The ‘Good Eye’ of Forgiveness

The ‘Good Eye’ of Forgiveness.

“You shall not do injustice in judgment… You are to judge your neighbor fairly.” (Lev. 19:15). “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive (“apolyo”), and you will be forgiven. For the measure you use, it will be measured out to you.” (Luke 6:35-38).

Forgiveness in the Newer Testament. There are three main Greek words for forgiveness in Scripture:

1. “Charizonai” = (from the root word charis, which means grace; used 23 times in NT for forgive); to freely offer the favor of forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it; to graciously pardon an undeserving wrongdoer; to generously grant the grace-gift of unqualified forgiveness. “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave (“charizonai”) all our sins. He dismissed our spiritual debt, He canceled the record of the spiritual charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross, the slate wiped clean, taking away that old arrest warrant and blotting it out.” (Colossians 2:13-14).
2. “Aphiemi” = to forgive; to release a debt; to send away; to let go; to remove a burden; to cancel what is owed by another; to set someone free from an obligation; to generously remove the penalties associated with a person’s wrongdoing. “… forgive us our debts (“aphiemi”), as we also have forgiven (“aphiemi’) our debtors .” (Matthew 6:12); “… forgive (“aphiemi”) us our sins, for we ourselves forgive (“aphiemi”) everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4).
3. “Apolyo” = to forgive; to release fully; to pardon completely; to send away; to set free; to let loose.  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive (“apolyo”) and you will be forgiven (“apolyo”).” (Luke 6:37).

In Other Words, Forgiveness is… to let an offense go, to no longer hold an offense against someone, without bringing it up again; to decide to put a wrong done to you on the back shelf and move on; to give up the right to justly punish someone in your heart; to send away from your spirit the right to hold a grudge, or keep score, or seek revenge, or stand in ultimate judgment of a person who has offended you; to release God’s grace to go to work in an offender as well as in you the offended one; to freely pardon someone’s offense and thereby create a space in the heart of both parties for the Holy Spirit to do His transforming work; to embrace the divine process whereby forgiveness of others is how we live into God’s forgiveness of us; to work out and put into action God’s forgiveness of us by our forgiveness of others; to generously demonstrate an act of merciful lovingkindness that cancels the penalties of the wrongs done to us.

Rabbinic Questions. Let’s say a driver seems to cut you off in traffic, or maybe someone apparently gives you a scornful look. What is your reaction, and how are you to think about what that other person did? In the minds of the ancient rabbis, those are the questions that were debated and discussed in depth and at length. They would ask questions like… What Scripture would apply? What is the right thing to do? What would God expect of us? Is there more than one right answer here? How are we to treat this person, remembering that we all were made in the image of God?

Judge Fairly. For centuries, one of the hot topics in rabbinic circles had to do with how to interpret Leviticus 19:15: “You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” And the two most popular interpretations during Jesus’ day were, “Judge everyone with the scales weighted in their favor,” and “Judge every person in favorable terms.” It is exciting to know that Jesus was smack in the middle of this very practical discussion, and that his words were intended to expand on this subject of how to judge our neighbor fairly.

Benefit of the Doubt. Clearly, Jesus accepted what was popular in rabbinic teaching during that time… Give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t assume the worst motivation for someone’s questionable behavior. Believe the best about people, because only God knows the heart and can therefore judge rightly. Drop the critical spirit before you become an incurable cynic. Don’t jump to conclusions about a suspicious action, but learn to make allowances. If you believe the worst about people, and judge them with contempt, you are acting as if you know what people are thinking and why they are thinking it. Instead, weight your scales of justice in that person’s favor, even if we think they might not “deserve” it.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a ‘good eye’ your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘evil eye’ your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23; also refer to Luke 11:34-36).

There was a Jewish idiom during those days that talked about a “good eye” (aiyin tovah) and an “evil eye” (aiyin ra’ah). The good eye referred to looking at people generously, favorably, positively. A good eye meant that a person was generous in how he or she dealt with others. The evil eye meant that a person was stingy, unforgiving, negative in his outlook towards others. These were popular expressions in ancient Judaism, and fit right into this idea of weighting the scales in a person’s favor.

