“The eyes
are the windows to the soul” is a bit of traditional wisdom meaning that when
someone looks deeply into our eyes, they can see who we really are. Jesus tells
his disciples that those who don’t listen and see are fulfilling the “prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'You will
keep on hearing, but will not understand, you will keep on seeing, but will not
perceive, for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they
scarcely hear, and they have closed
their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.' But blessed
are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.…” (Matthew 13:14-16)
Jesus is
telling them, and us, it is important to have our eyes open to God and to what
God is showing us and what God is calling us toward. Those Jesus refers to have
purposely refused to see God. It’s not just the scribes and Pharisees either. In
Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has to remind his disciples of the miracle of the loaves
and fish because they seem to already have forgotten it. “Having eyes do you
not see, and having ears do you not hear?” (Mark 8:18). 
The eyes,
then, are very important to ministry. With our eyes we see the beauty of God’s
world, like the glorious sunrises. Our eyes help us learn about things by
giving us the ability to look at items and read words. For instance a search of
Bible citations for ‘eye’ turned up 81 citations. Some are comforting, like
Psalm 17:8 which asks for God to “keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me in
the shadow of thy wings.” Psalm 33:18 is also about how God watches over us: “Behold,
the eye of the LORD is on
those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love.” Eyes give us the
ability to learn about things either by seeing them in person or in videos and
photos. The commercials that air about animal rescue or children in need have
the ability to move us because of the images in them.
Jesus tells
us “The eye is the lamp
of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light, but
if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be
full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the
darkness.” (Matthew 6:22-23) I am reminded of the song (Light of the World) from
the musical Godspell, which reminds
us that we’ve “got to stay bright to be the light of the world”.
When our
eyes are open and ‘full of light’ then we will be able to look with ‘compassion
on the world’. Proverbs 22:9 notes, “He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the
poor.” Our eyes see the needs of the world and then we respond with compassion
and love.
Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4 when he tells the Corinthians, “It
is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man
conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him…’” (I Corinthians
2:9) When we open our hearts and our
eyes to the beauty and the need of the world we begin to be “eyes that look
with compassion on the world” and the Light of God shines a little brighter.
We will see a glimpse of what “God has prepared for those who love him.” Next time we will take a look at the 'feet with which he walks to do good'.
