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Questions From Readers

▪ What did Jesus mean when he said: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright”?

Some have held that these words at Matthew 6:22 have a health or medical meaning, as if the eye were the primary way of detecting diseases or bodily weaknesses. However, that does not accord with the context. Jesus had just warned against ‘storing up treasures on earth.’ And after these words about the “eye,” he urged slaving for God rather than for riches.​—Matthew 6:19-24.

Evidently Jesus’ point was that his disciples should keep a “simple” eye, that is, one that is sincerely focused on one thing rather than its being distracted, as by wealth. A Christian who concentrates on doing God’s will is “bright,” for he reflects enlightenment to others, which is to God’s glory.