§ 6. The Sermon on the Mount (According to Matthew)

The word here translated "healthy" (ἁπλοῦς) is typically rendered "sincere" or "generous".

At its base, the word conveys a singleness of mind, open, and unqualified.

• We take it to mean "sincere" when we consider simple, plain, or straightforward speech or conduct.
• On the other hand, we take it to mean "generous" when we consider open-hearted giving with no strings attached.

It may not at first be obvious how sincerity is related to generosity. The instructions for observing the Lord's release in Deuteronomy 15 illustrate the relationship so we can see it clearly.

Deuteronomy 15:1–2

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD's release has been proclaimed….

Deuteronomy 15:4–5

There will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today.….

Deuteronomy 15:7–11

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, "The seventh year, the year of release is near," and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

Sincerity and integrity are tied to generosity in Psalm 112, as well.

Psalm 112:1, 4–5

Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commandments…!

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.

Finally, the immediate context of our current reading in Matthew also suggests that we focus more on the "generosity" aspect of this word. The passage right before this one ended by saying, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). The next passage in our study says simply, "You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). With our current reading sandwiched between passages that clearly address our attitude toward money, we feel confident that the intended meaning here in verse 22 is for us to prove "generous".

The word here translated "bad" (πονηρός) is typically so translated, or else as "evil." However, there is a Hebrew idiom, "Your eye is evil," which means "You are stingy," or "You are being greedy." We do see Matthew and James let this Hebrew idiom creep into their Greek. It makes sense that these two authors in particular would have a heavy Hebrew accent, so to speak, since they both grew up and lived in Judea.

Here we look at passages in Matthew and James to comment on our current reading.

This quotation in Matthew 20 literally says, "Or is your eye bad because I am good?" It was the first such use that drew my attention to the Hebrew idiom.

Matthew 20:15

Or do you begrudge my generosity?

These workers are being greedy in that they think it should be up to them what the owner does with his money.

When Jesus heals a paralytic in Matthew 9, the hearts of some begrudge the generosity of God.

Matthew 9:2–5

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

We also see again forgiveness tied to release from God. It's a fine point: Are we so worried about God showing mercy that we would deny it to others?

In Matthew 18, the wicked servant is in fact a greedy servant who exacts a toll from his fellow servants in supposed service to the master.

Matthew 18:27–30, 32

Out of pity for him, the master of [a] servant released him and forgave him [his] debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt…. Then his master summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me…."

Yet again there is a strong affinity between debt and sin, release and forgiveness. The point of a life filled with light is that we should love our brothers, not tax them.

In this parable of Matthew 25, a servant entrusted with hundreds of thousands of dollars proves to be so stingy, so afraid to lose principal, that he is pronounced slothful!

Matthew 25:24–27

He who had received one talent came forward, saying, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours." But his master answered him, "You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest…."

Indeed, slothfulness is a valid conclusion: he has done exactly nothing because of his stinginess. God does not entrust us with things only for us to do nothing with them. Why give it to us, then?

Finally, James in his letter identifies a bias towards wealth as an evil motive.

James 2:1–7

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

Something of the selfishness of an evil eye in Hebrew can be seen in the use of "deep darkness" in the Greek version of Proverbs.

Proverbs 4:16–19

They cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.

Again, the Father of lights is a Father who is giving.

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.