Matthew 6:25

There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns his disciples, or against which he arms them with more variety of arguments, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth; and therefore he thus largely insists upon it. Here is,

I. The prohibition laid down. It is the counsel and command of the Lord Jesus, that we take no thought about the things of this world; I say unto you. He says it as our Lawgiver, and the Sovereign of our hearts; he says it as our Comforter, and the Helper of our joy. What is it that he says? It is this, and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear it. Take no thought for your life, nor yet for your body (Mat 6:25). Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? (Mat 6:31) and again (Mat 6:34), Take no thought, mē merimnate - Be not in care. As against hypocrisy, so against worldly cares, the caution is thrice repeated, and yet no vain repetition: precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, to the same purport, and all little enough; it is a sin which doth so easily beset us. It intimates how pleasing it is to Christ, and of how much concern it is to ourselves, that we should live without carefulness. It is the repeated command of the Lord Jesus to his disciples, that they should not divide and pull in pieces their own minds with care about the world. There is a thought concerning the things of this life, which is not only lawful, but duty, such as is commended in the virtuous woman. See Pro 27:23. The word is used concerning Paul's care of the churches, and Timothy's care for the state of souls, Co2 11:28; Phi 2:20.

But the thought here forbidden is, 1. A disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him; which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us. 2. A distrustful, unbelieving thought. God has promised to provide for those that are his all things needful for life as well as godliness, the life that now is, food and a covering: not dainties, but necessaries. He never said, "They shall be feasted," but, "Verily, they shall be fed." Now an inordinate care for time to come, and fear of wanting those supplies, spring from a disbelief of these promises, and of the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence; and that is the evil of it. As to present sustenance, we may and must use lawful means to get it, else we tempt God; we must be diligent in our callings, and prudent in proportioning our expenses to what we have, and we must pray for daily bread; and if all other means fail, we may and must ask relief of those that are able to give it. He was none of the best of men that said, To beg I am ashamed (Luk 16:3); as he was, who (Luk 16:21) desired to be fed with the crumbs; but for the future, we must cast our care upon God, and take no thought, because it looks like a jealousy of God, who knows how to give what we want when we know not now to get it. Let our souls dwell at ease in him! This gracious carelessness is the same with that sleep which God gives to his beloved, in opposition to the worldling's toil, Psa 127:2. Observe the cautions here,

(1.) Take no thought for your life. Life is our greatest concern for this world; All that a man has will he give for his life; yet take no thought about it. [1.] Not about the continuance of it; refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; my times are in thy hand, and they are in a good hand. [2.] Not about the comforts of this life; refer it to God to embitter or sweeten it as he pleases. We must not be solicitous, no not about the necessary support of this life, food and raiment; these God has promised, and therefore we may more confidently expect; say not, What shall we eat? It is the language of one at a loss, and almost despairing; whereas, though many good people have the prospect of little, yet there are few but have present support.

(2.) Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not solicitous for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for tomorrow, or the events of it.

II. The reasons and arguments to enforce this prohibition. One would think the command of Christ was enough to restrain us from this foolish sin of disquieting, distrustful care, independently of the comfort of our own souls, which is so nearly concerned; but to show how much the heart of Christ is upon it, and what pleasures he takes in those that hope in his mercy, the command is backed with the most powerful arguments. If reason may but rule us, surely we shall ease ourselves of these thorns. To free us from anxious thoughts, and to expel them, Christ here suggests to us comforting thoughts, that we may be filled with them. It will be worth while to take pains with our own hearts, to argue them out of their disquieting cares, and to make ourselves ashamed of them. They may be weakened by right reason, but it is by an active faith only that they can be overcome. Consider then,

1. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Mat 6:25. Yes, no doubt it is; so he says who had reason to understand the true value of present things, for he made them, he supports them, and supports us by them; and the thing speaks for itself. Note, (1.) Our life is a greater blessing than our livelihood. It is true, life cannot subsist without a livelihood; but the meat and raiment which are here represented as inferior to the life and body are such as are for ornament and delight; for about such as are for ornament ad delight; for about such we are apt to be solicitous. Meat and raiment are in order to life, and the end is more noble and excellent than the means. The daintiest food and finest raiment are from the earth, but life from the breath of God. Life is the light of men; meat is but the oil that feeds that light: so that the difference between rich and poor is very inconsiderable, since, in the greatest things, they stand on the same level, and differ only in the less. (2.) This is an encouragement to us to trust God for food and raiment, and so to ease ourselves of all perplexing cares about them. God has given us life, and given us the body; it was an act of power, it was an act of favour, it was done without our care: what cannot he do for us, who did that? - what will he not? If we take care about our souls and eternity, which are more than the body, and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. God has maintained our lives hitherto; if sometimes with pulse and water, that has answered the end; he has protected us and kept us alive. He that guards us against the evils we are exposed to, will supply us with the good things we are in need of. If he had been pleased to kill us, to starve us, he would not so often have given his angels a charge concerning us to keep us.

2. Behold the fowls of the air, and consider the lilies of the field. Here is an argument taken from God's common providence toward the inferior creatures, and their dependence, according to their capacities, upon that providence. A fine pass fallen man has come to, that he must be sent to school to the fowls of the air, and that they must teach him! Job 12:7, Job 12:8.

(1.) Look upon the fowls, and learn to trust God for food (Mat 6:26), and disquiet not yourselves with thoughts what you shall eat.

[1.] Observe the providence of God concerning them. Look upon them, and receive instruction. There are various sorts of fowls; they are numerous, some of them ravenous, but they are all fed, and fed with food convenient for them; it is rare that any of them perish for want of food, even in winter, and there goes no little to feed them all the year round. The fowls, as they are least serviceable to man, so they are least within his care; men often feed upon them, but seldom feed them; yet they are fed, we know not how, and some of them fed best in the hardest weather; and it is your heavenly Father that feeds them; he knows all the wild fowls of the mountains, better than you know the tame ones at your own barn-door, Psa 50:11. Not a sparrow lights to the ground, to pick up a grain of corn, but by the providence of God, which extends itself to the meanest creatures. But that which is especially observed here is, that they are fed without any care or project of their own; they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. The ant indeed does, and the bee, and they are set before us as examples of prudence and industry; but the fowls of the air do not; they make no provision for the future themselves, and yet every day, as duly as the day comes, provision is made for them, and their eyes wait on God, that great and good Housekeeper, who provides food for all flesh.

[2.] Improve this for your encouragement to trust in God. Are ye not much better than they? Yes, certainly you are. Note, The heirs of heaven are much better than the fowls of heaven; nobler and more excellent beings, and, by faith, they soar higher; they are of a better nature and nurture, wiser than the fowls of heaven (Job 35:11): though the children of this world, that know not the judgment of the Lord, are not so wise as the stork, and the crane, and the swallow (Jer 8:7), you are dearer to God, and nearer, though they fly in the open firmament of heaven. He is their Master and Lord, their Owner and Master; but besides all this, he is your Father, and in his account ye are of more value than many sparrows; you are his children, his first-born; now he that feeds his birds surely will not starve his babes. They trust your Father's providence, and will not you trust it? In dependence upon that, they are careless for the morrow; and being so, they live the merriest lives of all creatures; they sing among the branches (Psa 104:12), and, to the best of their power, they praise their Creator. If we were, by faith, as unconcerned about the morrow as they are, we should sing as cheerfully as they do; for it is worldly care that mars our mirth and damps our joy, and silences our praise, as much as any thing.

(2.) Look upon the lilies, and learn to trust God for raiment. That is another part of our care, what we shall put on; for decency, to cover us; for defence, to keep us warm; yea, and, with many, for dignity and ornament, to make them look great and fine; and so much concerned are they for gaiety and variety in their clothing, that this care returns almost as often as that for their daily bread. Now to ease us of this care, let us consider the lilies of the field; not only look upon them (every eyes does that with pleasure), but consider them. Note, There is a great deal of good to be learned from what we see every day, if we would but consider it, Pro 6:6; Pro 24:32.

[1.] Consider how frail the lilies are; they are the grass of the field. Lilies, though distinguished by their colours, are still but grass. Thus all flesh is grass: though some in the endowments of body and mind are as lilies, much admired, still they are grass; the grass of the field in nature and constitution; they stand upon the same level with others. Man's days, at best, are as grass, as the flower of the grass Pe1 1:24. This grass today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; in a little while the place that knows us will know us no more. The grave is the oven into which we shall be cast, and in which we shall be consumed as grass in the fire, Psa 49:14. This intimates a reason why we should not take thought for the morrow, what we shall put on, because perhaps, by tomorrow, we may have occasion for our grave-clothes.

[2.] Consider how free from care the lilies are: they toil not as men do, to earn clothing; as servants, to earn their liveries; neither do they spin, as women do, to make clothing. It does not follow that we must therefore neglect, or do carelessly, the proper business of this life; it is the praise of the virtuous woman, that she lays her hand to the spindle, makes fine linen and sells it, Pro 31:19, Pro 31:24. Idleness tempts God, instead of trusting him; but he that provides for inferior creatures, without their labour, will much more provide for us, by blessing our labour, which he has made our duty. And if we should, through sickness, be unable to toil and spin, God can furnish us with what is necessary for us.

[3.] Consider how fair, how fine the lilies are; how they grow; what they grow from. The root of the lily or tulip, as other bulbous roots, is, in winter, lost and buried under ground, yet, when spring returns, it appears, and starts up in a little time; hence it is promised to God's Israel, that they should grow as the lily, Hos 14:5. Consider what they grow to. Out of that obscurity in a few weeks they come to be so very gay, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. The array of Solomon was very splendid and magnificent: he that had the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces, and studiously affected pomp and gallantry, doubtless had the richest clothing, and the best made up, that could be got; especially when he appeared in his glory on high days. And yet, let him dress himself as fine as he could, he comes far short of the beauty of the lilies, and a bed of tulips outshines him. Let us, therefore, be ambitious of the wisdom of Solomon, in which he was outdone by none (wisdom to do our duty in our places), rather than the glory of Solomon, in which he was outdone by the lilies. Knowledge and grace are the perfection of man, not beauty, much less fine clothes. Now God is here said thus to clothe the grass of the field. Note, All the excellences of the creature flow from God, the Fountain and spring of them. It was he that gave the horse his strength, and the lily its beauty; every creature is in itself, as well as to us, what he makes it to be.

[4.] Consider how instructive all this is to us, Mat 6:30.

First, As to fine clothing, this teaches us not to care for it at all, not to covet it, nor to be proud of it, not to make the putting on of apparel our adorning, for after all our care in this the lilies will far outdo us; we cannot dress so fine as they do, why then should we attempt to vie with them? Their adorning will soon perish, and so will ours; they fade - are today, and tomorrow are cast, as other rubbish, into the oven; and the clothes we are proud of are wearing out, the gloss is soon gone, the color fades, the shape goes out of fashion, or in awhile the garment itself is worn out; such is man in all his pomp (Isa 40:6, Isa 40:7), especially rich men (Jam 1:10); they fade away in their ways.

Secondly, As to necessary clothing; this teaches us to cast the care of it upon God - Jehovah-jireh; trust him that clothes the lilies, to provide for you what you shall put on. If he give such fine clothes to the grass, much more will he give fitting clothes to his own children; clothes that shall be warm upon them, not only when he quieteth the earth with the south wind, but when he disquiets it with the north wind, Job 37:17. He shall much more clothe you: for you are nobler creatures, of a more excellent being; if so he clothe the short-lived grass, much more will he clothe you that are made for immortality. Even the children of Nineveh are preferred before the gourd (Jon 4:10, Jon 4:11), much more the sons of Zion, that are in covenant with God. Observe the title he gives them (Mat 6:30), O ye of little faith. This may be taken, 1. As an encouragement to truth faith, though it be but weak; it entitles us to the divine care, and a promise of suitable supply. Great faith shall be commended, and shall procure great things, but little faith shall not be rejected, even that shall procure food and raiment. Sound believers shall be provided for, though they be not strong believers. The babes in the family are fed and clothed, as well as those that are grown up, and with a special care and tenderness; say not, I am but a child, but a dry tree (Isa 56:3, Isa 56:5), for though poor and needy yet the Lord thinketh on thee. Or, 2. It is rather a rebuke to weak faith, though it be true, Mat 14:31. It intimates what is at the bottom of all our inordinate care and thoughtfulness; it is owing to the weakness of our faith, and the remains of unbelief in us. If we had but more faith, we should have less care.

