They wanted a sign. Jesus said to them “I’m it!” (Lk. 11:29-32)

The queen of the south had Solomon. The men of Nineveh had Jonah. And the generation of Jesus? Well, they had Him, the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12). But they missed it. They missed Him. No light, just darkness. How come? Bad eyes.

“Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.”

(Luke 11:34-35 CSB)

Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness. Hmm . . . sounds like a command to obey to me. But is it for me? I’m thinkin’ . . .

They looked at Jesus, but they didn’t see Jesus. Jesus diagnoses the problem; your eye is bad. Blind eyes can look directly into the light and all they pickup is darkness. And, when all you see is darkness, then you’re gonna think that darkness must be what light looks like. Bad eyes beget bad discernment. And ours is an age of bad eyes.

So, to be sure, this is a warning and a command for “an evil generation” (11:29). But what about those who are righteous in Jesus, who seek to be holy through Jesus, and who want to do good for Jesus? Do we need to take care too? Can eyes which once saw the Light with 20/20 Spirit-illuminated vision become clouded, dim, even “bad”? Maybe.

Though we have been rescued and “transferred” into the kingdom of the Son, we still live in the midst of the “domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13). Darkness is all about us. Some of it clearly dark, some of it masquerading as an “angel of light” (2Cor. 11:14). Some of it obviously evil, some of it insidiously and subtly presenting as good but rotten in its core. The ways of darkness all around us beckoning us to play by its rules, and to measure success with its scorecard. A culture with bad eyes wanting to show us the way. So, says Jesus, “Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.”

How we need to protect our eyes, for they will deceive us if they are damaged by the ways of the world. Convincing us too, that darkness is in fact light.

So, how do we take care?

I know no better way than to stare into the light. The light of His word. Illuminated by the Spirit. Reminding us of the darkness. Presenting afresh “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2Cor. 4:4). Shining forth anew the “the radiance of God’s glory” through the One who Himself made “purification for sins” (Heb. 1:3).

The remedy which prevents bad eyes? (Cue Sunday School answer 101). Jesus! We would see Jesus!

When you see Jesus, your eye is healthy. When your eye is healthy, then you will see Jesus. And light will dispel the darkness. And the light will be light indeed.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.