Luke 11:33

No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they which enter in may see the light. The lamp of the body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness. If therefore thy whole body be full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light.

Light (not) under the bushel, but on a stand ... This refers to Jesus' intention of giving such a sign as should draw all men unto himself. His death, burial and resurrection, to be accomplished at the very center of Israel, would be a sign unto all generations and peoples of the earth. It would indeed be a light upon the stand.

The lamp of the body ... the eye ... Here Jesus addressed himself to correcting his hearers' inability (through their sins) to appreciate truth, and to read God's sign, when they should finally see it. It was not at all the nature of the sign that needed correction but the quality of perception in his sinful audience, the evil generation which confronted him.

Independently of the context, the parable of the lighted lamp has many applications, as already noted elsewhere. This simile of the light also occurs in other contexts, in Matthew 5:15 and Luke 8:16.

Some critics are slaves to the superstition that Jesus could have used such a simile as this concerning the light ONLY ONE TIME, which, of course, is ridiculous on the face of it. All great teachers of all ages have used certain key expressions over and over under different circumstances, making different deductions from them, and adapting them to whatever teaching was in hand; and it is unscientific and illogical to deny that Jesus did the same thing. Despite this, some of the critical scholars insist on viewing the several mentions of this simile as "proof that Matthew or Luke or both are mistaken,"[35] trying to determine "which is the true historical setting of the simile."[36] Obviously, all the settings in which it is reported in the sacred Gospels are "true historical settings"; for Jesus used the illustration often. See the introduction of this chapter. Zahn, as quoted by Geldenhuys, suggested that Jesus might have used such a simile as this "ten or twenty times" during his ministry; and all denials of such things were unhesitatingly declared by Geldenhuys to be "devoid of all foundation."[37]

[35] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 339.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.