This post was last updated on April 20, 2026

Day 21 (Year 2)

The Evil Eye

Jesus said the owner’s words of the parable of the vineyard, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15 NASB)

The word “envious” above comes from the Greek word poneros, which also means “evil, of a bad nature or condition, hardships, or bringing toils.” Indeed, carrying out evil is tiring and draining. And the beginning of evil may come from a bad eye. While believers reflect on and pray for God to open the eyes of our hearts, we must also cast away every evil eye. In Jesus’ parable about a master who hired laborers to work in his vineyard, both those who came early and those who came late received the same denarius. The workers who came early became envious of the late workers who received the same because they labored less.

Some sometimes misused this passage to suggest that believing in Jesus early or late makes no difference, so one might as well believe later. But look carefully at the passage, those who were invited to work early in the morning—if they had refused the master’s invitation, would they have had another opportunity later? That is not certain. I believe they may have had no further chance of being invited, as they may have gone elsewhere to work or wander. Moreover, if people think that believing in Jesus is good, they will do so as early as possible.

In the parable, the master hired different people at different times to work in the vineyard. In fact, different people accepting God’s invitation to believe in Jesus at different ages is a matter of submitting to His sovereignty and will, rather than leaving the choice entirely to human preference. The key point of this passage is that believers should not envy the grace others receive from God. First, this mindset of comparing oneself with others places importance on people or wages rather than on God. The focus is already wrong. Second, this envy stems from valuing one’s own efforts more than God’s grace toward people. This tendency to value one’s own contributions while undervaluing God’s is bound to give rise to an evil eye. 

Furthermore, those who truly love the Lord will often rejoice when He generously bestows grace upon others. Conversely, those with an evil eye find it difficult for the eyes of their hearts to be opened by God. Or, if such an evil eye arises again, they will inevitably see more faults, grow increasingly dim in their vision, and ultimately perish in the sin of complaining against God.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you feel you have a problem with an evil eye? If so, how would you rely on the Lord to deal with it?

2) Do you agree that the earlier one believes in Jesus, the better? What are your reasons?