3. Which of you, the wisest, the strongest of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? (Mat 6:27) to his age, so some; but the measure of a cubit denotes it to be meant of the stature, and the age at longest is but a span, Psa 39:5. Let us consider, (1.) We did not arrive at the stature we are of by our own care and thought, but by the providence of God. An infant of a span long has grown up to be a man of six feet, and how was one cubit after another added to his stature? not by his own forecast or contrivance; he grew he knew not how, by the power and goodness of God. Now he that made our bodies, and made them of such size, surely will take care to provide for them. Note, God is to be acknowledged in the increase of our bodily strength and stature, and to be trusted for all needful supplies, because he has made it to appear, that he is mindful for the body. The growing age is the thoughtless, careless age, yet we grow; and shall not he who reared us to this, provide for us now we are reared? (2.) We cannot alter the stature we are of, if we would: what a foolish and ridiculous thing would it be for a man of low stature to perplex himself, to break his sleep, and beat his brains, about it, and to be continually taking thought how he might be a cubit higher; when, after all, he knows he cannot effect it, and therefore he had better be content and take it as it is! We are not all of a size, yet the difference in stature between one and another is not material, nor of any great account; a little man is ready to wish he were as tall as such a one, but he knows it is to no purpose, and therefore does as well as he can with it. Now as we do in reference to our bodily stature, so we should do in reference to our worldly estate. [1.] We should not covet an abundance of the wealth of this world, any more than we would covet the addition of a cubit to one's stature, which is a great deal in a man's height; it is enough to grow by inches; such an addition would but make one unwieldy, and a burden to one's self. [2.] We must reconcile ourselves to our state, as we do to our stature; we must set the conveniences against the inconveniences, and so make a virtue of necessity: what cannot be remedied must be made the best of. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, and therefore must acquiesce in them, accommodate ourselves to them, and relieve ourselves, as well as we can, against inconveniences, as Zaccheus against the inconvenience of his stature, by climbing into the tree.

4. After all these things do the Gentiles seek, Mat 6:32. Thoughtfulness about the world is a heathenish sin, and unbecoming Christians. The Gentiles seek these things, because they know not better things; they are eager for this world, because they are strangers to a better; they seek these things with care and anxiety, because they are without God in the world, and understand not his providence. They fear and worship their idols, but know not how to trust them for deliverance and supply, and, therefore, are themselves full of care; but it is a shame for Christians, who build upon nobler principles, and profess a religion which teaches them not only that there is a Providence, but that there are promises made to the good of the life that now is, which teaches them a confidence in God and a contempt of the world, and gives such reasons for both; it is a shame for them to walk as Gentiles walk, and to fill their heads and hearts with these things.

5. Your heavenly Father knows ye have need of all these things; these necessary things, food and raiment; he knows our wants better than we do ourselves; though he be in heaven, and his children on earth, he observes what the least and poorest of them has occasion for (Rev 2:9), I know thy poverty. You think, if such a good friend did not but know your wants and straits, you would soon have relief: your God knows them; and he is your Father that loves you and pities you, and is ready to help you; your heavenly Father, who has wherewithal to supply all your needs: away, therefore, with all disquieting thoughts and cares; go to thy Father; tell him, he knows that thou has need of such and such things; he asks you, Children, have you any meat? Joh 21:5. Tell him whether you have or have not. Though he knows our wants, he will know them from us; and when we have opened them to him, let us cheerfully refer ourselves to his wisdom, power, and goodness, for our supply. Therefore, we should ease ourselves of the burthen of care, by casting it upon God, because it is he that careth for us (Pe1 5:7), and what needs all this ado? If he care, why should be care?

6. Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Mat 6:33. Here is a double argument against the sin of thoughtfulness; take no thought for your life, the life of the body; for, (1.) You have greater and better things to take thought about, the life of your soul, your eternal happiness; that is the one thing needful (Luk 10:42), about which you should employ your thoughts, and which is commonly neglected in those hearts wherein worldly cares have the ascendant. If we were but more careful to please God, and to work out our own salvation, we should be less solicitous to please ourselves, and work out an estate in the world. Thoughtfulness for our souls in the most effectual cure of thoughtfulness for the world. (2.) You have a surer and easier, a safer and more compendious way to obtain the necessaries of this life, than by carking, and caring, and fretting about them; and that is, by seeking first the kingdom of God, and making religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve, no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. Observe here,

[1.] The great duty required: it is the sum and substance of our whole duty: "Seek first the kingdom of God, mind religion as your great and principle concern." Our duty is to seek; to desire, pursue, and aim at these things; it is a word that has in it much of the constitution of the new covenant in favour of us; though we have not attained, but in many things fail and come short, sincere seeking (a careful concern and an earnest endeavor) is accepted. Now observe, First, The object of this seeking; The kingdom of God, and his righteousness; we must mind heaven as our end, and holiness as our way. "Seek the comforts of the kingdom of grace and glory as your felicity. Aim at the kingdom of heaven; press towards it; give diligence to make it sure; resolve not to take up short of it; seek for this glory, honour, and immortality; prefer heaven and heavenly blessings far before earth and earthly delights." We make nothing of our religion, if we do not make heaven of it. And with the happiness of this kingdom, seek the righteousness of it; God's righteousness, the righteousness which he requires to be wrought in us, and wrought by us, such as exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees; we must follow peace and holiness, Heb 12:14. Secondly, The order of it. Seek first the kingdom of God. Let your care for your souls and another world take the place of all other cares: and let all the concerns of this life be made subordinate to those of the life to come: we must seek the things of Christ more than our own things; and if every they come in competition, we must remember to which we are to give the preference. "Seek these things first; first in thy days: let the morning of thy youth be dedicated to God. Wisdom must be sought early; it is good beginning betimes to be religious. Seek the first every day; let waking thoughts be of God." Let this be our principle, to do that first which is most needful, and let him that is the First, have the first.

[2.] The gracious promise annexed; all these things, the necessary supports of life, shall be added unto you; shall be given over and above; so it is in the margin. You shall have what you seek, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, for never any sought in vain, that sought in earnest; and besides that, you shall have food and raiment, by way of overplus; as he that buys goods has paper and packthread given him in the bargain. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is, Ti1 4:8. Solomon asked wisdom, and had that and other things added to him, Ch2 1:11, Ch2 1:12. O what a blessed change would it make in our hearts and lives, did we but firmly believe this truth, that the best way to be comfortably provided for in this world, is to be most intent upon another world! We then begin at the right end of our work, when we begin with God. If we give diligence to make sure to ourselves the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, as to all the things of this life, Jehovah-jireh - the Lord will provide as much of them as he sees good for us, and more we would not wish for. Have we trusted in him for the portion of our inheritance at our end, and shall we not trust him for the portion of our cup, in the way to it? God's Israel were not only brought to Canaan at last, but had their charges borne through the wilderness. O that we were more thoughtful about the things that are not seen, that are eternal, and then the less thoughtful we should be, and the less thoughtful we should need to be, about the things that are seen, that are temporal! Also regard not your stuff, Gen 45:20, Gen 45:23.

7. The morrow shall take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, Mat 6:34. We must not perplex ourselves inordinately about future events, because every day brings along with it its own burthen of cares and grievances, as, if we look about us, and suffer not our fears to betray the succours which grace and reason offer, it brings along with it its own strength and supply too. So that we are here told,

(1.) That thoughtfulness for the morrow is needless; Let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. If wants and troubles be renewed with the day, there are aids and provisions renewed likewise; compassions, that are new every morning, Lam 3:22, Lam 3:23. The saints have a Friend that is their arm every morning, and gives out fresh supplies daily (Isa 33:2), according as the business of every day requires (Ezr 3:4), and so he keeps his people in constant dependence upon him. Let us refer it therefore to the morrow's strength, to do the morrow's work, and bear the morrow's burthen. Tomorrow, and the things of it, will be provided for without us; why need we anxiously care for that which is so wisely cared for already? This does not forbid a prudent foresight, and preparation accordingly, but a perplexing solicitude, and a prepossession of difficulties and calamities, which may perhaps never come, or if they do, may be easily borne, and the evil of them guarded against. The meaning is, let us mind present duty, and then leave events to God; do the work of the day in its day, and then let tomorrow bring its work along with it.

(2.) That thoughtfulness for the morrow is one of those foolish and hurtful lusts, which those that will be rich fall into, and one of the many sorrows, wherewith they pierce themselves through. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. This present day has trouble enough attending it, we need not accumulate burthens by anticipating our trouble, nor borrow perplexities from tomorrow's evils to add to those of this day. It is uncertain what tomorrow's evils may be, but whatever they be, it is time enough to take thought about them when they come. What a folly it is to take that trouble upon ourselves this day by care and fear, which belongs to another day, and will be never the lighter when it comes? Let us not pull that upon ourselves all together at once, which Providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels. The conclusion of this whole matter then is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that his disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant, by their apprehension of troubles, than God has made it by the troubles themselves. By our daily prayers we may procure strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought ... - The general design of this paragraph, which closes the chapter, is to warn his disciples against avarice, and, at the same time, against anxiety about the supply of their needs. This he does by four arguments or considerations, expressing by unequalled beauty and force the duty of depending for the things which we need on the providence of God. The “first” is stated in Mat 6:25; “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” In the beginning of the verse he charged his disciples to take “no thought” - that is, not to be “anxious” about the supply of their wants. In illustration of this he says that God has given “life,” a far greater blessing than “meat;” that he has created the body, of far more consequence than raiment. Shall not he who has conferred the “greater” blessing be willing to confer the “less?” Shall not he who has formed the body so curiously, and made in its formation such a display of power and goodness, see that it is properly protected and clothed? He who has displayed “so great” goodness as to form the body, and breathe into it the breath of life, will surely “follow up” the blessing, and confer the “smaller” favor of providing that that body shall be clothed, and that life preserved.

No thought - The word “thought,” when the Bible was translated, meant “anxiety,” and is so used frequently in Old English authors. Thus, Bacon says, “Haweis died with ‘thought’ and anguish before his business came to an end.” As such it is used here by our translators, and it answers exactly to the meaning of the original. Like many other words, it has since somewhat changed its signification, and would convey to most readers an improper idea. The word “anxiety” would now exactly express the sense, and is precisely the thing against which the Saviour would guard us. See Luk 8:14; Luk 21:34; Phi 4:6. “Thought” about the future is right; “anxiety, solicitude, trouble” is wrong. There is a degree of “thinking” about the things of this life which is proper. See 1Ti 5:8; 2Th 3:10; Rom 12:11. But it should not be our supreme concern; it should not lead to anxiety; it should not take time that ought to be devoted to religion.

For your life - For what will “support” your life.

Meat - This word here means “food” in general, as it does commonly in the Bible. We confine it now to animal food. When the Bible was translated, it denoted all kinds of food, and is so used in the old English writers. It is one of the words which has changed its meaning since the translation of the Bible was made.

Raiment - Clothing.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mat_6:25

Take no thought.

Take no thought for the morrow

1. The question arises, Is not the Christian character a provident one?

2. All this is done to drive us to live by the day: to let the days affairs fill the days thoughts. See the benefit of this.

(1) As respects our pleasures. How can a man enjoy pleasure when he has his mind disturbed about the future? We must dwell on it undistractedly.

(2) As respects your pains. That which makes pain painful is the thought that it will continue.

(3) As respects duties. The secret of doing anything well is concentration.

3. We should have only to do with the sins of the current day. As with our sins so with our cares.

4. The trouble which comes is very often not the trouble which we expected. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

No thought for the morrow

1. The Christian should live in quiet confidence in God.

2. This quiet dependence upon God is our happiness, usefulness, strength, security.

3. If this were wrought in our hearts as a principle, how energetic we should be in the exercise of faith in God.

4. The secret of getting through work is to take the work of the day and leave all that does not belong to it.

5. Although a man leaves all to God, and is happy in Christ, he is not therefore exempt from evil. (J. W. Reeve.)

Undue anxiety reproved

I. The prohibition. If the text prohibits anxiety about gaining sustenance itself, it must much more condemn such a disposition of mind in reference to the luxuries or show of life, what a world of uneasiness is created by inordinate desire about trifles.

