The Beam

There are two beams in Scripture worth mentioning. The first, is the beam our Savior died on. The beam which allowed our Savior to be lifted up, and so bear the sins of the world. There is another beam however Scripture speaks of, which is certainly as important to recognize, and that is the one we bear in our own eyes.

This beam we bear in our own eyes is important to recognize for many reasons. The first is, because of its placement. A beam in the eye is located in the worse of all possible locations. By virtue that it is in the eye, and takes up most of the room in it, it insures near, if not total, blindness, for the one trying to see through and around it. Another reason why it is important to recognize the beam, is because it is quite effective at shutting out most of the light as well. Surely the one whose eye is filled with a beam, sees darkly. In addition, the beam if not recognized, can cause the senses to adapt to this handicap, by looking around the edges, instead of at the center, and learning to be comfortable with less light. Like any malformation, in short, we find ways to adapt so that we might become more comfortable with it.  

Jesus said the beam in our own eye, is a hindrance to everything within us! Which brings us to the most concerning thing about the beam, and that is, to the one bearing it, it has a way, though large and overwhelmingly present, to make itself invisible, to the one being blinded by it. The greatest danger of the beam Jesus said, is that those who bear it, are unaware of its presence. To them what they see is light, for they have traded darkness for light. To them, what is spiritually lacking, is now the norm. To the one who bears the beam in their own eye, they now wear it proudly as a prosthetic limb, comfortable now with the new appendage.

Hence Jesus’ sobering words, “The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

5/1/2017