VERSE 30:
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
“If God so clothes”
Literally: “If God thus enrobes; arrays.”
CLOTHES: (Grk.–amphiennusin)—literally: “arrays.” This implies, the putting on a complete dress.
Jesus confounds both the luxury of the rich in their superfluities, and the distrust of the poor as to the necessaries of life. Let man, who is made for God and eternity, learn from a flower of the field how low the care of Providence stoops. All our worries and distrusts come from our lack of faith. The poor are not really such, but seem to be because they are destitute of faith.
“the grass of the field”–Jesus is here making a comparison. This is a general expression including both herbs and flowers—the common grass of the field. This heightens the comparison. Wild flowers belong to the herbage that is cut with the grass.
“is cast into the oven”
Literally: “is being thrown into an oven.”–In Palestine the forests in many localities disappeared thousands of years ago, and in the scarcity of fuel, dried grass and weeds are often used to heat the oven. One of the first things that the nation of Israel did in their land was to plant thousands of trees.
The Jews had different modes of baking. In early times they frequently baked in the sand, warmed with the heat of the sun. They constructed also moveable ovens, made of clay, brick, or plates of iron. But the most common kind, and the one probably referred to here; was made by excavating the earth two and a half feet in diameter, and from five to six feet deep. The bottom was paved with stones. It was heated by putting wood or dry grass into the oven; and when heated, the ashes were removed, and the bread was placed on the heated stones. This kind of oven still exists in the Middle East.
More commonly they used something our “dutch overn.” This type of oven was an earthen vessel, without a bottom, about three feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay, and placed upon a frame, or support. Fire was made within it, or below it. When the sides were sufficiently heated, thin patches of dough were spread on the inside, and the top was covered, without removing the fire as in the other cases; and the bread was quickly baked.
“shall He not much more clothe you,”
Literally: “{Will He} not more rather you?-–The argument here is something fresh. Shall God's children, so dear to Him, and instinct with a life that cannot die, be left naked?
“O ye of little faith”
“Little-faithed {ones}”–This expression, which Jesus often applies to His disciples (8:26; 14:31; 16:8), can hardly be regarded as rebuking any actual displays of unbelief at that early period, and before such an audience. It is His way of gently chiding the spirit of unbelief, so natural even to the best, who are surrounded by a world of sense, and of kindling a generous desire to shake it off.
VERSES 31-34: WORRY ABOUT NOTHING
VERSE 31:
“Therefore take no thought saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘Wherewithal shall we be clothed?’”
“Therefore take no thought”
Literally: “Then be not anxious.–Have no anxiety over the question of food and raiment. Do your duty, with a full trust in God that He will see that you do not lack for these things. Their future King is showing that under His kingdom, no one will lack for any of the necessity of life. This is how it will be during the Millennial Kingdom.
“What shall we eat? or, “What shall we drink? etc.”
Literally: “What may we eat, or what may we drink, or what may clothe us.” –These three inquiries engross the whole attention of those who are living without God in the world. The belly and body of a worldling are his compound god; and these he worships in the lust of the flesh, in the lust of the eye, and in the pride of life.
Arguments #5-6–VERSES 32-34
WORRYING ABOUT FUTURE PROVISIONS
VERSE 32:
“For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
“For after all these things do the Gentiles seek”
Literally: “For all these things the nations seek.”–Jesus is telling these Jews that to concern themselves about these wants with anxiety under His kingdom, as if there was no such thing as a providence in the world, is nothing more than what the pagan Gentiles did; that is, this is to imitate the worst kind of heathens, who live without hope, and without God in the world.
That is, those destitute of the true doctrines of religion, unacquainted with proper dependence on Divine Providence, make it their chief anxiety thus to seek food and raiment. But you, who have a knowledge of your Father in heaven, you know that He will provide for your wants, should not be anxious.
SEEK: (Grk.–epizeteô)—Literally: “I seek,” meaning to seek intensely, earnestly, again and again. The true characteristic of the worldly man. His soul is never satisfied: Gimme! Gimme! This is the ceaseless language of his earth-born heart.
“your heavenly Father knoweth, etc.”
Literally: “your heavenly Father knows that you have need all these.”—The sixth reason against this anxiety about the future is because our heavenly Father is infinite in wisdom, and knows all our wants. It is the property of a wise and tender father to provide necessities, and not superfluities, for His children. Not to expect the former is an offence to His goodness; to expect the latter is an offence to His wisdom.
VERSE 33:
“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness”
“But first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness”—Jesus is now summing up His entire teachings.
Here Jesus places the Kingdom of God and His righteousness before temporal blessings (that is, food and clothing). He basically is telling these Jews to prepare themselves for the coming Kingdom. This preparation will finally be accomplished during the time of the Great Tribulation. By the time it is finished, Israel will be ready to enter into the Kingdom.
Because the Jews did NOT seek the Kingdom of God then, when the King was there with them and offering it to them, they will, with many tears and heartaches (see the Beatitudes) earnestly seek it during that terrible time future time of the Great Tribulation.
“and all these things shall be added unto you”
Literally: “And all these things will be added to you.”–This is the great summing up.
Strictly speaking, it has to do only with the subject of the present section– but being couched in the form of a brief general directory. It is so comprehensive in its grasp as to embrace the whole subject of this discourse. And, as if to make this the more evident, the two keynotes of this great sermon seem purposely struck in it—“the KINGDOM” and “the RIGHTEOUSNESS” of the Kingdom–-as the grand objects. In the supreme pursuit of which all things needful for the present life will be added to them. The precise sense of every word in this golden verse should be carefully weighed. The Kingdom of God is the primary subject of the Sermon on the Mount.
VERSE 34:
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
“for the morrow”
Literally: “for tomorrow”–The last resort of the anxious soul when all other fears are allayed. The ghost of tomorrow stalks out with all its hobgoblins of doubt and distrust.
The future falls under the awareness of God alone: therefore, when we would attempt to foresee all that may happen to us, we encroach upon His rights, and secure ourselves from it by our cares. How much good is omitted, how many evils caused, how many duties neglected, how many innocent persons deserted, how many good works destroyed, how many truths suppressed, and how many acts of injustice authorized by those fearful forecasts of what might happen; and those faithless apprehensions concerning the future! Let us do now what God requires of us, and trust the consequences to Him. The future time which God would have us foresee and provide for is that of judgment and eternity: and it is about this that we are careless!
“shall take thought for the things of itself”
Literally: “For the morrow will be anxiouus of itself.”–Or, according to other authorities, “for itself”––shall have its own causes of anxiety. Not “take care of itself,” but bring its own cares, anxieties and troubles. We should not foolishly increase our present burden by borrowing trouble about tomorrow.
“sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”
Literally: “Sufficient for each day {is} its own badness.”-–Each day has its peculiar trials: and we should meet them with confidence in God.
Every day brings its own cares; and to anticipate them is only to double them. There is an old Yiddish saying which says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow; who knows what will befall you today.” Jesus may be quoting a proverb already in the Jewish culture of His own time.
As we should live but a day at a time, so we should take care to suffer no more evils in one day than are necessarily attached to it. He who neglects the present for the future is acting opposite to the order of God, and to every dictate of sound wisdom. Let us live for eternity, and we shall secure all that is valuable in time.