Luke 12:24

This teaching grows out of a request. A man in the crowd asks Jesus to make his brother divide the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13), and Jesus answers with the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16–21), a man who planned a long and self-sufficient future around “my barns”, “my goods” and “my soul”, and then died unexpectedly and lost it all. He had laid up treasure for himself, and Jesus sets against that being “rich toward God”. Warnings against covetousness and calls to trust God run through the whole of Luke 12, and they reach their fullest form here.

Then Jesus turns to his disciples. “Therefore” is diá toûto in Greek, “because of this”, where diá with the accusative gives the cause, so what follows is the parable’s lesson applied to them. The verb for “said”, épō, is the ordinary word for speaking. Jesus addresses “his disciples” in particular, though a large crowd is listening (Luke 12:1), and this is teaching for people who have committed themselves to follow him.

The rich man’s worry was how to keep what he had. The disciples’ worry was more basic. Life for most people in the land was precarious. Food depended on the seasonal harvest and on what could be stored, a single failed crop could mean hunger, and clothing was costly to make and a mark of a person’s standing. Many of the disciples had left their livelihoods to follow Jesus, so the question of tomorrow’s bread was real for them, and Jesus speaks straight into that need.

The KJV’s “take no thought” translates merimnáō with the negative mḗ. The verb means to be anxious, to be troubled with cares, to worry. It returns in verse 25 (“with taking thought”) and verse 26 (“why take ye thought”), so the whole passage is about this one thing, anxious care over the needs of life. Jesus names two of those needs, food for the life and clothing for the body. The word for life, psychḗ, means breath, and so the spirit or animal sentient principle that makes a creature alive. Strong’s sets it apart from pneûma, the rational and immortal spirit, and from zōḗ, mere vitality. Here it is life itself, the life that food keeps going. The body, sōma, is what clothing covers. “What ye shall eat” uses phágō, the plain verb “to eat”, and “what ye shall put on” uses endýō, to put on clothes.

Matthew records the same teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25–34), and Luke’s Sermon on the Plain carries the same concern for where a disciple’s heart rests (Luke 6:17–49).

Verse 23 gives the first reason: “The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” God has already given the greater gifts, life itself and the body, and the Giver of the greater can be trusted with the lesser things that keep them going.

The word for “meat”, trophḗ, comes from tréphō, “to nourish”, and means nourishment in general, whether food or, figuratively, wages and provisions. “Meat” in the KJV is an older English word for food of any kind. The word for “raiment”, éndyma, comes from endýō, the verb behind “put on” in verse 22, and means apparel, especially an outer robe.

Food sustains life, and clothing protects and covers the body, so both are real needs. Jesus gives them their place, beneath the life and body they serve. Since clothing was costly and showed a person’s rank, the verse also loosens the hold of outward appearance. The worth of a person lies in the life and the body God made, a marvellous work of his hands and a temple for the Spirit, and what that person eats and wears is there to serve them.

“Consider the ravens.” The verb katanoéō means to observe fully and so to understand, a careful look that draws out what it sees. Jesus then names the whole work of a farming people, sowing, reaping and storing the harvest in storehouse and barn, and the ravens live without any of it. The rich fool had spoken of “my barns”, and here are birds without a single barn, yet “God feedeth them”. The verb for “feedeth”, tréphō, means to feed, nourish and rear, to cherish with food, and the KJV’s “feedeth” speaks of what God goes on doing day after day.

Then comes the conclusion: “how much more are ye better than the fowls?” The verb behind “better”, diaphérō, means to bear apart, and so to differ, to surpass, to be of greater value. The argument runs from the lesser to the greater. If God feeds birds that live without farm or store, he will surely feed the people made in his image, whom he values far above them. Earlier in the same chapter Jesus had told his disciples that they are of greater value than many sparrows (Luke 12:7).

“And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?” The verb is merimnáō again, so the question is aimed squarely at anxiety. A cubit, pēchys, was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 inches or 45 centimetres.

The word for “stature”, hēlikía, can mean either height or age, the span of a life, and believers read the verse both ways. On the first reading Jesus means height, and a whole cubit added to a person’s height would be an enormous change, far out of reach of any worrier. On the second reading he means the length of a life, and a cubit stands for a small measure of time, so worry is powerless to add even a short span to our days. On either reading the point is the same. The length of our bodies and of our days lies in God’s hands, and anxiety leaves both exactly as they were.

