I am continuing to teach through Matthew with some saints from church. Currently I am in verses 25-34 of Matthew 6. They are some of the most familiar words of Christ to many people, many of whom have just heard them referenced or quoted as a sort of emotional salve. But there is a lot going on here. Follow me.

Jesus was continuing his sermon. We now call it the Sermon on the Mount. The best scholarship tells us that this is a sermon Jesus taught repeatedly during His public ministry. This is why different gospel writers emphasize different pieces of the sermon’s various topics.

The main issue under discussion in these verses is anxiety; ανησυχία in Greek means “anxiety, disquiet, restlessness, straining concern.” It should go without saying, I suppose, but I do not know anyone who does not battle some degree of anxiety. The main reason I cannot bring myself to engage in social media platforms is due to some people’s anxiety and anger being launched at others like verbal artillery. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen what a landscape looks like after artillery descends, but it’s not exactly Eden.

But beneath that vitriol that characterizes so much of today’s commentary is anxiety. People are restless, disquiet, strainingly concerned, and anxious about where things are, where they are headed, and what to do.

And yet Christ says to His people: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Mt 6:26).

Last week I was in southwest Florida with my job. Each morning I would walk down to the beach early to catch the sunrise. Each morning, the pelicans, seagulls, ducks, and more would fly above me. Even as hard of hearing as I am, I could hear them as they called to one another, found fish, and their wings sliced through the Florida skies. The lesson was so clear.

I don’t know what the weather was like when Jesus preached this sermon in Israel. The text does not say. But I can just picture birds that might have been around, and how He may have pointed at them, then looked at His hearers, and said, “See, dear ones? See? Watch and learn. Then, come to Me and I will teach you the deepest things of God.”