II. The reasons or motives for doing so.

1. The first is derived from a view of the conduct of the Gentiles.

2. Another lesson for avoiding anxiety is this, that our heavenly Father knoweth we have need of these things.

3. There is no advantage in excessive carefulness.

Learn:

1. Christianity is calculated to make men happy.

2. Let Christians guard against a distrustful spirit. (R. Robinson.)

The word thought is here used in the antiquated sense of anxiety. In this sense it occurs in Bacon and Shakespeare, Queen Catherine Parr died of thought. The pale cast of thought.

Evils of anxious forethought

1. From the intrinsic superiority of the spirit or the soul to its material surroundings.

2. It is needless, as all men stand in an order of nature that they are sure to be supplied by a moderate exertion of their powers. A man ought to be ashamed if a bird can get a living and he cannot.

3. Anxiety does no good. The mind works more wisely when it works pleasantly. Anxiety distorts the future.

4. It brings men under the power of the imagination and phantoms, which they fight without pause, and upon which they spend their strength for nothing.

5. If a man is constantly looking to the future in despondency, where is faith in his God? (Beecher.)

Anxious thought incapacitates for a wise ordering of life

The whole success of life depends upon the wholesomeness of a mans mind. The ship-master that navigates the sea beyond the sight of land is dependent upon the correctness of his chronometer and his compass. If the instruments of navigation fail him, everything fails him. And what these are to navigation on the sea and in a ship, the human mind is to our navigation of life. And anything that disturbs the balance of the mind so far invalidates the whole voyage of life. (Beecher.)

Anxiety for the Future often arises from some unholy passion

Fear still sits in the window. What seest thou? says Vanity. Whisperings are abroad, says Fear. Men are pointing at you-or they will, as soon as you come to a point of observation. O my good name! says a man. All that I have done; all that I have laid up-what will become of that? Where is my reputation going? What will become of me when I lose it, and when folks turn away from me? O trouble I trouble fit is coming! What is it? Fear is sitting in the window of the soul, and looking into the future, and interpreting the signs thereof to the love of approbation in its coarsest and lowest condition. Fear still sits looking into the future, and pride, coming up, says, What is it that you see? I see, says Fear, your castle robbed. I see you toppled down from your eminence. I see you under base mens feet. I see you weakened. I see you disesteemed. I see your power scattered and gone. O Lord; what a world is this! says Pride. Now, that man has not had a particle of trouble. Fear sat in the window and lied. And Pride cried, and Vanity cried, and Avarice cried-and ought to cry. Fear sat and told lies to them all. For there was not one of those things, probably, done there. Did Fear see them? Yes. But Fear has a kaleidoscope in his eye, and every time it turns it takes a new form. It is filled with broken glass, and it gives false pictures continually. Fear does not see right. It is for ever seeing wrong. And it is stimulated by other feelings. Pride stimulates it; and Vanity stimulates it; and Lust stimulates it; and Love itself finds, sometimes, no better business than to send Fear on its bad errands. For love cries at the cradle, Oh, the child will die! It will not die. It will get well. And then you will not be ashamed that you prophesied that it would die. You put on mourning in advance. (Beecher.)

A dissuasive from anxiety

I. The evil which we are directed to avoid.

II. The powerful considerations by which the saviour enforces the precept.

1. The power of God as displayed in our creation and preservation.

2. The care of Divine providence.

3. The futility of excessive anxiety.

4. The beauty of nature.

III. There reflections.

1. The connection of Divine agency with the existence of all things.

2. This subject reminds us of Him through whom we have access to the Father.

3. Let us learn lessons of spiritual wisdom from everything around us. (J. E. Good.)

Appears to use a variety of arguments against over-anxiety.

I. He that gave the lesser gift will surely give the greater.

II. God cares for the lower creation.

III. Over-anxiety is useless.

IV. To be over-anxious is to arraign the Divine foresight.

V. To be over-anxious is to sink from the level of the Christian disciple to that of the heathen. (Gordon Calthrop, M. A.)

Fretfulness

Arguments against an unquiet spirit.

1. The general course of nature is in favour of men.

2. That there is a Divine providence which employs the course of nature and gives it direction.

3. Fretting does no good, but uses up the nerve force needlessly.

4. It begets a habit of looking at the dark side of things.

5. The things we fear seldom happen.

(1) A tranquil soul is indispensably necessary to anything like a true Christian atmosphere.

(2) The chief ends of life are sacrificed to the unnecessary dust which our feet raise in the way of life.

(3) What disagreeable company we make of ourselves for God.

(4) This way of life, devoid of cheer, is bearing false witness against your Master. (Beecher.)

The folly of looking only at the ills of life

Now, what if a man should go round searching for a more familiar acquaintance with thistles and nettles and thorns, and everything sharp, up and down the highways, over the hills, and through the fields, and insist on putting his hand on everything that could give him a scratch? What if a man should insist upon finding out whatever was sour and bitter, and should go about tasting, and tasting, and tasting for that purpose. What if a man should insist upon smelling every disagreeable odour, and should see no gaspipe open that he did not go and look at it? When doves fly in the heavens, and go swinging round in their flight, we know what they see the grassy field, the luxuriant grain, or the inviting perch where they may rest; but when buzzards fly through the air they see no green fields, no pleasant gardens, but carrion, if there be any in sight; and if there is none to be seen, there is discontent in the buzzard heart. (Beecher.)

One fretful person a pleasure spoiler

It does not take more than one smoky chimney in a room to make it intolerable. (Beecher.)

Over-anxiety forbidden

I. Anxiety is useless about things not under our own control. Duration of life, etc.

II. Anxiety is useless in matters under our own management. Anxiety will not furnish the opportunity of earning bread, or arm us with power-but the reverse.

III. Anxiety does not attract us to the notice of God. He cares for us irrespective of our carefulness. No promise is made to anxiety, etc.

IV. Anxiety is useless because Jesus bids you get rid of it. Trust Him and let the spirit rest, and be strong and glad. (S. Martin.)

I. There is no wise man who will lay out his time and thoughts about things he cannot bring to pass; no one debates but of things possible and probable, lying within the sphere of his activity.

II. That our food and maintenance nourishes us, and augments and enlarges the proportion of every limb, is not the product of our own care, but of Gods blessing.

III. So it is with all outward concerns. From the Divine benediction which accompanies them, they prove good and useful to us. Not from our own care. (Adam Littleton, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 6:25-27. Therefore I say, Take no thought, &c. — Our Lord here proceeds to caution his disciples against worldly cares, these being as inconsistent with the true service of God as worldly desires. But the expression used by our translators, Take no thought, is too strong, and not warranted by the original, μη μεριμνατε, which properly signifies, Be not anxious, or, anxiously careful, as is evident from Luk 10:41; Luk 12:11; Luk 21:34; Php 4:6; and almost every other place, where μεριμναω occurs. For we are not to suppose that our Lord here commands us absolutely to take no thought for our life, food, and raiment; because, in other parts of Scripture, diligence in business is inculcated, and men are commanded to labour with their hands, that they may provide for the supply of their own wants, and also those of others, Rom 12:11; Eph 4:28; and that, instead of being useless loads on the earth, they may, at all times, have it in their power to discharge the several duties of life with decency, Tit 3:14. What Christ therefore here forbids is, not that thought, foresight, and care which prudent men use in providing sustenance and needful support for themselves, and those dependant upon them; but it is such an anxious care, as arises from want of faith in the being, perfections, and providence of God, and in the declarations and promises of his word, and therefore such an anxious solicitude as engrosses the thoughts and desires of the soul, so as either utterly to exclude or greatly damp and hinder spiritual affections, pursuits, and labours; or which prevents our receiving or our retaining and increasing in the love of God, and the true religion connected therewith. Is not the life more than the meat, needful to support it? And the body than the raiment, necessary to clothe it? and will not he, who has given the greater blessings, give the less also? Behold the fowls of the air — Learn a lesson from the birds that now fly round you. For they sow not, neither do they reap, &c. — Without foreseeing their own wants, or making provision for them, they are preserved and nourished by the unwearied benignity of the divine providence. Are ye not much better than they? — Are ye not beings of a nobler order, and destined for a higher end than they, and therefore more the objects of the divine care? Moreover, which of you, by taking thought — Gr. μεριμνων, by being anxiously careful, can add one cubit unto his stature? Can add one moment to the length of your lives; that is, which of you could profit yourselves at all by anxious thoughts and cares, if you should indulge them? It is evident, as several learned writers have observed, that the word ηλικια, here rendered stature, ought to have been translated age, because the caution is against anxious care about the preservation of life, and about food, the means of prolonging it; not to mention that Jesus is speaking here to full-grown men, who probably had no solicitude about their stature. Besides, the measure of a cubit agrees much better to a man’s age than to his stature, the smallest addition to which would have been better expressed by a hair’s breadth, or the like, than by a cubit, which is more than the fourth part of the whole height of most men. This interpretation of the word is confirmed by Luke in the parallel passage, Luk 12:25-26, where he calls the adding of a cubit, that which is least — That is the thing in which the interposition of the divine providence least appears, as it really is, if understood of the addition of a single moment to the length of one’s life.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_6:25. Therefore.—Denoting a connection between the service of mammon and “taking thought.” Take no thought.—Be not anxious (R.V.). Life.—The Greek word is the same as that commonly rendered “soul,” and the passage is interesting as an example of its use in the wider sense, which includes the lower as well as the higher life (Plumptre.)

Mat_6:26. Fowls.—Old English for birds.

Mat_6:27. Stature.—The Greek word admits either this meaning (as in Luk_19:3, and perhaps Luk_2:52), or that of age (as in Joh_9:21; Joh_9:23, and Heb_11:24). The latter best satisfies the teaching of the context. Men are not anxious about adding to their stature. They are often anxious about prolonging their life (Plumptre).

Mat_6:28. Lilies of the field.—The hill-sides of Galilee are clothed in spring, not only with what we call “lilies,” but with the crown imperial, and the golden amaryllis, and crimson tulips, and anemones of all shades from scarlet to white, to say nothing of the commoner buttercups and dandelions and daisies; and all these are probably classed roughly together under the generic name of “lilies” (ibid.). Dr. Thomson (Land and Book, p. 256), thinks the Hûleh lily is meant, but Canon Tristram (Natural History of the Bible) claims this honour for the beautiful and varied anemone coronaria.

Mat_6:30. The grass of the field.—The wild flowers which form part of the meadow growth, are counted as belonging to the grass, and are cut down with it. Cut grass which soon withers from the heat, is still used in the East for firing (Alford). The oven.—A large round pot of earthen or other materials, two or three feet high, narrow towards the top. This being first heated by a fire made within, the dough or paste was spread upon the sides to bake, thus forming cakes (Abbott).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_6:25-34

The perils of prudence.—Covetousness is one thing, prudence is another. The one craves more than enough. The other is satisfied with a competency. Can it ever be wrong for us to labour for this? Especially, can it be so, when our labours are undertaken not so much for ourselves as for others? It may be so, even in that case—so the Saviour teaches us here—if the spirit in which we do so be that of distraction and doubt. Even in being prudent, never be “anxious” as well. Four times over, in slightly differing forms, this counsel is given us here (Mat_6:25; Mat_6:28; Mat_6:31; Mat_6:34). The considerations which here support it may be put down as three. Never be anxious because such anxiety is:—

I. Wholly uncalled for.—Wholly uncalled for, in the first place, by the nature of the case. He who gave the “life” and made the “body” can do for both all that is needed. If the original and greater was in His power, much more is the subsequent and the less. It cannot be impossible for Him to provide raiment and food (Mat_6:25)! Wholly uncalled for, next, by anything taught us from the observation of nature. In the creatures God has made we see living evidence of the non-necessity for such anxiety. The “fowls of the air” (Mat_6:26) are not anxious, the “lilies of the field” (Mat_6:28) cannot be, yet their wants are supplied. May not those, therefore, who are “better than they” (Mat_6:26) look without “anxiety” for the same? May not they rely on the Fatherly hand which thus reaches beneath them, to reach as low as them too? Not called for, lastly, by the nature of the resources which have been placed in our hands. What can we do with the powers possessed by us, to provide with certainty for ourselves? Will any amount of anxiety suffice to make us certain as to the supply of our needs? Will it add to our stature? Will it lengthen our lives? (so some). Much less can it do for us what we see God do for the flowers, when, without anxiety on their part, and although they are but for a day, He “clothes” them with a degree of glory which the most favoured of men cannot obtain for themselves. Why, in a word, should we suppose ourselves “called” to attempt what He has made us unable to do? Rather, why should we suppose, what such “anxiety” implies, that He has left that task on our hands?

