The Relevance of Christ's View of Evil and Envy in Our Lives

Mat 6:22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is good, your whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great [is] that darkness!

The interesting contrast here is between the term used for "good" and the term used for "evil."

The term used for "good" is haplous, which doesn't mean "good" at all. It primarily means single. It can also mean straight-forward, or simple. It can even mean "simple minded." Haplous can also means absolute. It's opposite is diplous, which means two-fold or double. Diplous also means doubtful, double-mined, or treacherous.

Here, the good of haplous is contrasted with the evil of poneros. As we have said several times, the primary meaning of poneros is opressed by work, burdened. It also means worthless and cowardly. Interestingly enough, there is another Greek word, ponêrophthalmos, which means the "evil eye" (ophthalmos is the Greek term for "eye" used in these verses), that brings together the themes of sight and evil. Ponerophtalomos has the more precise meaning of an "envious" eye.

When I read Christ in the Greek, I am always struck by how much more relevant his words are than most views of Christianity. I don't know if I encounter much evil in my life, but I have had plenty of burdens. I don't know much about the "evil" eye, but I have seen more than my share of "envious" eyes. I am reminded of Hannibal Lector's "first principles" in Silence of the Lamps. He said, "Desire starts with what we see." Here, Christ is saying that and more.

Christ is saying that when we see things simply, we have light in our lives. Light, of course, is his constant metaphor for knowledge, truth and the spirit of God. However, when we see things through the burdens of our life, we fail to see the truth. In fact, the term used for "darkness" here is skotos, which means gloom, ignorance, the darkness of the nether world, and, of course, blindness. So Christ was saying clearly that those who try to see the world through their burdens, their preconceptions, and, in fact, blind.