19-21. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and corruption doth destroy, and where thieves break through
and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor corruption doth destroy, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Having first
cast out the sickness of vainglory by what He said before, now He speaks about
non-possessiveness. For men possess more than they need because of vainglory.
He shows how unprofitable earthly treasure is: moth and corruption consume food
and clothing, and thieves steal gold and silver. And then, so that no one
should say to Him that not all treasure is stolen, Jesus says, even if nothing
is lost in this manner, are you not wretched for being nailed down by your
worries over wealth? This is why He says, "Where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also."
22-23. The eye is the lamp of the body: if
therefore thine eye be sound, thy whole body shall be full of light. 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. This means,
if you fill your mind with worries over money, you have extinguished the lamp
and darkened your soul. For just as the eye that is "sound" or
"healthy" brings light to the body, and the eye that is
"evil" or "diseased" brings darkness, so also does the
state of the mind affect the soul. If the mind is blinded by these worries, it
is cast into darkness; then the soul becomes dark, and how much more so the
body as well?
24. No man can serve two lords. What He
means is this: no man can serve two lords who command things that are opposed
to each other. Such lords are God and mammon. We make the devil our lord when
we make the belly our god. But by nature and in truth God is the Lord, and
mammon is unrighteousness. 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. Do you see that it is not possible for a rich man and unrighteous
man to serve God? His love of money drives him away from God.
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