Verse 26 draws the conclusion: “If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?” “Able”, dýnamai, is the ordinary word for having the power to do something, and “least”, eláchistos, means the smallest, the thing of least account. Adding a cubit is the least thing, and it lies outside our power. “The rest” is everything else that worry reaches for: food, clothing and the whole uncertain future. A person who is powerless over the least has every reason to hand the rest to God, who holds all of it.

“Consider the lilies how they grow.” Jesus uses the same verb, katanoéō, as for the ravens, and asks for the same careful look. The word for lilies, krínon, was most likely a general word for the wildflowers common in the countryside, such as anemones, gladioli and irises, which bloom in great numbers for a short season without anyone to plant or tend them.

“They toil not, they spin not.” To toil, kopiáō, is to labour to the point of weariness, and to spin, nḗthō, is the long, patient work of making thread for cloth. Spinning was where every garment began, so the flowers wear their beauty apart from all the work that clothing cost a household.

Then Jesus sets the humblest flower beside the most splendid king in Israel’s memory. Solomon was famous among the kings of the earth for his wealth, his wisdom and the magnificence of his court, as the visit of the queen of Sheba shows (1 Kings 10:4–7), and his royal robes were the height of human luxury. “Glory”, dóxa, is glory as something plainly seen, with the sense of dignity and honour, and here it is Solomon’s visible splendour. “Arrayed”, peribállō, means to throw all around, to invest with clothing. Luke uses a form in which Solomon arrays himself, so his finery was put on him by human skill and wealth, while the flower’s is God’s own work. Even so, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

In verse 28 Jesus widens the picture from the flowers to the grass around them. “If then God so clothe the grass” uses amphiénnymi, to enrobe or put clothing on, for God’s work of covering the field with growth and beauty. The “if” carries the sense “since”, because what it describes is plain to see. The grass, chórtos, is the wild vegetation of the field, the herbage that also served as hay or fodder. Once it dried, people gathered it to burn in the clay ovens, klíbanos, where they baked their bread, a cheap fuel that burned quickly. It stands in the field “to day” and is “cast into the oven” “to morrow”. God gives such splendour to a thing that will be burned within a day, so “how much more will he clothe you”.

Verse 29 repeats the command in new words: “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.” To seek, zētéō, is to pursue something actively, and here it means making food and drink (pínō, the plain verb “to drink”) the anxious pursuit of one’s life.

“Be of doubtful mind” translates meteōrízō, a word related to the one that gives us “meteor”. It means to raise into mid-air, to hold suspended, and so to be held in suspense, wavering and tossed about by uncertainty. Jesus is describing a mind left hanging between hope and fear about tomorrow’s needs, and he calls his disciples to a settled trust.

Verse 30 gives the reason: “For all these things do the nations of the world seek after.” The word for nations, éthnos, means a nation or people, and it is also the usual word for the Gentiles. “The nations of the world” are the peoples outside God’s covenant who do not know him as their Father, and so food, drink and clothing become the whole object of their striving. “Seek after”, epizētéō, is earnest, eager pursuit. The disciples live differently, because they have what those nations lack: “your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.”

“Knoweth” is eídō, which properly means to see, and in the form used here means to know, so the Father’s knowledge is full and certain. He sees every need of his children before they mention it, as Jesus teaches elsewhere when he says that the Father knows what we need before we ask him (Matthew 6:8). And he knows it as a Father. Israel already called on God by that name, “thou, O LORD, art our father” (Isaiah 63:16), and here Jesus gives that name to his disciples as the ground of their peace.

“But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The verb is zētéō, the same as “seek not” in verse 29. The disciples have a seeking to do, and Jesus points it toward God’s kingdom. The word basileía means royalty, rule or realm, and it comes from basileús, “king”. The kingdom of God is God’s own reign, present now in the hearts of those who submit to him and still to come in its fullness. Many in Israel hoped for a political kingdom that would overthrow Roman rule, and Jesus speaks of the reign of God over a life. He says elsewhere, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), and James calls believers “heirs of the kingdom” (James 2:5).

“Added”, prostíthēmi, means to place alongside, to annex. “All these things” are the food, drink and clothing of the verses before, and the passive “shall be added” leaves God as the one who adds them. They come as gifts laid alongside the kingdom, from the Father who already knows they are needed. Matthew gives the same promise in the words “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and the psalm says it in its own way: “Delight thyself also in the LORD” (Psalm 37:4–5).

