This week we are looking at a part of perhaps the
most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which we know today as the Sermon
in the Mount. Yesterday, we looked at Matthew 6:25, where Jesus commanded the
crowds listening to Him to not become overly concerned about the day to day
aspects of life here on earth so as to be consumed by apprehension and anxiety.
Jesus then reinforced His command by asking a rhetorical question: “Is not life
more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
We then talked about the reality that while we may
intellectually agree that life is more than food, and the body more than clothing,
emotionally we still can find ourselves in a place where we become overly
concerned about the day to day aspects of life here on earth so as to be
consumed by apprehension and anxiety. We can still find ourselves in a place
where our behavior betrays what we say we believe when it comes to this issue
of worry.
Or maybe you are wondering why Jesus would command
people to not become overly concerned about the day to day aspects of life here
on earth so as to be consumed by apprehension and anxiety. I mean, in the grand
scheme of all the things that Jesus could focus on and command people to do
when it comes to having a right relationship with God, why would He focus on
the issue of worry?
We then discovered that Jesus was connecting the issue of money and
worry to reveal the reality that worry distracts our devotion from God to
something other than God. What we become overly
concerned about so as to be consumed by apprehension and anxiety about is what
we end up becoming devoted to. Worry distracts our devotion from God to something other than God. After
asking this rhetorical question, Jesus then provides an illustration to the
crowds listening in Matthew 6:26-27:
"Look at the birds of the air, that they
do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more
than they? 27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
Jesus pointed the crowds listening to His sermon to
the birds of the air. Now if Jesus was communicating this illustration in the
language we use in our culture today, this illustration would have sounded
something like this: “For example, have you ever given any serious thought to
how birds survive? I mean, let’s
consider how a bird lives out their life here on earth. After all, how much
control do birds have when it comes to where they get their food? How worried
are they about their future? Do you see birds building extra storage facilities
for their food because they are worried about where their food will come from
in the future? Do the birds spend all kinds of energy and effort because they
are concerned about their future survival? No, birds live with a rhythm of life
and God provides for them as they live within that rhythm.”
Jesus then asked the crowd another rhetorical
question: Are you not worth much more
than they? Again, the reason why this question was rhetorical is due to the
fact that the answer to this question should be so obvious that it did not
require an answer. Human beings, as image bearers of God made in the image of
God are far more valuable than anything else in the creation.
And while that rhetorical question was hanging in
the air, Jesus asked yet another rhetorical question: "And who of you by
being worried can add a single hour
to his life?” Now when Jesus uses the word hour here, this word, in the
language that this letter was originally written in, was a term that was used
to measure a length of something. This word could be used to measure time, and
this word could be used to measure height.
So, on the one hand, since the context suggests that
Jesus here is addressing worry over finding food and drink, which helps one grow, Jesus could be making a hyperbolic
and humorous statement about increasing one's height. Jesus point could be that
the crowds listening to His sermon did not grow to their present height by
worrying. On the other hand, Jesus could be making a hyperbolic statement about
adding time to their life. Jesus point could be that the crowds listening to
His sermon cannot add any time to their life by worrying.
Either way, Jesus
overarching point with this illustration remained the same. And that point is
that worrying changes nothing about the things that we have no control over.
Jesus then provides a second illustration to the crowds in verse 28-30:
"And
why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow;
they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even
Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30
"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown
into the furnace, will He not
much more clothe you? You of
little faith!
Here we see Jesus ask a question designed to shift
the focus of the crowd from food and onto another aspect of life that people
often worry about: "And why are you worried about clothing?” Jesus then
pointed the crowds listening to His sermon to another illustration, the lilies
of the field. Now if Jesus was communicating this illustration in the language
we use in our culture today, this illustration would have sounded something
like this:
“For example, what do we learn about God from the
lilies of the field? I mean how much control do they have when it comes to what
they wear? Do you see the lilies of the field spending all kinds of effort and
energy when it comes to what they are going to wear because they are worried
about where their clothes will come from in the future? Yet a field full of
lilies is more beautiful clothed then the wisest and richest king who ever led
our nation. And have you ever considered how long the lilies of the field live?
I mean, they are around for a few weeks in the spring until the scorching
desert sun withers them away. And then they are gathered up and thrown into a
stove to provide fuel for you to cook your food and survive. If God provides in
such a way for what is only temporary, then how much more will He provide for
you who are created in His image. Why do you have so little trust in God!”
After providing these illustrations, Jesus then
brought the crowds listening back around to the issue of worry. Friday, we will
see Jesus reveal for us a timeless truth surrounding the issue of worry...
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