II. Most dishonouring to our Father.—Dishonouring, on the one hand, because it reflects on His power. To be “anxious” is to imply that He cannot do what He has undertaken to do; or, that there are doubts about it at least. It is to regard Him as having done the greater, but as being incompetent for the less. It is to “limit the Holy One of Israel” (Psa_78:41), a grievous sin indeed, in regard to His ability to provide. And to be, in a word, like those disciples of Christ at a subsequent date, who, after seeing their Master twice over feed thousands of men by His word, thought He was blaming them for having “forgotten” to provide for a few (Mat_16:7). “Can He give bread also, or provide flesh for His people?” There is more than doubt, there is the spirit of complaint, in that question. Dishonouring, on the other hand, because it reflects on God’s love. Those heathen people (Mat_6:32) who did not know God as He is, might be almost excused, if not wholly pardoned, for the questions they asked (Mat_6:31). Not so those professed “disciples” who are here addressed by the Saviour. These He had taught, only a little before, to address God as their “Father in heaven”; and, therefore, to ask from Him, as being such, the “daily” supply of their wants. For Him, therefore, to “know” their wants—as of course He did, being their Father in heaven—was also, of course, being their Father, to care for and supply them. And for such, therefore, to be “anxious” about them was to deny both of these truths. What would become of His love, indeed, if He could and knew, yet omitted to do?

III. Most injurious to ourselves.—Most injurious because doubly so, and in two different ways. Most injurious, first, because of that of which we deprive ourselves in this way. Putting the kingdom of God first, and leaving all else in His hands, is to obtain that kingdom, and all its happy “righteousness,” and all these other things too. For God Himself in that case is pleased to “add” them to us so far as this can be, and is well. On the other hand, to seek these other things first and be “anxious” therefore about them, is to gain them in appearance only, if to gain them at all; and to miss altogether that kingdom of God which should have been sought by us first. Most injurious, in the next place, because of that which we attain to thereby. For what is it that we are really doing when we are thus anticipating the evils of the future, and when our present thoughts are thus taken up with the possible evils of to-morrow? We are making those possibilities, by so doing, the certain evils of to-day. And we are voluntarily “adding” them, by so doing, to what are great enough as it is! So exactly opposite, therefore, both in spirit and issue, are the two courses in view. God, in the one case, whilst giving us His chiefest blessing, “adds” others beside. We, in the other case, whilst keeping our daily troubles, add others beside!

The best application of this teaching is that of the Saviour Himself. Seek His kingdom—seek it first—seek it just as it is. This seems the special significance of the word “righteousness” in this case. For what in fact, and in strict essence, is the “kingdom of God”? The Apostle shall tell us: It is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom_14:17). So also the psalmist has spoken (Psa_85:10), so the prophet averred (Isa_32:17). There is a seeking of the kingdom in which these things are forgotten. That is no seeking at all, or rather it is seeking a kingdom which cannot exist. Only where we are seeking “peace” through the blood of the cross; only where, as a proof of this, we are led by the Spirit, are our feet really on the way to that “kingdom which can never be moved” (Heb_12:28).

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_6:25-34. Distrustful anxiety.—This distrustful anxiety for food and raiment in time to come, which is a branch of covetousness, covered with the appearance of necessity, our Lord refutes by eight reasons.

1. God, who hath given life, which is more than food, will take care to provide food for maintenance of life, so long as He hath appointed life to continue; and God, who hath framed the body, which is more worth than the raiment, will also provide a garment.

2. God, who provides food for birds and fowls, will certainly provide for His own children.

3. Anxious care about the success of means cannot produce any good effect; therefore it should not be entertained, for even when a man hath eaten, he cannot make himself stronger or more tall than it shall please God to dispose.

4. God doth clothe the grass and flowers of the field with more colours than all the glory which Solomon’s garments had; therefore anxiety in God’s children for food and raiment (as if God were not careful for them) is unlawful.

5. Anxious seeking of the things of this earth is the fault of the Gentiles, who are destitute of the knowledge of God and ignorant of these heavenly things prepared for His children; therefore Christians, who are better instructed, should eschew this godless anxiety.

6. Christians are not fatherless, nor is their Father ignorant, unable or careless about them.

7. You have the kingdom of God and His righteousness whereupon to bestow your first and chiefest cares, which, if you seek after earnestly, ye shall not need to be anxious for food or raiment, or any other needful thing on earth, for all these things shall be superadded unto the grant of your chief desires.

8. The morrow shall bring with it troublesome cares of its own; and the day, or the time present, hath sufficient trouble by itself; therefore neither time present nor time to come should be rendered more miserable by anxious anticipating of troublesome cares before they come.—David Dickson.

Undue anxiety reproved, and the chief good urged, in the kingdom of God.—“Therefore” introduces the winding up of the argument respecting the unity of aim, of purpose, of object, of life, which Jesus Christ has been earnestly urging in the previous verses.

I. A prohibition.—“Take no thought,” etc. The Bible teaches us, and the instinct of self-preservation binds us, and self-respect constrains us to the wisdom of foresight. We are made to look forward. We are naturally anticipative. But Jesus Christ speaks of a very common evil—an undue anxiety and care. To be careful is good, but to be full of care is ruinous. “Take no excessive or harassing thought for the morrow,” because:

1. It is injurious to yourselves.—It makes you unhappy; it confuses your mind; it clouds your perceptions; it ages you; it breaks you down; it is inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity.

2. It incapacitates you for life’s success.—Success in life depends upon the wholesome restfulness of the mind.

3. It is a sin against God.—It is a sign of distrust; it ignores His fatherly care; and it gives the lie to His precious promises.

II. The reasons adduced for such a prohibition.

III. The divine command enforced.—“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,” etc. This is the positive side of duty. We are taught—

1. That “seeking the kingdom” must be our chief concern.

2. That this search shall be rewarded.—“All these things shall be added unto you.” “Providence will be your mighty partner and helper in the business.” “Other things being equal,” says Livermore, “the good man prospers better in worldly affairs than the bad man. All vices are expensive and losing, as all the virtues are gainful and thrifty.” “Godliness is profitable unto all things,” etc.—J. Harries.

Mat_6:26-30. Nature and nature’s God.—Perhaps the first thought that occurs as one recalls these words, is the unbounded admiration which our Lord manifested for the world of nature. Of Tauler, the mystic, it is recorded that his constant custom was to wander in the convent garden with his monk’s hood well drawn over his face and his eyes partially closed, lest the sight of the flowers might disturb his meditation. But, though Tauler was a true Christian and one to whom the fifteenth century owed a great debt of gratitude, for the seeds of the reformation were already sown in his heart, he was in this respect utterly unlike his Master. If, then, we give ourselves up to the thoughtful admiration of the world in which we live; if we open our eyes to see its beauty, and, from the more or less sordid and belittling enterprises in which we are called to take part, let our hearts go out with wistful gladness to the good and beautiful works of God, we are following in the footsteps of the Master Himself; and as He pleased God in this as in all respects, so do we please Him when we admire the works of His hands. More than this, we train our spirits to rise above the common circumstances of our lot into thoughts of illimitable freedom and range. I think one great value of these beautiful words consists in this, that they show us very clearly the two vital characteristics which distinguished Christ’s delight in nature from that of most men.

I. He saw God’s hand in the visible creation.—In everything around Him He saw tokens which told Him God had been at work, making all things beautiful in their season.

II. He saw how infinitely more precious in God’s sight is the human soul than all these works of His hands.—“If God so clothe the grass,” etc.—G. E. Troup, M.A.

Mat_6:26. God’s children and the fowls.—

I. We excel the fowls of the air in regard of the better circumstances we are in to provide for our wants than they: for that we can and are allowed to sow, and reap, and gather into barns, which they cannot do.

II. But these words, Are ye not much better than they? signify likewise the greater dignity of men above fowls, and that upon that account likewise they may expect to be more immediately taken care of by God’s providence.—Jas. Blair, M.A.

Mat_6:27. Anxiety hurtful to life and youth.—The word which we translate “stature” signifies likewise “age,” and especially the most flourishing time of one’s age, when we are in the prime of our youth and strength. The bare adding a cubit to the stature seems uncouth, and a thing which the anxious man would not desire, whereas the adding to life, especially the youthful and prosperous time of it, is a thing which most men would desire.

I. Anxiety, as to the world is needless, as neither adding to life, nor to the comfortable part of it, but is rather hurtful to both. Example, 1Sa_25:37.

II. A cheerfulness and resignation, which are quite contrary to anxiety, are of great use in all the parts of life (Pro_17:22.)—

1. Whatsoever troubles beset us, they are either things within our power to remedy or not. If they are within cur power to remedy, there is no temper of mind so fit to apply those remedies, as the cheerful, resigned temper. But that it may more distinctly be apprehended what advantage this temper has above the solicitous and anxious one, to wrestle with the difficulties of life, I shall instance some particulars which unfit the anxious man for going cheerfully through the business of life, but are easily overcome by the cheerful man who puts his trust in God’s providence.

(1) He who believes a concurrence of divine providence with his own endeavours, acts with another sort of life and vigour than the man that goes only upon his own skill and strength (see 1Sa_17:45).

(2) As the man, who is free from anxiety goes upon his business with more courage, so he takes much more pleasure and satisfaction in it.

(3) If difficulties and troubles occur in business, the anxious man, instead of bearing them with patience, magnifies and multiplies them in his own mind, by his disturbed imagination and illboding fears; whereas the man, who is clear from anxiety, has a great deal of reason still to hope for the best; and though he cannot see through all the intricacy and difficulty in his affairs, yet being conscious to himself of the honesty and goodness of his designs, and having a firm, implicit faith in God, he is not discomposed in his thoughts, knowing that God, if He sees it best for him, will bring to pass whatever he is about; or if He sees it will prove to his hurt will disappoint him in that particular, but will answer his expectation in general, and make all things co-operate for his good (Psa_37:3, etc.).

2. There are a great many other troubles which are altogether out of our reach, and which we can no way think of removing, and must therefore be patiently endured, if we intend any peace and quiet with respect to them. Now as to all these, the man who is free from anxious and solicitous thoughts has much the advantage, from the temper of his mind, to live easy and quiet under them.—Jas. Blair, M.A.

Mat_6:28. The lessons of the lilies.—I. Consider the lilies—and identify little things with God’s care.—Can you make a lily? You cannot make a sun; can you make one drop of dew? God writes minutely as well as largely. He writes the great letters of the stars; He writes also the small letters of the violets and daisies.

II. Consider the lilies—and see the superiority of the natural over the artificial.—Let the glorious dress of the king represent the artificial. God makes the original; man makes the copy. For all originality—mental and moral, as well as physical—we must go to the Father.

III. Consider the lilies—and look on things beneath, as well as on things above.—Look for God when thou lookest at the dust. The dust is alive with the life of God.

IV. Consider the lilies—and have faith in your Father.—Think of God clothing the grass and forgetting the child! It is impossible. Let a lily detach itself from its root, and it must perish. So with man. Let him cut himself off from God, and he will become as a withered and driven leaf.—J. Parker, D.D.

Flowers.—We are now “at school.” Surrounded by educational agencies and influences. Chief lesson-book the Bible. But we have another of God’s lesson-books in nature. Nature a book of illustrations of biblical truth. Christ used it freely. Would have us use it too. The seasons replete with instruction and suggestiveness. Summer, the season of flowers. Not only do they adorn our gardens, but make “a variegated embroidery on the green mantle of our meadows and commons.” Whether we will or not they influence us. But our will is to be brought into action. We are to “consider the lilies.” It was evidently to wild flowers that Christ called the attention of His disciples—“lilies of the field.” Palestine a land of flowers. We may regard Christ as directing attention to all the floral world, using the specific for the generic.

“Your voiceless lips, O Flowers, are living preachers,

Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book.”

I. Flowers manifest God’s love of beauty.—They are embodiments of divine ideas and sentiments. We manifest a God-like quality when we admire what is really beautiful in nature or art. God delights in “the beauty of holiness.” In His beloved Son He was well-pleased because He was perfect in this respect. And He delights in us in proportion as we resemble Him.

