In the Greek original version of Matthew chapter 6: 22-23, Jesus warns us against having “dark eyes”, and I would like to elaborate on this.
Some translators of this difficult passage have not actually used these very words (dark eyes) that our Lord used, so do not be surprised if you cannot see them in your bible.
They are in the original text!
I, myself am paraphrasing here this passage so as to make it easier for you to understand:
So, as I understand it, Jesus said:
“The state of your soul can be seen by what you look at and how your soul interprets what your eyes see…
If your eyes look and appreciate what is good, pure and true, then your soul is good and pure.
But if your eyes see darkness where there is light, if they look at “good” and call it “bad” then your eyes are dark, and your spirit itself is bad, filled with godless and evil thoughts.”
Let me give you an example as to what I believe it means to have “dark eyes”:
Before I was born, my father lived in the centre of Athens, the capital of Greece.
Not far from the building in which he was staying, there was a homeless old man, who had found a spot where he bothered no one, and laid there, begging.
One wet winter day, as my father walked by Mr. George (that was the beggar’s name), my father invited him to his place for him to get warm , take a bath, have his clothes cleaned and sleep in a warm bed that night.
Mr George accepted, and actually stayed at my father’s place throughout that winter.
(I have to say that when summer came, my father asked him to go back to his spot in the street, since he was bringing in their room all sorts of things that he collected in the rubbish bins…)
Mr George confided to my father that, while living in the streets, he often had heart attacks, and passers-by would call an ambulance to take him to hospital.
There, some compassionate doctors and nurses took good care of him and would always try to keep him in the hospital for as long as they could, so that Mr. George may escape for a while the cold, wet and dirty streets of Athens…
But soon… a problem creeped up:
Mr. George started suspecting that the doctors were actually using him as a guinea pig and were experimenting different medicines on him!
He became convinced of it, and instead of being grateful and friendly towards the staff in the hospital, he became difficult, nasty, even aggressive!
Such a behaviour is what I believe Jesus meant by having “dark eyes”:
It is the tendency that many people have to interpret what they see in a distorted and crooked way…
Those who have dark eyes, have dark thoughts, much like the devil does, and cannot accept what is good and true! They see wrong everywhere and are not touched by what is good, nor are they moved by acts of kindness and love..
Today’s so-called Palestinians are a good example of what people with dark eyes are! They thrive on lies and deception and hate those who are better than themselves…
People with dark eyes have a suspicious, malicious and distorted way of seeing everything. The darkness in them destroys any relationship or friendship they may have, and most of all, prevents them from believing in a good and loving God…
They interpret light as being darkness, good as being bad!
They see everything upside down and present the lies that they invent as truth!
And they end up believing their own lies…
Such people can also be found in the bible:
Consider for instance Judas Iscariot or the Jewish religious leaders. What opinion they had of the most righteous man that ever existed! They opposed him in every possible way and demanded that he be crucified!
Their eyes were full of darkness and evil, refusing to be honest with themselves and give credit to the truths that Jesus taught, or even acknowledge the obvious miracles that he performed in God’s name.
For them, all that Jesus said and did was a lie, a deception!
Consider also the passage in Luke 8: 26-39 where a feared demonic person came to Jesus to be healed.
Notice the response that Jesus received from the villagers after he expelled the hoard of demons that lived in that man:
They all asked Jesus to leave their village!
They wanted nothing to do with him! Why?
Because of their pigs that drowned! That is what mattered to them: Jesus had caused a disaster in their village that touched their pocket…
The fact that a demoniac was now sitting at Jesus’ feet, delivered from the demons that tormented him meant little to them!
What mattered was that, because of the good that Jesus did, the herd of pigs had drowned
And that was not acceptable to them!
Dark eyes are a result of one’s selfishness, one’s self-centredness. If a good deed costs them in any way, they will call it bad and oppose it!
No wonder that our Righteous and Loving God refuses to allow such people to repent, change and be saved…
God hides himself from them and hardens their hearts removing from them the possibility of repenting and escaping condemnation. He wants them to suffer for their evil heart or deeds!
After they have received the full punishment for their self-centred and evil hearts, in Hades, (the world of the dead, where souls are punished), only then will he give them a chance to repent and be saved!
I know that the evangelical theology of today does not see things that way, but the are mistaken!
In Isaiah 6: 9-10, it is written:
God made the heart of this people calloused; he made their ears dull and closed their eyes, so that they may not be able to see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts, and turn in repentance to him, that they may be healed!”
As for clarity about suffering for one’s sins in Hades, read the passage in Luke 16: 19-31, that speaks of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar, in Hades!
And please, read also 1 Peter 3: 19-20 where it is stated that Jesus went to Hades and preached the “Good News of Salvation” to the dead…
Souls can still be saved after death!
Anyway, let us beware!
There are sins that God will not forgive before we have been punished for them here on earth or in the afterlife!
Stay away therefore, with fear, from any tendency that you may have of becoming self-centred, which will result in you having dark eyes…
“It is a dreadful thing to fall in the hands of the Living God to be judged” (Hebrews 10: 31)
Become Christ-centred, and by doing this, your eyes will see clearly, perceive what is good or bad in God’s eyes, and his Spirit will help you do what is right and pleasing in his eyes!