The Context. Those words above from Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount is in the middle of His teaching on money, hoarding earthly treasures, on allowing wealth to capture our hearts, on the impossibility of serving the two masters of God and money. So, carefully placed between Christ’s two words of wisdom regarding materialism, right there between Matt. 6:19-21 and 6:24, are His quick thoughts about the lamp of the eye and the “good eye” and the “evil eye.” Jesus evidently decided to unpack a little bit of a commonly used proverb of that day in which the eye is the body’s lamp. And He also uses a popular Jewish expression of His time concerning a good eye and an evil eye.

The Good Eye. When someone had a ‘good eye,’ it referred to not only how generous a person was with his money and possessions, but also how generous a person was in how they looked at others around them… graciously, generously, favorably, positively. Jesus was highlighting the importance of giving others the benefit of the doubt. So Jesus agreed with the common rabbinic thought of “judging every person in favorable terms.”

The Evil Eye. When someone had an ‘evil eye’ during that time, it referred to a person who was not only stingy with one’s wealth but also with the amount of grace one demonstrated with those around them. The evil eye meant that a person was selfish, unforgiving, cynical, negative in his outlook towards others. Someone with an evil eye assumes the worst in the other person, keeps a sharp edge to a critical spirit, and judges others with the scales weighted against them.

Why should we value the ‘good eye’? Jesus supported that common Jewish idiom about the good eye vs. the bad eye, but he increased the challenge by focusing heavily on the main reasons for being magnanimous with others… Show mercy toward others because of God’s mercy towards each of us; give grace to others and allow them to have apparent weak moments, because God gives grace to us and allows each of us to show our humanity as well. We weight the scales in our neighbor’s favor, because God graciously weights the scales in our favor, despite our sinfulness. Judging others favorably doesn’t excuse sinful behavior, or pretend evil doesn’t exist, or remove any sense of moral accountability. Creator God did establish a moral universe, after all. The good eye instead graciously assumes a forgivable explanation for misbehavior. The good eye always seeks to understand others, loving the sinner while hating the sin. In terms of what’s truly going on in another’s heart of hearts, God only knows. Judgment is mine, says the Lord. 

“So be generous with others, magnanimous even! Isn’t that how the Father treats everyone, whether we deserve it or not? He created a magnificent world for us all to enjoy, given us the very breath of life. He causes the warming sun to shine, and provides the nourishing rain as well, whether we’ve been naughty or nice, grateful or ungrateful. Really now, who do we think we are, judging our neighbor without grace like we do? Listen to our marching orders straight from the King… Love others the way that God loves us.” ( a little riff on Luke 6, Matthew 5:45, James 4:11-12, Romans 14:10, and 1 John 4:11)

A Central Ethic in the Christian Life. Developing a good eye is not just a minor matter to Jesus, apparently. He seems to be claiming that by forgiving others, treating others mercifully, generously and graciously, we thereby allow our whole spirit to be filled with the light of Christ and His truth. The good eye plays an important role in our spiritual transformation. Our souls will be filled with light to the extent we develop a good eye regarding others.  Our perception of others, and how we treat others, affects everything else about who we are and who we become. And when we develop an evil eye in how we view others and how we treat others, then our very soul will be filled with complete darkness. Jesus seems to be saying it’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we are filled with light and enjoy a wonderful good eye with others when in fact we are instead developing an evil eye and becoming filled with darkness. Perhaps that’s why Jesus was so frustrated with the self-righteousness of the religious leaders of His day. They mistakenly thought they were filled with light, but instead were filled with the darkness of the unforgiving, judging, critical spirit regarding those who they deemed ‘sinners’. As Jesus warned in His parallel teaching in Luke 11:33-36, “Be careful that the light in you is not darkness!” And Jesus closed this teaching in Luke with, “If, then, your whole body is filled with light, with no part dark, it will be wholly lighted, as when a brightly lit lamp shines on you.”