II. Flowers exhibit God’s exceeding generosity—His bountifulness.—Mary Howitt has said:—

“God might have made the earth bring forth

Enough for great and small,

The oak tree and the cedar tree,

Without a flower at all.

He might have made things grow enough

For every want of ours,

For luxury, medicine, and toil,

And yet have made no flowers.”

William Wilberforce used to call flowers, “the smiles of God’s goodness,” and a poet has described them as “God’s thoughts of beauty taking form, to gladden mortal gaze.” They testify to the happiness of the ever-blessed God and to His desire that we should participate in it.

III. Flowers teach God’s loving care of all His creatures—the small as well as the great.—This is the lesson which our Lord specially enforced. We are despondent; we should be trustful and contented.

IV. Flowers speak to us of resurrection and immortality.—Though the flowers pass away with the summer, the next summer will see the face of the earth enamelled and adorned again. And there will be an important connection between the life and beauty of the next year and the decay and death of this. Thus, the flowers are

“Emblems of our own great resurrection,

Emblems of the bright and better land.”

H. M. Booth.

Mat_6:33. Geography, arithmetic and grammar. (To boys.)—

I. Geography tells us where to find places. Where is the kingdom of God? Heaven is only the capital of the kingdom of God; the Bible is the guide-book to it; the church is the weekly parade of those who belong to it. “The kingdom of God is within you.” Every kingdom has its exports, its products. What comes from the kingdom of God? “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.”

II. Arithmetic.—Are there any arithmetic words in the text? “First,” “added.”

1. You see at once why Christ tells us to seek these first—because they are the best worth seeking. Do you know anything better than these three things, anything happier, purer, nobler? If you do, seek them first. But if you do not, seek first the kingdom of God. It is not worth seeking the kingdom of God unless you seek it first. Suppose you take the helm out of a ship and hang it over the bows, and send that ship to sea, will it ever reach the other side? Certainly not. It will drift about anyhow. Keep religion in its place, and it will take you straight through life, and straight to your Father in heaven when life is over. But if you do not put it in its place you may just as well have nothing to do with it. There was a boy in Glasgow apprenticed to a gentleman who made telegraphs. The gentleman told me this himself. One day this boy was up on the top of a four-story house with a number of men fixing up a telegraph wire. The work was all but done. It was getting late, and the men said they were going away home, and the boy was to nip off the ends of the wire himself. Before going down they told him to be sure to go back to the workshop, when he was finished, with his master’s tools. “Do not leave any of them lying about, whatever you do,” said the foreman. The boy climbed up the pole and began to nip off the ends of the wire. It was a very cold winter night, and the dusk was gathering. He lost his hold and fell upon the slates, slid down, and then over into the air, down almost to the ground. A clothes rope stretched across the “green” on to which he was just about to fall, caught him on the chest and broke his fall; but the shock was terrible, and he lay unconscious amongst some clothes upon the green. An old woman came out; seeing her rope broken and the clothes all soiled, thought the boy was drunk, shook him, scolded him, and went for the policeman. And the boy with the shaking came back to consciousness, rubbed his eyes, got upon his feet. What do you think he did? He staggered, half blind, away up the stairs. He climbed the ladder. He got on to the roof of the house. He gathered up his tools, put them into his basket, took them down, and when he got to the ground again fainted dead away. Just then the policeman came, saw there was something seriously wrong, and carried him away to the infirmary, where he recovered after some time, and is now doing well. What was his first thought at that terrible moment? His duty! He was not thinking of himself; he was thinking about his master. First the kingdom of God.

2. But there is another arithmetic word, “added.” Very few people know the difference between addition and subtraction when they begin to talk about religion. They always tell boys that if they seek the kingdom of God everything else is to be subtracted from them. I do not mean by added that if you become religious you are all going to become rich. God pays in better coin.

III. Grammar.—What is the verb? “Seek.” What mood is it in? The imperative mood. It is a thing that must be done, because we are commanded to do it by our Captain.—Prof. H. Drummond.

The righteousness of the kingdom.—Our Lord carries His principle (ch. Mat_5:17-18) all round the practical life of man, and points out how in every part of conduct He heightens obligation. But this is all summed up under two more general characteristics which are to mark all righteousness of His kingdom.

I. The first of these characteristics is that so far from being lax it was to exceed the righteousness of the most exemplary of their contemporaries, the scribes and Pharisees. Notice the prominence given in Mat_5:20 to the word περισσεύσῃ. “Except your righteousness exceed that of those whom you regard as irreproachable, ye shall in no case,” etc.

1. The externality of Pharisaic righteousness is in Christ’s kingdom to be exchanged for inwardness (Mat_5:21, etc., Mat_6:15, etc.). The Pharisee may have the right outward appearance; but, after all, this may be only the fleece laid on, not produced from the animal’s nature, the fruit artificially adhering where it never grew.

2. The righteousness of the kingdom of God is to exceed that of the Pharisees in spontaneity. What the Pharisee did he did on compulsion. Our Lord lays His finger on this damning blot in Mat_6:2, etc., (“hypocrites”). Delitzsch, in one of his little tracts, draws a picture of a Jerusalem Pharisee contriving that he should be surprised by the hour of prayer in the open street, and straightway girding on his ponderous phylacteries, and making his prostrations. What is done through fear or compulsion, or with a selfish end in view, rises no higher than its source.

II. The righteousness of Christ’s kingdom was also to exceed the righteousness currently required among men (Mat_5:46-47). Christians are not to be content with rivalling natural and everyday virtues. There must be a principle in virtue which applies to the whole of man and to the whole of life; which creates virtues where before there were none, which touches human nature at its roots, and radically purifies and ennobles it.—Prof. Marcus Dods, D.D).

The chief object of pursuit.—

I. There is an order and relative value in the objects of our human pursuit.—Very much of the confusion and mistake of life comes from the inversion of the true order. We are placed at grave disadvantage in deciding the relative merit of the claims made on our thought and time by the disturbing influence of sin. The pleasant rules us rather than the right. But in our text our Lord says: There is one great end and purpose in your being, and that you must put the very first of all. There may be intermediate ends and objects which rightly call for your attention, but there is one which must never be forgotten. You were made for God, to love Him, to serve Him, to praise Him, to live in fellowship with Him, to do and to bear His holy will. “Seek ye first His kingdom and righteousness.” The true order then of our human pursuits is: first, God; second, others; third, self. Or to express it in another form: first, righteousness; second, duty; third, pleasure. Confuse or misplace these, and your life can never unfold into its perfect beauty. The “kingdom of God” is this: The rule of God over every part of our being, and over every aspect of our relationship. When, therefore, our Lord urges us to seek first the kingdom, we may express His meaning in words of our own and say: “Seek to do everything thou doest as unto God. Nay, more, in everything strive to be like God. Seek His ‘righteousness’ as well as His ‘kingdom.’ ”

II. That which is worthy to be the first object of human pursuit ought to be always in its first place.—The rudder sways to either side by the movement of the waves; it needs a firm hand ever upon the wheel, to hold it so that the prow shall point for the harbour. Firm, constantly renewed resolve is needed in order to hold our soul, steadily and continuously moving amid the winds and waves and currents of life, towards righteousness and God. The psalmist says, “I have set the Lord alway before me.” Can we then estimate some of these hindering influences against which we need to be on our guard, and against which we should anxiously and persistently strive? Three things claim our notice:

1. The intensity of business may repress the endeavour to live an earnest life for God.

2. The fulness of living in our times makes it hard to live our life really setting God and righteousness first.

3. The current of public opinion is often against setting the kingdom of God first. He who would follow the Lord fully must dare to be singular.—Weekly Pulpit.

Mat_6:34. Crossing the bridge before you come to it.—The sin of borrowing trouble. Such a habit of mind and heart is wrong:—

I. Because it puts one into a despondency that ill fits him for duty.—Our dispositions, like our plants, need sunshine.

II. Because it has a tendency to make us overlook present blessing.

III. Because the present is sufficiently taxed with trial.—God sees that we all need a certain amount of trouble, and so He apportions it for all the days and years of our life.

IV. Because it unfits us for misfortune when it actually does come.

V. Because it is unbelief.—T. De W. Talmage, D.D.

Anxiety for the morrow forbidden.—

I. The precept by way of antithesis or opposition to anxiety. “Take therefore no thought,” etc. There is a certain care for the future which is proper for the present time. The Israelites gathered a double portion of manna on the sixth day, to serve them both for that day and the following Sabbath. This precept I take to be only a prohibition of those cares, which are more proper for the future than for the present time. We are not to think it unlawful, if God gives us opportunity, to lay up for sickness or old age, or for the provision of wife and children, so that it be done without anxiety or carking care.

II. The enforcement of this precept.—The reasons are two:

1. That the morrow, or future time, when it comes, will be more proper to take care of its own matters than any time at a distance from it.

(1) It is not certain we shall ever see this future time, for which we are so anxious and solicitous, and in that case all our labour is like to be lost.

(2) It is impossible, supposing we may live to that time, to foresee so long before what circumstances we shall then be in, so as to answer them exactly by all our pre-anxiety.

(3) It is very possible, if we take our aim in the dark, that we may do more hurt than good by the methods we shall lay down.

(4) Our circumstances may chance so much to alter, that when we come to that futurity itself, and to see all the circumstances of it in a true light, we shall then wish that we had taken other measures, and shall begin to pull down what with all our anxiety we had been building up.

2. That the present time has enough to do with its own cares. “Sufficient unto the day,” etc.—Jas. Blair, M.A.

Be not anxious for the morrow.—No precept of divine wisdom has found so many echoes in the wisdom of the world. Epicurean self-indulgence, Stoic apathy, practical common-sense, have all preached the same lesson, and bidden men to cease their questionings about the future. That which was new in our Lord’s teaching was the ground on which the precept rested. It was not simply the carpe diem—“make the most of the present”—of the seeker after a maximum of enjoyment (Hor., Od., I. xi. 8) nor the acceptance by man’s will of an inevitable destiny, nor the vain struggle to rise above that inevitable fate. Men were to look forward to the future calmly, to avoid the temper

“Over exquisite

To cast the fashion of uncertain evils,”

because they had a Father in heaven who cared for each one of them with a personal and individualising love.—E. H. Plumptre, D.D.

The sunset limit.—Of all the blessed guards placed by Holy Scripture along the Christian’s way to keep him from presumption, on the one hand, or despair, on the other, the most divinely helpful is the sunset limit. If we obey with childlike simplicity our Saviour’s command: “Take no [anxious] thought for the morrow,” all the intolerable part of the burden is lifted from us. We can bear whatever comes to us between the sun’s rise and set, for alongside of this command about taking no thought beyond the day stands a starry promise—is there not always a promise waiting upon a command?—that “as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”—Christian World Pulpit.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:25-34 Jesus taught an anxiety-free existence of simple trust in God for provisions. Jesus’ disciples had abandoned all (4:18-22; 9:9; 10:5-14); Jesus gave them comforting reassurance that God would provide for their needs.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 6:25. Μὴ μεριμνᾶτε, take no care for) The disciples had left all things which could be the source of care to them.—τῇ ψυχῇ, the soul) The soul is supported by food in the body, which itself lives on food: the body alone is covered by raiment.—καὶ τί πίητε, and what ye drink) This has been easily omitted by copyists, or is easily understood (subauditur) by us. The 31st verse requires the express mention of drinking rather than the present, for in it the careful are introduced as themselves speaking, whereas in the present verse our Lord speaks in His own person.[283]—Ἡ ΨΥΧῊ—ΤῸ ΣῶΜΑ, the soul—the body) Both of which God gave and cares for. See the latter part of Mat 6:30.[284]

[283] ab Vulg. Hil. Bas. Epiph. Jerome (who says, however, it was added in some MSS.) omit ἢ τί πίητε. But BC, Orig. 1,711d Memph. read the words. Rec. Text has καὶ instead of ἢ, the reading of the oldest authorities.—ED.

[284] There is nothing so small and insignificant, which His omniscience neglects, Mat 6:32.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_6:25. Διὰ τοῦτο] because this double service is impossible.

οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ, κ.τ.λ.] Chrysostom: ὁ τοίνυν τὸ μεῖζον (life and body) δοὺς πῶς τὸ ἔλαττον (food and clothing) οὐ δώσει;

The care has been unwarrantably limited to anxious care, a meaning which is no less unjustifiable in Sir_34:1; the context would be expected to furnish such a limitation if it were intended. Jesus does not only forbid believers the πολλὰ μεριμνᾶν (Xen. Cyr. viii. 7. 12), or the ἀλγεινὰς μεριμνάς (Soph. Ant. 850), the μεριμνήματʼ ἔχειν βάρη (Soph. Phil. 187), or such like, but His desire is thatsimply giving themselves to the undivided (curae animum divorse trahunt, Terence) service of God, Mat_6:24, and trusting to Him with true singleness of heartthey should be superior to all care whatsoever as to food, drink, etc. (Php_4:6); nevertheless, to create for themselves such cares would amount to little faith, Mat_6:30 ff., or a half-hearted faith as compared with their duty of entire resignation to that God whose part it is to provide for them. It is only by absolute and perfect faith that the moral height of αὐτάρκεια (Php_4:11 ff.), and of exemption from earthly care, is to be attained. Comp. A. H. Frankes example in founding the orphanage.

τῇ ψυχῇ] Dative of immediate reference: in regard to the soul (as the principle of physical life, Mat_10:39, Mat_16:25, Mat_2:20), in so far as it is sustained by means of food and drink. In the case of μεριμνᾶν the object (τί φάγητε) is in the accusative (1Co_7:32-34; 1Co_12:25; Php_2:20; Php_4:6).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 6:25-34 . Counsels against care . More suitable to the circumstances of the disciples than those against amassing treasures. “Why speak of treasures to us who are not even sure of the necessaries of life? It is for bread and clothing we are in torment” (Lutteroth).

Mat 6:25 , διὰ τοῦτο : because ye can be unfaithful to God through care as well as through covetousness. μὴ μεριμνᾶτε : μέριμνα from μερίς , μερίζω , because care divides and distracts the mind. The verb is used in N. T. in various constructions and senses; sometimes in a good sense, as in 1Co 7:32 : “The unmarried care for the things of the Lord,” and Mat 12:25 in reference to the members of the body having the same care for each other. But the evil sense predominates. What is here deprecated is not work for bread and raiment, but worry, “Labor exercendus est, solicitudo tollenda,” Jerome. οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ … ἐνδύματος : the life not the soul; the natural life is more than meat , and the body more than the clothing which protects it, yet these greater things are given to you already. Can you not trust Him who gave the greater to give the less? But a saying like this, life is more than meat, in the mouth of Jesus is very pregnant. It tends to lift our thoughts above materialism to a lofty conception of man’s chief end. It is more than an argument against care, it is a far-reaching principle to be associated with that other logion a man is better than a sheep (Mat 12:12 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The froward carking carefulness for things of this life is corrected in the children of God by an earnest thinking upon the providence of God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought--"Be not solicitous." The English word "thought," when our version was made, expressed this idea of "solicitude," "anxious concern"--as may be seen in any old English classic; and in the same sense it is used in Sa1 9:5, &c. But this sense of the word has now nearly gone out, and so the mere English reader is apt to be perplexed. Thought or forethought, for temporal things--in the sense of reflection, consideration--is required alike by Scripture and common sense. It is that anxious solicitude, that oppressive care, which springs from unbelieving doubts and misgivings, which alone is here condemned. (See Phi 4:6).

for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on--In Luke (Luk 12:29) our Lord adds, "neither be ye unsettled"--not "of doubtful mind," as in our version. When "careful (or 'full of care') about nothing," but committing all in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving unto God, the apostle assures us that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phi 4:6-7); that is, shall guard both our feelings and our thoughts from undue agitation, and keep them in a holy calm. But when we commit our whole temporal condition to the wit of our own minds, we get into that "unsettled" state against which our Lord exhorts His disciples.

Is not the life more than meat--food.

and the body than raiment?--If God, then, gives and keeps up the greater--the life, the body--will He withhold the less, food to sustain life and raiment to clothe the body?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. Therefore] δια τουτο, on this account; viz., that ye may not serve mammon, but have unshaken confidence in God, I say unto you,-

Take no thought] Be not anxiously careful, μη μεριμνατε; this is the proper meaning of the word. μεριμνα anxious solicitude, from μεριζειν τον νουν dividing or distracting the mind. My old MS. Bible renders it, be not bysy to your life. Prudent care is never forbidden by our Lord, but only that anxious distracting solicitude, which, by dividing the mind, and drawing it different ways, renders it utterly incapable of attending to any solemn or important concern. To be anxiously careful concerning the means of subsistence is to lose all satisfaction and comfort in the things which God gives, and to act as a mere infidel. On the other hand, to rely so much upon providence as not to use the very powers and faculties with which the Divine Being has endowed us, is to tempt God. If we labour without placing our confidence in our labour, but expect all from the blessing of God, we obey his will, co-operate with his providence, set the springs of it a-going on our behalf, and thus imitate Christ and his followers by a sedate care and an industrious confidence.

In this and the following verses, our Lord lays down several reasons why men should not disquiet themselves about the wants of life, or concerning the future.

The first is, the experience of greater benefits already received. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Can he who gave us our body, and breathed into it the breath of life, before we could ask them from him, refuse us that which is necessary to preserve both, and when we ask it in humble confidence?

The clause what ye must eat, is omitted by two MSS., most of the ancient versions, and by many of the primitive fathers. Griesbach has left it in the text with a note of doubtfulness. It occurs again in Mt 6:31, and there is no variation in any of the MSS. in that place. Instead of, Is not the life more than, c., we should read, Of more value so the word πλειον is used in Nu 22:15, and by the best Greek writers; and in the same sense it is used in Mt 21:37. See the note there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(25) Take no thought.—The Greek word some times thus translated, and sometimes by “care” or “be careful” (1Co_7:32-34; Php_2:20; Php_4:6), expresses anxiety, literally, the care which distracts us. And this was, in the sixteenth century, the meaning of the English phrase “take thought.” Of this we have one example in 1Sa_9:5; other examples of it are found in Shakespeare, “take thought, and die for Cæsar” (Julius Cæsar, ii. 1), or Bacon (Henry the Eighth, p. 220), who speaks of a man “dying with thought and anguish” before his case was heard. The usage of the time, therefore, probably led the translators of 1611 to choose the phrase, as stronger than the “be not careful” which in this passage stood in all previous versions. The changing fortune of words has now made it weaker, and it would be better to substitute “over-careful” or “over-anxious.” The temper against which our Lord warns His disciples is not that of foresight, which merely provides for the future, but the allowing ourselves to be harassed and vexed with its uncertainties. To “take thought” in the modern sense is often the most effectual safeguard (next to the higher defence of trust in God) against “taking thought” in the older.

For your life.—The Greek word is the same as that commonly rendered “soul,” and the passage is interesting as an example of its use in the wider sense which includes the lower as well as the higher life. (Comp. Mat_10:39; Mat_16:25; Mar_3:4, et at.) We note in the form of the precept the homeliness of the cases selected as illustration. We hear the language of One who speaks to peasants with their simple yet pressing wants, not to the wider cares of the covetous or ambitious of a higher grade.

Is not the life more than meat, . . .?—The reasoning is à fortiori. God has given you the greater, can you not trust Him to give you also the less? In some way or other there will come food to sustain life, and clothing for the body, and men should not so seek for more as to be troubled about them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. Therefore] i. e. because this double service is impossible there must be no distraction of thought.

Take no thought] “Do not be anxious,” which was the meaning of “take no thought,” when the E. V. was made. The same word occurs Php_4:6, “Be careful for nothing.” Cp. 1Pe_5:7, “Casting all your care [or anxiety] upon him.” See Prof. Lightfoot, On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament, &c., p. 171.

The argument in the verse is: such anxiety is unnecessary; God gave the life and the body; will He not give the smaller gifts of food and clothing?

25–34. The parallel passage (Luk_12:22-31) follows immediately the parable of the “Rich Fool.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold the fowls of the air,.... Not such as are brought up in houses, but which fly abroad in the air, wild; and are not supported by their own, or any human care, but by the care of God: Luk 12:24 particularly mentions the "ravens", referring probably to Psa 147:9, and because they are very voracious creatures: and there it is said, "consider the ravens"; look attentively upon them, and with observation,

for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. This is not said, that men should not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns: but to reprove their diffidence and unbelief: who, though they have the opportunity of sowing, reaping, and gathering in, year by year, yet distrust the providence of God; when the fowls of the air do none of these,

yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; see Psa 145:15. The Jews acknowledge this, that the least and meanest of creatures are fed by God.

"Mar says (c), the holy blessed God sits "and feeds", i.e. all creatures, and takes care of them.''

Are ye not much better than they? Do not you differ from them? are ye not much more excellent than they? And if God feeds and provides for inferior creatures, such as are very mean and contemptible, how much more will he not provide for you? There is a passage in the Talmud, which has great affinity to this of Christ's, and appears to have in it pretty much of the like kind of reasoning. In the Misna (d) it is said, that R. Simeon ben Eleazer should say,

"Did you ever see a beast, or a fowl, that had a trade? but they are fed without trouble.''

In the Gemara (e) is added,

"Did you ever see a lion bearing burdens, an hart gathering summer fruits, a fox a money changer, or a wolf selling pots? And yet , "they are nourished without labour", and wherefore are they created? To serve me, and I am created to serve my Maker: and lo! these things have in them an argument, "from the less to the greater"; for if these, which are created to serve me after this manner, are supported without trouble; I, who am created to serve my Maker, is it not fit that I should be supplied without trouble? And what is the reason that I am sustained with trouble? My sins.''

(c) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 107. 2. Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 2. (d) Kiddushin, c. 4. sect. 14. (e) T. Hieros. Kiddushin, fol. 66. 2. Vid. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 82. 1, 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Ver. 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no careful thought, &c.] This life is called in Isaiah "the life of our hands" because it is maintained by the labour of our hands, Isa 57:10. Nevertheless, let a man labour never so hard, and lay up never so much, his "life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth," saith our Saviour, and therefore bids, "take heed and beware of covetousness," Luk 12:15. There is in every mother’s child of us a false presumption of self-sufficiency in our own courses, as if we by our own diligence could build the house. The devil’s word is proved too true. He said we should be like gods, which as it is false in respect of divine qualities resembling God, so is it true in regard to our sinful usurpation; for we carry the matter, for the most part, as if we were petty gods within ourselves, not needing any higher power. This self-confidence, the daughter of unbelief and mother of carking care and carnal thoughtfulness, our Saviour here by many arguments dissuadeth and decrieth. "Take no thoughtful care for your life, what ye shall eat," &c. The word here used in the original (μεριμνα) signifieth sometimes a commendable and Christian care, as 1Co 7:33-34 "He that is married careth how to please his wife: likewise she careth how to please her husband." It implieth a dividing of the mind into various thoughts, casting this way and that way and every way bow to give best content. And this should be all the strife that should be between married couples. This is the care of the head, the care of diligence, called by the Greeks σπουδη, μελετη, επιμελεια. But there is another sort of care here spoken against, as unwarrantable and damnable; the care of the heart, the care of diffidence, a doubtful and carking care, joined with a fear of future events, a sinful solicitude, a distracting and distempering care, properly called μεριμνα, because it tortures and tears asunder the mind with anxious in, piety and fretting impatiency. {a} This maketh a man, when he had done his utmost endeavour, in the use of lawful means, for his own provision or preservation, to sit down, and with a perplexed heart sigh out, -Sure it will never be, sure I shall die a beggar, be utterly destitute, &c. Surely I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul; were it not better for me to shift for myself, and to escape speedily into the land of the Philistines? 1Sa 27:1. A sinful consultation, for had not God promised him both life and kingdom after Saul? but he said (very wisely) in his hasty fear, All men are liars, prophets and all, Psa 116:11. And again, "I said in my sudden haste, I am cut off," Psa 31:22.

What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, &c.] I would have you without carefulness about these things, saith the apostle, that ye may sit close to the Lord without distraction. {b} And again, "in nothing be careful." How then? Why, make your requests known to God in prayer, as children make their needs known to their parents, whom if they can please, they know they shall be provided for, Php 4:6-7. Little thought do they take where to have the next meal or the next new suit, neither need they.

Oh, but we have prayed, and yet are to seek. Add to your prayer, supplication, saith the apostle there, strong cries out of a deep sense of our pressing necessities, and then see what will come of it. Δεησις est petitio opis, qua egemus, nam δειν est egere.

