(NIV)
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Food, body and clothes were common worries amongst the disciples while they were travelling and ministering together. And on this occasion, Jesus decided to speak on the much-spoken worry about life.
What is the meaning of worry? To worry is to fret or torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts. To be worried is also to be troubled or plagued by cares, anxieties.
I wonder why such a subject was raised by Jesus to his disciples and not to a group who are not disciples. Not only that, this issue on “worrying about life” was addressed to a group of disciples who were with Jesus almost 24/7. Who were the disciples? These disciples were Jesus’ followers. They followed Jesus after they were invited by Jesus to follow Him. To follow Jesus, they abandoned their careers, routines, old ways of doing things and even their previous lifestyles. These guys ate, slept and travelled to all places with Jesus. These disciples were in the same boat with Jesus who was sleeping soundly while the howling winds tossed the boat from side to side so terribly that it would make the most experienced sailor shudder and puke. These disciples were also at Mount Sinai when Jesus preached his sermons. These disciples gave up their stable lives in exchange for a “nomadic” life and led “abandoned” lives with Jesus. Can you believe this - hearing your boss, Jesus, talking on a subject of the worry of life when you have abandoned your lives and followed Him? So why did Jesus bring up this subject on worry? In examining myself, I realised worry is something deep down in our beings. And Jesus knows that worry is in all the disciples. So, what were the disciples worried about? Within one breath, Jesus named all the worries –food, body and clothes. How do these worries show up in our life?
Let us look at the first worry - food.
In a food paradise like Singapore, the supply of food is not the problem It is the choice of food that is causing many a group of highly-intelligent men or women to frown and worry about which food centre or restaurant to have their lunch or dinner. Having said that, I acknowledge that there are breadwinners in Singapore who are still struggling to provide the next meal on the table for their family. Well to the disciples, the issue of food is really a problem in those days. Following Jesus means having no regular place to look forward to for their meals. They would never know whether their next meal would be provided by some gracious believers in the next town that they visited.
Now, let us turn to our attention to the second worry – body.
Well, following Jesus meant that the disciples would have to walk a lot on foot. Taking a ride on a donkey to the places they were visiting would mean a luxurious expense item. Here, one would tend to think the health and body of the disciples should not be a concern since all of them would have plenty of exercise in walking from one synagogue to another and from one town to another. Apparently, this was not the case. They were probably concerned about their bodies since they were exposed to the sun, had to breathe in a lot of dust while walking through the city, town or small communities and be constantly exposed to all kinds of germs, viruses and bacteria carried by the sick people who would swarm around Jesus and the disciples whenever they stopped at a certain place to minister or preach. Put it simply, following Jesus could be health-hazardous!
Jesus then mentioned the third worry – clothes.
Here, I asked myself why Jesus would mention clothes to the disciples. I thought that would be the least of their concern. Well I could have underestimated that. Just follow me and walk beside Jesus and his disciples. Jesus only had three years of ministry time before He was crucified. He would therefore like to teach and pass on His wisdom and understanding and kingdom values to His disciples. With knowledge of the short available time he had, I can imagine Jesus and His disciples were always on the move from place to place. Jesus was sweeping through the cities, towns and villages very quickly in order that people would hear the Good News and turn back to God. That meant the disciples cannot have excess luggage to lug around town. The disciples are probably taught to travel light and quickly.
To make his point, Jesus then turned the disciples’ attention to the raven which is probably a very common bird during Jesus’ time on earth. The ravens do not have to sow or reap or have storerooms or barns to store things. And yet God feeds these ravens because He knows the needs of ravens.
And compared to the ravens, Jesus said that we are more important, precious and valuable, to the point that God, the Father sacrificed His only Son for us.
It is perfectly alright to be concerned about our needs for food, body-care and clothes to wear. But when the concern to obtain food, body-care and clothes to wear becomes the main concern of life and manifests itself as a worry, it has to be addressed. If not, then worry will choke out the priority of loving God and our neighbours. Jesus recognised that the disciples were not an exception where worry is concerned. In fact, worry can be found in any disciple and has to be addressed.
To conclude on the subject of worry, Jesus asked whether the disciples can add one hour to their lives by worrying. Here, Jesus is reminding the hearers that there is no point in worrying. Instead, the more important thing to do is to remember who is really in charge of life and what He does as the one who is in-charge. The disciples are created beings and God is the creator of their lives.
Our lives really lie in God and not with us. Put it in another way, the beginning and the end of our lives including the needs of life are in the hands of God. Jesus is saying God, being our Father will provide. With that Jesus aptly ended the subject of worry by saying “Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” We are not in charge. God our Father is.
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