. The question is what specifically Jesus was teaching in these two verses by his use of the terms. Two truths stand out.

Jesus says to his disciples, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” The eye is the source of light for us. Just as a window lets light into a house, the eye lets light into the body. Therefore, it is important that we have good, healthy eyes. Jesus tells us, “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Your whole body will be full of truth.

Because of the context some think the good or healthy eye represents generosity in giving. An evil eye is stingy and miserly. It is an eye focused on earthly treasures, not heavenly treasures. In contrast, a good and healthy eye is generous and giving. For example, Proverbs 22:9 says literally, “A good-of-eye person will be blessed, for he gives his food with the poor.” This interpretation is a legitimate and possible understanding of this verse. However, most commentators believe the good or healthy eye is one of fixed and single devotion. The idea is that you do not suffer from double vision, a double mind, or a double heart. Quarles says,

The good [healthy] eye is one whose focus is fixed on God and whose vision is not blurred by focusing on two objects at the same time, God and possessions. . . . In this adjective the themes of generosity toward others and singlehearted devotion to God coalesce to define the disciples’ proper view of possessions and riches. (Sermon, 249)

Carson adds,

The good eye is the one fixed on God, unwavering in its gaze, constant in its fixation. . . . The individual with a single eye toward kingdom values is the person characterized by maximum understanding of divinely revealed truth and by unabashedly pure behavior. (Sermon, 80)

This person’s eye is on the prize of one treasure, one kingdom, and one Master, and they will not be distracted by anything this world has to offer.

Verse 23, sadly, presents the exact opposite scenario of verse 22. The focus is now on a bad and unhealthy eye. Your eye is bad if you are attracted to and looking at the wrong things. Again Quarles puts it well:

No room remains for God or pursuit of the kingdom and its righteousness (vv. 24, 33). (Sermon, 253; emphasis added)

Jesus is clear and direct: “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Your perspective on life, your priorities, and what is truly valuable and important will all be misdirected. You will not see things as they truly are. You will see, but you will see wrongly. Therefore, our Lord concludes, “So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!” The Message paraphrase is worth noting: “If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” Your self-­deception will be complete. You will have lost the ability to see life correctly. James Boice simply says, “If you are absorbed with money, you will miss everything else in life that really matters” (Gospel, 105).

Matthew 6:24

Jesus says the mark of his disciple is that his eyes are fixed on heaven, not earth. He says the mark of his disciple is that his spiritual vision is single, not divided. He says the mark of his disciple is that he serves the right master, not the wrong one. In verse 24 Jesus clarifies the situation we all face and the decision we must all make. John Piper well says,

There is something about God and money that makes them tend to mastery. Either you are mastered by money and therefore ignore God or make him a bellhop for your business, or you are mastered by God and make money a servant of the kingdom. But if either tries to master you while you are mastered by the other you will hate and despise it. This is why Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Much money makes a cruel master. (“Don’t Be Anxious”)

In verse 24 Jesus states a simple and irrefutable truth. It remains to this day a popular colloquial saying: “No one can serve two masters.” By the nature of a master-slave relationship, a slave can only have and serve one master. Sinclair Ferguson is right: “We should notice the obvious implication of Jesus’ teaching here. We were made to have a master” (Sermon, 140). Jesus then makes clear the dilemma we face. No one can serve equally well two masters because “either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” To one master you will show love and devotion. To the other master you will demonstrate hate and spite. Luke 14:26 provides a helpful insight where Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”

Divided allegiance and loyalty is not possible in the kingdom of God, especially when it comes to your master. “Only one can come out on top” (Carson, Sermon, 81). Only one can be your Lord! Charles Spurgeon is spot on when he says,

God and the world will never agree, and however much we may attempt it, we shall never be able to serve both. . . . You can live for this world, or you can live for the next; but to live equally for both is impossible. (Exposition, 38)

We cannot submit to two kings. We cannot obey two commanders in chief. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot worship two Gods.

Jesus now specifies the number one challenge to total and absolute surrender to his lordship: money (KJV, mammon). “Originally the word meant ‘something in which one puts their confidence’” (Carson, Sermon, 81). The principle, once again, is simple: “You cannot serve both God and money.” One will win mastery over the other and over your life. Divided loyalty is not an option. You cannot be devoted to two masters at the same time.

The issue is really not what you have. The issue is who or what controls you, for whom or what you live. If you live for God, you cannot live for money. If you live for money, you cannot live for God. Jesus understood that we have a limited amount of devotion, love, and service to give. This requires making hard but necessary choices. The more we love money, the less we will love God. As our obsession for money increases, our passion for God decreases. If you sell your soul to money, then you will forfeit your soul. Having money as a god will only take you down. Only having God as your God alone can take you up.

I do not know whether the apostle Paul was meditating on Matthew 6:19-24 when he penned 1 Timothy 6:17-19. I do know it provides a fitting commentary and conclusion to our study of this text. He writes,

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

If you desire true life, do not settle for being rich on earth. Choose instead to be rich toward God, who gives eternal reward.