I have done so to my poor power; and yet it sticks. To thy supplication add thanksgiving for mercies already received, saith he; thanksgiving is an artificial begging. See something in thy most careful condition wherefore to be thankful. Praise God for what you have had, have, and hope to have.

What will follow upon this? What? "The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep" as with a guard (φρουρησει) or garrison "your hearts" from cares, "and minds" from fears, "in Christ Jesus." This shall be the restful success of your prayers and praises. And is it not good that the heart be ballasted with grace (βεβαιουθαι), Heb 13:9, rather than the body stuffed with food? What brave letters and how full of life were written by Luther to Melancthon, afflicting himself with continual cares, what would be the issue of the imperial diet held by Charles V and other states of Germany at Augsburg, about the cause of Christ’s gospel? Ego certe ore pro te, saith he, et dolce re, pertinacissimam curarum hirudinem, meas preces sic irritas facere. "I pray for thee, and am troubled at it, that thou, by troubling thyself with unnecessary cares, makest my prayers of none effect for thee." And after many sweet consolations, mixed with reprehensions, he concludes, "But I write these things in vain, because thou thinkest to rule these things by reason, and killest thyself with immoderate cares about them; not considering that the cause is Christ’s, who as he needs not thy counsels, so he will bring about his own ends without thy carefulness, thy vexing thoughts, and heart eating fears, whereby thou disquietest thyself above measure." Sed scribo haec frustra: quia tu secundum Philosophiam vestram has res ratione regere, hoc est, cum ratione insanire pergis et occidis teipsum.

Is not life more than meat? &c.] And shall he that hath given us that which is greater and better deny unto us that which is less and worse? Shall we believe God’s promises in the main, but not God’s providence in the means: as the disciples when they had forgotten to buy bread, and as Abraham in the case of promise of issue of his body? Gen 16:2. Excellent is that of the apostle, "he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom 8:32. Whereupon St Bernard, Qui misit Unigenitum, immisit Spiritum, promisit vultum, quid tandem tibi negaturus est? And to like purpose St Jerome: "Never think," saith he, "that God will deny thee anything, whom he inviteth so freely to feed upon the fatted calf." Nihil unquam et negasse credendum est quem ad vituli hortalur esum.

{a} μεριμτα παρα του μεριζειν τον νουν.

{b} ευπαρεδρον απερισπαστος, 1Co 7:32; 1Co 7:35.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A prudent provision is not prohibited, but that over-solicitude which draws the soul, the heart, and its affections from God, and his sweet all-ruling providence, to sink and degrade them in empty pursuits, which can never fill the soul. (Haydock) --- Be not solicitous;[4] i.e. too solicitous with a trouble and anxiety of mind, as appears by the Greek. --- For your life; lit. for your soul, which many times is put for life. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Greek: Me merimnate. It does not seem well translated, take no thought.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This text must not be interpreted in a sense contradictory to those many other texts, which forbid an idle life, an command us in the sweat of our face to eat our bread, or to provide for our families, 2Th 3:10,11; 1Ti 5:8; nor did Christ himself live such a life; he went about doing good, finishing the work which his Father had given him to do. It must be therefore understood:

1. Of no such thoughts as are inconsistent with the service of God, mentioned in the last words.

2. Of no anxious and distracting thoughts.

3. Of no such thoughts as should show any distrust and diffidence in God’s providing for us.

God hath given us our lives and our bodies, without our care for the existence of them; why should we, in a lawful and moderate use of means, distrust God for a subsistence for them? He hath given us the greater, will he not (think you) give us the less?

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Therefore — Since it is God’s part, like a true master, to care for us. Take no thought — This rendering of the Greek, (μεριμνα, merimna, distraction, distrust,) is in itself too strong. The Greek word is derived from the verb μεριζω, merizo, to divide, and implies the distraction of mind between different feelings; or rather, between the true God and the world-god of Gentilism. Let there be no half-and-half distraction of your mind between the two masters, by which anxiety for worldly good shall prevent your complete trust in God. Your anxiety is just so much belief that wealth is safer than God, and Mammon a better master than Christ.

What ye shall eat — The questions here condemned should be carefully understood. They are not the questions asked by a housewife who has a dinner to provide to-day; nor the questions of an industrious householder who has a family to feed. These provident queries are a rightful duty, and to furnish the solid answer is its proper performance. The prohibited questions ask not properly how shall I be supplied, but shall I be supplied at all. The questions thus prohibited are questions of infidel distrust asked by a Mammon worshipper, who is called upon to become a man of faith, but is afraid he will thereby lose his earthly living. For all these distrusts our Lord is about to furnish the true, magnanimous, consoling answer. Venture the holy investment; trust in God, and do duty. Life… meat… body… raiment — Will not he who gave the better, furnish also the inferior? If God gave life and body, will he not give food and raiment?

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 25-34. These verses, with the exception of the last, which should perhaps hardly be included, are very similar to the parallel passage, Luk_12:22-32. It seems probable that in the differences Luke preserves the more original form (cf. the notes on the separate verses, infra). What their original position was is another question. Their immediate sequence in Luke to the parable of the rich fool is no doubt perfectly natural, and is accepted by most commentators as original; but the connexion with the context here is so close that, especially with the probabilities of the case in vers. 22, 23, and ver. 24, St. Matthew may, after all, have recorded them in their original place.

Our Lord says in these verses, "Dare to follow out this warning that I have given you about double service into your daily life. Do not give way to anxiety about the things of life, but look up to God in steady gaze of faith; he will provide." "Or, more in detail If God has given you life, shall he not add the food and the clothing (ver. 25)? Anxiety about the support of your life is needless (witness the birds, ver. 26) and powerless (witness the limit of a man"s life, ver. 27); while as for clothing, it is equally needless (witness the flowers, ver. 28) and comparatively powerless (witness Solomon"s own case, ver. 29). Remember your relation to God (ver. 30). Therefore do not give way to the least anxiety about these things (ver. 31), because this is to fall to the level of the Gentiles, and also because God, whose children you are, knows your needs (ver. 32). But make his cause, without and within, your great object, and all your needs shall be supplied (ver. 33). Therefore be not at all anxious, bear the burden of each day only as each day comes round (ver. 34).

Therefore (dia touto). Because of this fact last mentioned, the impossibility of dividing your service. Cease to be anxious about things of this life, for anxiety about these is a mark of your attempting this impossibility. I say unto you. Though the absence of the personal pronoun (unlike Mat_5:22, etc.) shows that he is not here contrasting himself with them or with others, yet he still emphasizes his authority. Take no thought; Revised Version, be not anxious (mh merimnate). The translation of the Authorized Version, which was quite correct in its day, (cf. also 1Sa_9:5) is now archaic, and therefore often misunderstood. For the popular derivation of merimnaw ("division," "distraction"), of. 1Co_7:33, "But he that is married is anxious for (merimna) the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided (memeristai)." Observe that forethought in earthly matters was practised by our Lord himself. (Joh_12:6) For your life (th quch umwn). In the Gospels quch is the immaterial part of man, his personality as we should say, which survives death, (Mat_10:28) and is the chief object of a man"s care. (Mat_10:39, where see note) What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Although the second clause is omitted by a and a few chiefly "Western" authorities, it is probably genuine, especially as there is no trace of it in Luke (but cf. Westcott and Heft, "Introd.," p. 176). Is not the life more than meat? i.e. you possess the greater, shall there not be given to you the less? Humphry compares Mat_23:17. Meat; Revised Version, the food (thv trofhv); i.e. the Revised Version

(1) changes "meat" to its modern equivalent,

(2) defines with the Greek the food as that which is necessary for the body. Similarly before "raiment.

Vers. 25-30. Christ"s remedy for anxiety.

Having touched upon the active ministry of life, our Lord at once proceeds to treat its besetting trouble with an amplitude of illustration which shows how important he considered it to be.

I THE NATURE OF THE EVIL. We are misled by the word "thought," which has dropped one of its old meanings since the Authorized Version of the New Testament was issued. Christ is not depreciating an intellectual exercise, much less is he encouraging improvidence. What he really says is, "Be not anxious for your life.

1. The evil is in vexatious anxiety. If, after we have done all that is in our power, we fret ourselves with presentiments of possible mischief; or if, in the midst of our work, we let care about its issue take possession of our minds, we make the mistake our Lord deprecates.

2. The evil is concerned with bodily needs. The life, the food, the raiment. The idea is of being absorbed with deep concern for these temporal and external things.

3. The evil prevents concern for our higher interests and duties. Here is its greatest condemnation, not simply that it pains us, but that it injures us. Jesus does not advise freedom from anxiety merely on its own account, that we may have the satisfaction of being at peace. He sees that worldly anxiety fills the mind and heart,-and so keeps out thoughts of the great purpose of life. "The cares of this world" are tares that choke the Word. "The life is more than the food." We are to cast aside anxiety about food and clothes, that we may be free to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

II THE CURE OF THE EVIL. All deplore it; but few see how to conquer it. Some even regard the words of Christ as applicable only to an idyllic state of society possible among the flowers and sunshine of Galilee in those old dreamy days, but quite impracticable in the busy, crowded West of to-day. Let us see if there are not permanent lessons in this teaching of our Lord.

1. The spirit of nature. Our Lord was preaching on a mountain, with flowers at his feet and birds above his head. His illustrations lay close at hand; but his choice of them was evidently suited to his object. He touches on the beauty and fresh life of nature, so that his very language is soothing. It carries us quite away from the fret and fever of life. If we would spend more time in considering the lilies we should be calmed and refreshed. Wordsworth re-echoes this wholesome lesson.

2. The analogy of the lower world. God cares for the grass that is enamelled with flowers in the spring, then scorched by the sun and burnt as fuel in the summer. He feeds the wild birds. Nature is wonderfully adjusted in its mutual ministries so as to support its most fragile creatures. If we can "live according to nature" we shall be provided for. This does not mean becoming savages who are not in a state of nature at all. It means observing the laws of nature, as flowers and birds are bound to do, but as men do not.

3. The revelation of our Fathers care. He knows our need. He does not despise it, or suppose that we can face it with Stoical indifference. Therefore we can entrust it to him. Faith is the great antidote to care.

4. The call to higher duty. It is wrong to waste our lives in anxiety. It is incumbent on us to give ourselves to the service of God. When we do this we shall find it easier to trust God. Then the evil may come; but we need not snatch at it prematurely. It can wait for its day, and when that arrives we shall find that as our day is so our strength will be. W.F.A.

Vers. 25-34. The condemnation of the toil of the world.

These ten verses form one section and cover one subject. Its connection with that of the foregoing verse is pronounced. "Therefore," because of this, I say unto you." We are not in any doubt as to it, and the fact guides us to the understanding of the principle that forms the basis of the section. Notice here four ways in which this section may be exhibited.

I THE CONDESCENSION AN UNDIVIDED SERVICE IS CLAIMED; BUT IT IS MET BY THE OFFER OF AN UNDIVIDED TRUSTINGNESS TO BE REPOSED AND TO BE REWARDED.

II SIN"S NATIVE DOOM OF TOIL LIFTED OFF BY THE INVITING GOSPEL OF TRUSTING DEPENDENCE; IT IS THE GOSPEL OF A LEGITIMATELY AUTHORIZED DEPENDENCE; AND OF ONE GUARDED FROM SLOTH.

III THE ABJECT SLAVERY OF AN UNREASONABLE TOIL SUPERSEDED BY THE SWEET FREEDOM OF CHILDREN"S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEIR FATHER.

IV THE LOYAL SEEKING AND FOLLOWING OF THE SOVEREIGN GOOD FOR LIFE AND HEART, THE SUREST EARNEST OF ALL OTHER THINGS FINDING THEIR PLACE; AND OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW BEING PROVIDED FOR. B.

Vers. 25-34. Lessons of the fields.

God has so constituted the natural world that it furnishes apt similes to illustrate spiritual things.

I THE FIELDS TEACH US TO BLESS GOD.

1. They serve admirable material uses.

(1) They furnish us with food. (see Gen_1:29, Gen_1:30) From the Creation to the Deluge vegetable food only was used. This diet is still, especially in warm climates, the more wholesome.

(2) Vegetables are also useful for medicine. Partly because of its medicinal properties the tree of life appears to have had its name. The principal remedies of the pharmacopoeia are from the vegetable kingdom.

(3) Vegetables have also valuable economic uses. Timber, fibres, gums, and oils.

