My roommate in college was named Kippy, from Talledega, AL. Kippy was blind. At least he was mostly blind in one eye – his right eye, he said was 97% blind. His other eye was a glass eye, which he loved to take out and chase people with. One Saturday night, he and I were eating in the cafeteria and he finished and left earlier than me and was jogging across campus when he ran into the metal lid of the garbage dumpster sitting at the corner of the parking lot. Someone had left the lid opened so that it hit him right across the face and because he was jogging, he ran into it hard. It knocked him on the ground and knocked him unconscious. Students called 911 and the paramedics arrived and he was still unconscious. They started testing him and one was using a light to check the dilation of his pupils when he woke up and when they were doing his left eye, the glass eye, he said, “If we’re waiting for you to get a response out of that eye, we’re going to be here a long time.”
In Luke 11:33-36, Jesus uses a healthy eye as a parable for an eye that is focused on Jesus and His kingdom and spiritual things. Let’s take a look at Jesus’ message…
HIS EVIL GENERATION WAS SEEKING A SIGN – 11:29:
What kind of hard heart and closed mind do you have to have to ignore the plain evidence of Jesus Christ right in front of your eyes?
ILLUSTRATION #1 – FROM JONAH – 11:30, 32:
The story of Jonah is, of course, told in the book which bears his name. He is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the nation that would invade and carry many Israelites into exile about two generations after Jonah lived (around 770-750 B. C.).
To use Jesus’ parable from verses 33-36 for just a moment, the Nineveites, even though they were Gentiles, had a “clear” eye. They saw the evidence in front of them, they trusted that evidence and they acted on that evidence. Then their whole body was full of light.
ILLUSTRATION #2 – FROM THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH – 11:31:
The queen of Sheba came to Solomon recorded in 1 Kings 10 and also 2 Chronicles 9:1-12. “Sheba” or the “south” was in southern Arabia around modern-day Yemen.
Notice the queen said “I did not believe until I came and my eyes had seen it” (2 Chron. 9:5-6). The message for modern Christians relates to two things: 1) Jesus is predicting His burial and resurrection, which proves that He was a prophet sent by God; 2) Jesus is greater than the greatest persons in the Old Testament.
DO YOU HAVE PROPER FOCUS – 11:33-36?
The problem Jesus’ generation was having was in their hearts. The information that was going into their hearts through their eyes was contaminated by prejudice. This is the message in verses 33-36.
While sincerity alone cannot define Christianity and fulfill God’s expectations, it takes obedience as well, if one has proper sincerity which will be accompanied by humility, then the disciple will trust Jesus’ message, embrace His Gospel, and obey His commands. The life follows the heart’s directions.
Follow and embrace and focus on the Light who is Jesus and His teachings!
Paul Holland
