Luke 11:35

Luke 11:35, in plain English

Jesus gives a sobering warning: make sure the 'light' inside you isn't actually darkness. Sometimes what you think is wisdom or insight is really blindness wearing a disguise.

Why it's here

This is for anyone who's certain they've got it all figured out. Jesus is saying: check yourself. The most dangerous darkness is the kind that thinks it's light.

Who's speaking

Jesus issues a personal challenge to examine your own inner life honestly.

Where it sits in the story

This warning is personal. Jesus isn't talking about other people's blindness -- He's asking you to look inward. Are you sure you see as clearly as you think?

The scholarly reading

Jesus issues a warning (skopei, 'watch carefully'): the light within you may actually be darkness (skotos). Self-deception is possible -- what one considers enlightenment may in fact be spiritual blindness.

Language and setting

This verse addresses those who are confident in their spiritual sight but are actually blind -- a theme Jesus develops extensively against the Pharisees. The warning applies to anyone whose assumed light is actually darkness.

Voice

Jesus warns His listeners about the most dangerous form of spiritual blindness: not knowing you're blind.

Significance

This is one of Jesus' most unsettling warnings. It's possible to think you see clearly while being completely in the dark. The people demanding signs thought they were the enlightened ones.

33No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.

35Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

36So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, you will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you.”

37As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table.

Read all of Luke 11 — The disciples ask for a prayer, and Jesus gives them words that have echoed for two thousand years. Then he warns against empty religion.