2. They soothe and delight the sense.

(1) Colour. The elements of all calorific harmony are found in the prevailing green of the earth, with the blue and red of the heavens.

(2) Form. This may be admired in the graceful curvature and flexure of branches of trees and plants. Also in the varieties of leaves and flowers.

(3) Texture. So exquisite is the clothing of the lily, that the dress of an Eastern monarch, rich in the choicest productions of the loom and needle, with its gorgeous colouring and profusion of jewellery, sinks in the comparison. Test them severally under the microscope.

3. They serve high moral purposes.

(1) They raise our thoughts to God. (see Psa_145:15, Psa_145:16) The food and medicine of vegetable nature suggest the nourishment and healing of the economy of grace.

(2) The eloquence of the fields stirs our gratitude to God. It raises our thoughts to the Creator blessing us in the benevolence of acts. To our Redeemer blessing us in the benevolence of suffering.

II THE FIELDS TEACH US TO TRUST PROVIDENCE.

1. As they illustrate our dependence.

(1) Plants are dependent for nourishment upon the earth.

(2) The rain also is necessary for their life.

(3) They need likewise the sun and the air, in the vibratory motion of which they breathe.

(4) The birds of the air and animals of the earth in turn depend upon vegetation.

(5) All second causes depend upon God. (cf. Joh_3:27 1Co_4:7)

2. As they illustrate Gods thoughtful care.

(1) The comparison of the flower of the lily to clothing is not only poetically beautiful; it is botanically just. The flower serves the purpose of clothing to the seed-vessel.

(2) This is evinced in the many exquisite contrivances, such as the provision of tendrils and claspers by which the tender vine avails itself of the strength of the oak.

(3) The instincts by which birds are fed, without their sowing, or reaping, or gathering into barns, have their lessons of providence.

III THE FIELDS TEACH US TO DESIRE DIVINE CLOTHING.

1. There is a laudable attention to dress.

(1) When our Lord asks, "Why take ye thought for raiment?" he does not advise that we should be reckless as to our attire. He tells us, on the contrary, that our heavenly Father "knoweth that we have need of these things that he will "add" them to those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

(2) Our clothing exerts a moral influence. By it we may create prejudice favourable to usefulness or otherwise.

(3) But there is another extreme. There are those who make clothing more than the body. There are those who plume themselves rather upon their clothes than their virtues. Who despise those who do not appear in gay attire.

(4) How this vanity is rebuked in the clothing of the lily that goes into the oven, and by the plumage of insignificant birds! When Croesus sat upon his throne in all the glory of his ornaments, and asked Solon whether he had ever seen a fairer spectacle, the philosopher replied, "Pheasants and peacocks; for they are clothed with a natural splendour and exceeding beauty.

2. We should be clad in virtues rather than in velvets.

(1) Is there no reference to the clothing of the spirit in the beauties of holiness in ver. 31 God does not, in his providence, clothe our bodies in the sense in which he clothes the grass of the field. In this sense he does clothe our souls in righteousness. The robe of righteousness is emphatically a Divine robe.

(2) This is clothing of surpassing beauty. The spiritual is greatly superior to the material. Then "shall he not much more," not only as a matter of certainty, but also in glory and beauty, "clothe you"? (see 1Pe_3:3, 1Pe_3:4)

(3) This spiritual raiment is put on by faith. "Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?". (cf. Rom_3:21, Rom_3:22)

3. We should look for the clothing of the resurrection.

(1) The body of the resurrection is represented as a clothing. (cf. 2Co_5:2 2Co_5:4) Under the expression "much more" this idea also may be included.

(2) The resurrection is aptly illustrated by vegetable similes. The revival in spring. (cf. Job_14:1, Job_14:2-7, Job_14:9-14, Job_14:15)

(3) Our Lord compares the resurrection to the revival of seed-corn. (see Joh_12:23, Joh_12:24)

(4) What is there incredible in a resurrection? (see 1Co_15:35-38) What exquisite floral forms bloom from the dunghill! J.A.M.

The proper limits of human anxiety.

The evil dealt with in this passage is "undue secular anxiety." "Think of the uncertainty of almost everything we have life, health, friendship, domestic relationships and affections, riches, commerce. Life has many sad surprises and disappointments. Our own day is full of care." Where is abundant cause for anxiety. But Christ reminds us of a truth which should put our earthly care into strict limitations. We have a Father who is actually and effectively concerned in securing the constant and the highest wellbeing of his children. The children ought to have proper children"s anxieties, but they should not take upon them cares which belong to their Father, who "knoweth what they have need of before they ask him.

I THE EARTHLINESS OF THE UNEARTHLY MAN. Think of the Christian as the "unearthly man," and then see that his unearthliness ought not to be all-absorbing. It should be placed under wise limitations. He is in the body. He stands in relations. He has duties and responsibilities. It is no true spirituality to escape from common earthly responsibilities into monasteries, nunneries, and hermit-cells. "The Son of man came eating and drinking." Human interests were sought by him, and human cares were borne by him. A saint must never forget that he is husband, or father, or brother, or friend, or citizen. Earthly anxiety is God"s present burden for his saints; and it has to be cheerfully taken up and borne.

II THE UNEARTHLINESS OF THE EARTHLY MAN. This is turning the figure round, in order to warn the spiritual man how very absorbing earthly care may become, and to advise him that his supreme anxiety should be soul-culture. "Taking thought" is but an older form of our idea of "worrying," which is "anxiety overdone." "What the Lord bids us guard against is conjectural brooding over the possible necessities of the future, and our possible lack of the resources required for their supply." The spiritual man should be "using the world as not abusing it." In safe limitations keeping both earthly and unearthly. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And if you serve God, you need be careful for nothing. Therefore take no thought - That is, be not anxiously careful. Beware of worldly cares; for these are as inconsistent with the true service of God as worldly desires. Is not the life more than meat? - And if God give the greater gift, will he deny the smaller? Luke xii, 22.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Counsel against worry about food and clothing:

v. 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat? and the body than raiment?

The connection of thought is this: Avarice flows out of distrust of God, and this distrust shows itself in anxious care. Avoid the one, and you are more likely to withstand the other. Incidentally, the warnings here given are more suitable to the circumstances of the disciples, whose concern would oftener be regarding the necessaries of life than the amassing of treasures. Take no thought, have no concern about, do not let it worry you. Food, even that necessary to sustain life, and clothing, even that demanded for warmth, shall not be objects for worry. Care divides and distracts the mind, causing that distrust which goes before denial. The argument of Christ is from the more to the less important: The natural life is more than the food which sustains it; and the body containing this life is more than the clothing which protects it. Can He therefore that gave the greater, the more important, not be trusted to give the less? Solicitous concern for food and clothing, then, not only forgets the Giver of all good gifts, but weakens the members of the body, so that they cannot properly perform the work of the daily calling.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The next sin which our Saviour cautions his disciples against, is immoderate care for the things of this life, such a solicitous and vexatious care for food and raiment as is accompanied with diffidence and distrust of God’s fatherly providence over us, and provision for us; and the arguments which our Saviour uses to dissuade from this sin, are many and cogent, laid down in the following verses.

Learn here, 1. That Almighty God will provide for every servant of his, food and raiment, and a competency of the comforts and conveniencies of life.

Learn, 2. That want of faith in God’d promise, and a distrust of his fatherly care, is a God-provoking and wrath-procuring sin.

Learn, 3. That notwithstanding God’s promise to supply our wants, we not only may, but must, use such prudential and provident means as are in our own wants. Dr. Hammond’s Pract. Catech.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. Take no thought for your life. At the time the Common Version was made, the expression “Take thought,” meant to be anxious. The Revision properly renders it, “Be not anxious.” The Greek word means, “to have the mind distracted.” Christ does not forbid prudent forethought. Is not the life more than food? The argument is: God gave the life, and it is higher than food. If he gave it, he will see that it is sustained, if you trust in him. So, too, he made the body. He will see that it is clothed.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Here the instances of "you" and "your" are all plural. (See: Forms of You)

I say to you

This adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.

to you

Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should or should not do.

is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Jesus uses a question to teach the people. AT: "obviously life is more than what you eat, and your body is more than what you wear." or "clearly there are things in life that are more imortant than food, and there are things concerning the body that are more important than clothes." (See: Rhetorical Question)

barns

places to store crops

Father

This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

Are you not more valuable than they are?

Jesus uses a question to teach the people. AT: "Obviously you are more valuable than birds." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

plant

reap

God the Father

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

25–34. The parallel passage (Luk 12:22-31) follows immediately the parable of the Rich Fool.

25. διὰ τοῦτο, i.e. because this double service is impossible there must be no distraction of thought.

μὴ μεριμνᾶτε. ‘Do not be anxious,’ which was the meaning of ‘take no thought,’ when the E. V. was made. The same word occurs Php 4:6, μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε, where, as here, the tense marks continuance, ‘do not be ever anxious.’ Cp. 1Pe 5:7, πᾶσαν τὴν μέριμναν ὑμῶν ἐπιρίψαντες ἐπʼ αὐτόν. See Bp Lightfoot, On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament, &c., p. 171.

The argument in the verse is: such anxiety is unnecessary; God gave the life and the body; will He not give the smaller gifts of food and clothing?

Socrates describes this to be the object of his mission: ‘to persuade young and old,’ μήτε σωμάτων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι μήτε χρημάτων πρότερον μηδὲ οὕτω σφόδρα ὡς τῆς ψυχῆς ὅπως ὡς ἀρίστη ἔσται. See Mat 6:34 for a continuation of this quotation.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. διὰ τοῦτο] A direct inference from the foregoing verse: the plainer, since μεριμνάω (the root being μερίζω) is ‘to be distracted,’ ‘to have the mind drawn two ways.’ The E. V., ‘Take no thought,’ does not express the sense, but gives rather an exaggeration of the command, and thus makes it unreal and nugatory. Be not anxious, would be far better. In Luk 12:29 we have μὴ μετεωρίζεσθε, where see note. τῇ ψυχῇ = περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, dat. commodi. See ver. 28.

οὐχὶ ἡ ψ.] τοῦτο εἶπε δηλῶν ὅτι ὁ τὸ πλεῖον δοὺς ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον δώσει. πλεῖον δὲ τὸ μεῖζον λέγει. Euthymius.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. Therefore I say to you, Be not careful for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor for your body, what ye shall put on.] So Lk. omitting the first ὑμῶν and ἢ τί πίητε.

Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment ?] Lk. has: “For the life,” etc.

The connection seems to be: “Because you cannot lay up treasure on earth and in heaven, therefore give up all thought of earthly treasure, and even of the necessities of life, which God will provide for you.”

The διὰ τοῦτο occurs also in Lk. in quite a different context. Here the connection seems loose. After v. 24 we should expect: “Therefore serve God and renounce wealth,” or words to that effect. The διὰ τοῦτο seems to refer back to some assurance of the providential care of God for those who trust in Him. Mt may have transferred it to this place from some context in the Logia where the διὰ τοῦτο would be more applicable.

The thought of the last clause seems to be that God, who has given the life and the body, will also provide the lesser gifts of food and raiment.

(L)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take no thought [μη μεριμνατε] . The cognate noun is merimna, care, which was formerly derived from meriv, a part; merixw, to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life. This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily. See, for example, "careth for the things of the Lord" (1Co 7:32). "That the members should have the same care one for another" (1Co 12:25). "Who will care for your state ?" (Phi 2:20). In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. In other cases that idea is prominent, as, "the care of this world," which chokes the good seed (Mt 13:22, compare Luk 8:14). Of Martha; "Thou are careful" (Luk 10:41). Take thought, in this passage, was a truthful rendering when the A. V. was made, since thought was then used as equivalent to anxiety or solicitude. So Shakespeare (" Hamlet ") :

"The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."

And Bacon (Henry vii) : "Hawis, an alderman of London, was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish." Somers' "Tracts" (in Queen Elizabeth's reign) : "Queen Catherine Parr died rather of thought."

The word has entirely lost this meaning. Bishop Lightfoot (" On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament ") says : "I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future." It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious. This phase of the word is forcibly brought out in 1Pe 5:7, where the A. V. ignores the distinction between the two kinds of care. "Casting all your care (merimnan, Rev., anxiety) upon Him, for He careth [αυτω μελει] for you," with a fatherly, tender, and provident care. "

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.