I Can See Clearly Now – the Log is Gone

Have you ever had a stye in your eye? Well I had not – until this week. I have no clue what brought it on. I just woke up the other morning and felt like my wife had punched me in the eye in the middle of the night. And with the irritation came what felt like a sinus headache without the sinus congestion. Weird, but painful. I must admit, the mental distraction that this little bump of pain gave me made me ask the question, “Lord, why do you let people get styes in their eyes? What good could come from it?”

This trivial situation reminded me of a passage in Luke. In the text, we see that Jesus took those who were following Him and went up into the mountain on the edge of Capernaum (Peter’s home town). He prayed all night. Now I have never been able to do this successfully. I have made it hours but never all night. The next morning, you would think that Jesus would be exhausted. I’m thinking an egg McMuffin and a long nap. But He gets right to business. He comes down with his followers and hand-picks his twelve disciples. Jesus may have actually been physically exhausted as a man but He was no doubt spiritually rejuvenated. In the midst of the twelve, and the multitude of people below who had come to hear Him speak, Jesus then turns to His twelve and begins to deliver his most famous sermon - “The Sermon on the Mount.”

New disciples, praying all night to prepare His speech - you would expect some powerful words to come from that. The KJV says “And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples.” If you were one of these novice disciples who had just seen this man cast out demons, heal leprosy, fill empty nets with fish to the point of bursting and stretch out the bones of a man’s withered hand, you might be ready to take notes on what He is about to say as His eyes gaze upon you. Less than thirty verses later, Jesus, looking at His chosen few, draws a powerful illustration. “Get the log out of your own eye so you can see clearly to get the speck out of your friend’s eye!” Ouch! If a little stye could do so much to distort my vision and mental clarity, I can only image what it would be like with a log in my eye. Could I see at all? Would the pain be so severe that I could not think clearly at all? Would I be in any position whatsoever to actually help someone else with anything? I think I would be absolutely useless.

Jesus was simply saying that we should be careful to not judge others for their mishaps and wrongdoings and for their sins and mistakes, because we’ve got our own problems. We sin against God in our own ways. And the Lord precedes this warning with things that we should do instead; be merciful, love your enemies, give to others - expecting nothing in return, turn the other cheek, bless those who despitefully use us. I guess this gives a whole new meaning to, “the meek shall inherit the earth.”

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Luke 6:41-42 NLT