In the Fulness of Time/Part 30

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Three Meditations About Money. Matthew 6:19-24

Earthly or Heavenly Treasure: The Dissolution or Security of Possessions 6:19-21

It may be surprising to some that Jesus would bring up the subject of money when He was presenting the principles of His Messianic Kingdom to the Jews, but in the parallel passage in Luke 16:14, “The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things.” Covetous is from philarguroi, “lovers of money.” Whatever Jesus has to say about money, therefore, is to be a part of His teaching concerning the righteousness required in His Kingdom, which is better than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. He begins with the negative aspect: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.” This is a play on words since the verb and noun are from the same root, thesarous: “Treasure not up treasures upon earth.” Riches in themselves are not evil; it is the love of riches which leads to all sorts of evil (I Timothy 6:10). If all one’s effort goes toward treasuring up the treasures of earth, then dissolution will set in, as Jesus notes by three illustrations, namely, moth, rust and thieves. When He says, “moth… doth corrupt,” the reference is to woolen clothing which was expensive because of hand weaving in those days. Wealth was recognized partly as to the amount and quality of clothing possessed; but even the finest woolen garments could be destroyed by moths. The word rust, is brosis, “food,” and is never translated rust other than in this verse. The idea is that grain storage was spoiled by field mice and other vermin. The third illustration, “where thieves break through and steal,” refers to many homes constructed of sun-dried mud bricks, which thieves could “dig through” (from diorusso), and steal whatever treasure was in the house.

Someone has characterized these three destructive forces as moths, mice and marauders! Such is the dissolution of earthly treasures.

Positively: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal.” All three are contrasted; in heaven there will be no moths, and our robes are not of wool but of “fine linen, clean and white” (Rev. 19:8). There will be no mice to destroy the heavenly food which will come from the “tree of life” (Rev. 22:14); and no marauders will steal our “treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). In I Peter 1:4 our heavenly treasure is described “incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” so it is not affected by anything! This principle covers the entire thought; the heart determines the place of our treasure: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If your heart is set on that which is seen, your treasure will be temporal; if it is set on the unseen, then your treasure is eternal (Colossians 3:1-3; II Corinthians 4:18).

Earthly or Heavenly Vision: The Distortion or Soundness of Perception. 6:22-23

Sound Perception. “The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” 6:22

The verses before these and the verse after these speak of money. These two verses give the right and wrong perceptions, depending upon the person’s outlook on life. The heart is affected by the eye! Specifically, with regard to earthly or heavenly treasures, the eye sees both. A man looks at physical things and is attracted, but the true disciple of Christ sees the spiritual treasures. Which shall he choose? Physically, if the eye is single, haplous, “without a fold,” the eye is well-focused and clear; it will see without distortion. Thus the whole body will be properly directed. Metaphorically, this is the man who sees from a spiritual perspective. He sees eternal things, for he is walking in the light (I John 1:7).

Distorted Perception. “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” 6:23.

Evil (ponerous) here, is the opposite of single. Ponerous is a strong word, denoting ungodliness, wickedness, even idolatry. So, instead of using diplous, double, the normal counterpart of single, Jesus uses this very strong word for evil, and with good reason; He is about to contrast light with darkness! He says, “Your whole body will be filled with darkness,” rather than blindness. Then He adds that if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness, there must be some kind of light there; perhaps astigmatism, a defect resulting in a blurred image!

There is light, but it is diffused to the point of giving a distorted view of everything! Thus, the understanding is darkened (Ephesians 4:18).

In John 9:39-41 it is the Pharisee who has the evil eye; he says, “I see,” but his vision has no clear perception of spiritual things, so Jesus says of such ones, “But now ye say, We see. Therefore your sin remaineth.” The man with the clear eye is the true disciple of Christ. If he is to be a part of the Kingdom which the Messiah/King is presenting, then his spiritual vision must be clear!

Earthly or Heavenly Master: The Confusion or Singleness of Purpose. 6:24

The Two Masters: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

No man can serve as a slave (douleuein) to two masters; the simple reason: slaves were bought and sold, so if you were bought by one man your whole life was at his command. But, suppose it were possible to have two masters; the slave would hate the one and love the other. The other in both parts of the verse is heteros (different), possibly indicating that the one was good and the other bad; at least they were different. The slave would be drawn to the good master and repelled by the bad one. In this analogy God is the good master and mammon (money, or wealth) is the evil master. What Paul said in Romans 6:16-20 applies here. We must all have a master, and we choose that master; but we cannot have two masters. So here the true disciple cannot waver between the earthly and the heavenly; he must serve God, not mammon! And these principles concerning money will be enforced in that future Kingdom of the Messiah/King “in the fulness of time.”

Read Part 31