ACC ~ Matthew 6 v22 - 23

AS MIND IS TO SOUL, THE EYE IS TO THE BODY

CHRYSOSTOM: Now Christ leads us to an analogy more within the reach of our senses, that we may not be confused. He has already spoken of the mind as enslaved in captivity. Now he shifts his attention to the eye and to lessons on outward things lying directly before our eyes, so that we might grasp it easily and that we may learn from the body what we did not learn from the mind. For what the mind is to the soul, the eye is to the body. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 20.3. [1]

[1] PG 57:290-91; NPNF 1 10:143**.

SEEKING THE RIGHT INTENTION

AUGUSTINE: We know that all our works are pure and pleasing in the sight of God if they are performed with a single heart. This means that they are performed out of charity and with an intention that is fixed on heaven. For “love is the fulfillment of the law.” [1] Therefore in this passage we ought to understand the eye as the intention with which we perform all our actions. If this intention is pure and upright and directing its gaze where it ought to be directed, then unfailingly all our works are good works, because they are performed in accordance with that intention. And by the expression “whole body,” Christ designated all those works that he reproves and that he commands us to put to death. For the apostle also designates certain works as our “members.” “Therefore,” Paul writes, “mortify your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, covetousness,” [2] and all other such things. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.13.45. [3]

[1] Rom 13:10.

[2] Col 3:5.

[3] PL 34:1289; FC 11:153-54.

WHEN UNDERSTANDING IS QUENCHED

CHRYSOSTOM: If your eyes were completely blind, would you choose to wear gold and silk? Wouldn’t you consider your sound health to be more desirable than mere externals? For if you should lose your health or waste it, all the rest of your life would be unhappily affected. For just as when the eyes are blinded, some of the ability of the other members is diminished, their light being quenched, so also when the mind is depraved, your life will be filled with countless evils. As therefore in the body it is our aim to keep the eye sound, so also it should be our aim to keep the mind sound in relation to the soul. But if we destroy this, which ought to give light to the rest, by what means are we to see clearly any more? For as he who destroys the spring may also dry up the river, so he who has quenched the understanding may have confounded all his actions in this life. So it is said, “If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness?” [1] For when the pilot is drowned, when the candle is put out, when the general is taken prisoner, what sort of hope will remain for those that are under his command? THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 20.3. [2]

[1] Mt 6:23.

[2] PG 57:291; NPNF 1 10:143**.