The Light in the Apple

As I was reading my Bible the other day, I read a passage in Luke that talked about the eye being the lamp of the body. If the eye is healthy, the whole body is full of light and will give light. As I was looking at other similar passages to gain better understanding, I read Matthew 5:14,

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

First of all, I love the picture of a city on a hill as opposed to a city in a valley. A city lit up on a hill is seen from all around and is not hidden by anything. "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." The light of Jesus in me cannot go unnoticed. It will be seen. How very cool to remember when I want people to see me and give glory to my Father in heaven.

As I was studying, I wondered what the eye had to do with all of this. If my eye is the lamp of my body, designed to give light, and if my eye is healthy, my whole body will be full of light and will give light, which, putting this together with the Matthew verses, is how my light shines so others can see the works my body does and will glorify God, then what does it mean to have a healthy eye?

The answer to this is way more extensive than what we can go into here, but as I did a little word study, this is where I landed today.

Of course it all starts with God and his amazing love for us. I looked up where the word "eye" is found in the Old Testament, primarily because Jesus was speaking to Jews as he said the above words, and because the Jews were familiar with the scriptures, they would probably have an understanding of what he was talking about when he used these kinds of illustrations in his teaching. I came across Deuteronomy 32:10

"He found him (Jacob, ie. the Hebrews) in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye."

The apple of his eye. This phrase was repeated several times in various places. Although I had heard this idiom said, and most of us have, I had never known why we say it - mostly as a term of endearment. "He's the apple of my eye." If you think about it, it doesn't make literal sense. So I looked up the Hebrew meaning to get a better understanding. Maybe some of you have heard this before, but it sure was fun for me to discover it! The word used for apple in this passage literally means, "little man of the eye", referring to the reflection of the man in the eye of the person looking at him.

Israel (referred to as one man, Jacob) was the little man of God's eye. And by virtue of Jesus Christ and our adoption into his family, his people, we, you and I, are the little girls in God's eye. In order for that to happen, he has to be looking right at us. For your reflection to be seen in his eye, it has to be focused right on you. You have his full attention. You are not unnoticed by him. And sweet women, he likes what he sees. You are his delight. You belong to him. You are his treasure. I pray that you will look into his eyes and see your reflection there.

So what happens when we fix our eyes on Jesus, as we are encouraged to do in Hebrews 12, and not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, in 2 Corinthians 4? The exact same thing! Jesus becomes the little man of our eye - the one in the reflection!

That is how my eyes remain healthy and therefore give light. My eyes are looking at him, his goodness, kindness and compassion. He has my full attention. (It's kind of like the staring game we used to play as kids, only no one loses when they laugh!) Jesus is my focus, and I like what I see. He is my delight. He belongs to me. He is my treasure. The more I look, the more I love him.

These are the things that cannot be hidden. These are the things that will be seen and cause others to give glory to our Father in heaven.

You are the light of the world.