Verse 32 is the warmest sentence in the passage. “Fear not” is phobéō, to be alarmed or frightened, with the negative mḗ, a command to set fear aside. “Little”, mikrós, means small in size, number or standing, and “flock”, poímnion, from poímnē, is a flock of sheep, used for God’s people under a shepherd’s care. The disciples were few and without power, facing hostility and an uncertain living, and Jesus gives them a tender name that admits their smallness and claims them as his own. Among a people who knew shepherds well, the picture spoke of protection, provision and belonging.

“For it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The verb eudokéō means to think well of, to be well pleased, to take delight in. The Father gives the kingdom gladly, and his delight makes the gift certain. The same verb is used when the voice from heaven says of Jesus, “in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “To give”, dídōmi, is the plain verb for giving, and the kingdom here is basileía again, the very kingdom the disciples were told to seek in verse 31. They seek what their Father is already glad to give.

“Fear not” echoes the LORD’s word in Isaiah, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee” (Isaiah 41:10), and the flock is the one Jesus speaks of in John: his sheep hear his voice and follow him, and he gives them eternal life (John 10:27–28). The kingdom is a gift for now and for the future. God has already delivered his people from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his Son (Colossians 1:13). Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36–37), and its fullness comes when “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15).

“Sell that ye have, and give alms.” The verb pōléō is the plain word “to sell”, and “alms”, eleēmosýnē, comes from the word for mercy or pity and means giving to the poor, so selling and giving here is mercy put into action. Almsgiving was already a valued duty in Israel, rooted in the law’s command to lend freely to a poor brother (Deuteronomy 15:7–8), and Jesus presses it further, to sacrificial generosity.

“Provide yourselves bags which wax not old.” The bags are purses for money and valuables, which wear thin with use. Jesus tells his disciples to make purses of another kind, ones that stay new, “a treasure in the heavens that faileth not”. The treasure, thēsaurós, is a deposit or store of wealth, and “faileth not” translates anékleiptos, unfailing and inexhaustible.

In those days wealth was kept in grain, livestock, fine garments and precious metal, and a household had to guard it all itself. Grain rotted or was eaten by pests, garments were eaten by moths, and silver and gold could be stolen. Treasure in heaven is out of reach of all of it, “where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth”. “Corrupteth” is diaphtheírō, to rot thoroughly or ruin utterly, the slow destruction moths work in cloth.

Matthew records the same teaching on treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19–21). Paul tells the rich to be rich in good works, ready to give and glad to share, and so to lay up a good foundation for the time to come (1 Timothy 6:17–19). Hebrews speaks of believers who know that they have in heaven “a better and an enduring substance” (Hebrews 10:34), and Peter of an inheritance “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:3–4).

Jesus lived the trust he taught in this passage. The Son of man “hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58), he fed thousands from a few loaves and fishes (Luke 9:10–17), and in Gethsemane he gave himself to his Father’s will (Luke 22:42).

He is also the provision this passage points toward. He is the bread of life (John 6:35) and the giver of living water (John 4:10–14), he came that his sheep might have life more abundantly (John 10:10), and he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for them (John 10:11). God so loved the world that he gave his Son (John 3:16), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and to all who receive him he gives the right to become children of God (John 1:12). God showed his love in that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). Paul draws the same “how much more” that Jesus draws from the ravens: “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?” (Romans 8:32).

Christ became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9), and humbled himself to death on a cross (Philippians 2:5–8). Paul counted all things loss for the excellency of knowing him (Philippians 3:7–8), and he is the pearl of great price for which the merchant sells all that he has (Matthew 13:45–46). God gives his people a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26), so the treasure of verse 34 can become Christ himself.

The clothing of the lilies points to a clothing God gives his people. Isaiah rejoices that God has clothed him with the garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10), all who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27), and in him believers are complete (Colossians 2:10). He gives his own peace (John 14:27) and calls all who labour and are heavy laden to come to him for rest (Matthew 11:28–30). Through his apostles he tells his people to cast all their care upon God, “for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7), and to bring every need to God in prayer with thanksgiving, so that the peace of God keeps their hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6–7).

Every reason Jesus gives in this passage rests on who God is. He gives life and the body. He feeds birds that people value little, and he dresses the grass of a single day in a beauty that outshines a king. He knows every need of his children before they speak, and he is glad to give them his kingdom. Jesus answers anxiety by showing his disciples their Father.

The commands of the passage grow out of that. Because the Father knows, his children can seek his kingdom with a settled mind, and because the kingdom is his gift, they can give away what they have and lay up treasure that lasts. When the needs of tomorrow press in, the ravens and the lilies are still there to be considered, as Jesus said, and the little flock still has a Father who delights to give.