And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on.
These words follow the parable of the rich man who filled his barns and lost his soul that same night. The "therefore" ties the two together: the crowd heard a warning about wanting more, and now the Lord turns to His own and treats the opposite fear — not having enough.
One writer reads Luke 12 as a lesson on discipleship in stages, each with its own warning word.
One suggestion is that this is a study of discipleship under four headings. In the first section, Luke 12:1-3, the thought stressed is "no covering"... The next section, Luke 12:4-12, gives us the thought of no "cowardice"... The third is Luke 12:13-21, and here we have the suggestion of no "covetousness"... The last section is Luke 12:22-34, and here we have the thought of no "care."
Notice the change of audience. The warning about greed was for everyone; this word is for those who already believe.
To the crowd He says, as a principle of life: "Keep yourselves from all covetousness," for your life is not in this. But out of the same subject He draws this guide for His disciples: "Do not be anxious about what is necessary." He adds many reasons why they should not be, for God knows they need food and clothing, and will therefore provide for those who trust Him... In His teaching our Lord commonly speaks to the crowd about the principles of good and evil, life and death, and speaks to His disciples about the same subjects on principles that flow from their state of grace and faith.
Older translations read "take no thought," and commentators differ on how far that goes. One reads it as anxiety:
He tells His disciples to take no thought — that is, to have no anxiety — about their life, what they will eat, or about their body, what they will put on.
One writer presses the phrase further and refuses the softening:
Notice, "take NO thought." This needs no interpretation or softening. People may say it means "anxious thought," but there is nothing about "anxious" in the passage... And this covers everything a person can really need — food and clothing. In both, the ravens and the lilies are set before us as an example: the ravens are fed and the lilies are clothed, and neither takes a thought. If the Lord Jesus meant "anxious thought," He would have said so.
The Lord has a reason for raising this. Worry does real damage.
Our blessed Lord, in His tenderness and sympathy toward us, takes notice of these needs of ours. He does so because He knows how often the worry that grows out of them comes between our souls and Himself, and stops us enjoying the Father's love at all. In the parable of the sower He names the cares of this world as one of the things that choke the seed of the Word, so that the fruit never ripens. So He provides an antidote for this evil too.
The reason this word could be given at all is that a door had opened for those who followed Him.
The other word was a warning for men, but for the disciples a new path was opening... That is: do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will put on. This was a great step forward in the teaching given to souls — a guard against anxiety, and it rests on faith in God. The Lord gives them an example from the birds around them. "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them." God's care stooped to watch over even an unclean bird like a raven.
Worry is not a harmless habit. It says something about the heart before God.
The Lord then shows the disciples where their true riches should lie. Faith is meant to free them from anxiety and greed. Their riches are not food and clothing. He who fed the ravens that take no care would not fail His children, who were worth far more to Him than the birds. Anxious care like that is plain evidence of poverty toward God. Why are you so busy providing? It is a confession that you are not satisfied with what you have.
- Therefore. The verse hangs on the parable before it. The Lord tells the crowd not to grasp for more, and tells His disciples not to fear having less. Same root, two branches.
- To disciples. The Lord speaks to the crowd on good and evil, and to His own on principles flowing from their state of grace and faith. This word is only livable for those who know the Father.
- No care. Luke 12 moves from no covering to no cowardice to no covetousness, and then to no care. Anxiety is a discipleship issue, not a personality trait.
- Why it matters. Care over food and clothing pushes in between the soul and Christ and chokes the Word. The Lord supplies the antidote before the harm is done.
- What it reveals. Busy providing confesses that you are not satisfied — plain evidence of poverty toward God. Yet God feeds the ravens, and His children are worth far more than birds.
The life is more than food, and the body than raiment.
In Luke 12 a man asks Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute. Jesus answers with a parable about a rich man whose barns outlived him. Then He turns to His disciples, and greed gives way to worry. His reason for not worrying is a comparison: life outweighs food, and the body outweighs clothing.
Jesus warned the crowd about covetousness. He spoke about anxiety to those who follow Him. One writer notes that this pattern runs through His teaching.
He says as a principle of life to the crowd: "Keep yourselves from all covetousness," for your life is not in this. But from thinking through this subject He draws out this guide for His disciples: "Do not be anxious about what is necessary." He adds many reasons why they should not be. God recognises the need of food and clothing, and will therefore provide for those who trust Him. Our Lord often speaks to the crowd about the principles of good and evil, life and death. He then speaks to His disciples about the same subjects, on principles that flow from their state of grace and faith.
The obvious reading of this verse is an argument from greater to smaller. One commentator found something further in it — that the life and the body were made for ends far above being fed and dressed.
I used to think this contained merely an argument from greater to lesser — that if God had given the greater He would surely give the lesser. But there is more. To you, believers, the soul or life must be more than merely food. Food is not what your life should be taken up with caring about. And the body is worth more than clothing, as if clothing were the only thing it should make you think about, when in fact the body was to put on and be the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This, however, was not yet revealed... Well then! if they are so, your thoughts should run in another channel, rising above such a view of the soul and body.
Worry is not neutral. It shows the state of the heart before God.
Faith is meant to deliver from anxiety and lust. True riches are not food and clothing. He who fed the ravens, which have no anxious care, would not fail His children, who were far more to Him than the birds. Such anxiety, on the contrary, is the plain evidence of poverty toward God. Why are you so busy providing? It is the confession that you are not satisfied with what you have got.
Having named food and clothing, the Lord points to a bird.
How often did the Lord draw lessons from things in nature! And well He might, for the God of creation is the God of revelation. So His ways in nature may have a voice for us His creatures. He cares for the ravens. They depend on Him for everything, though they store up nothing for the future. They have no storehouse or barn, but their food comes daily.
The rich fool had too much. This verse reaches the far larger group who feel they have too little.
Here you get a class, I believe much larger than the company the rich man was in. In this world there are a great many more oppressed by poverty than by riches. How am I going to make ends meet? is often in the heart if not spoken by the lips. Care, like a disease, eats out the very life of many a dear child of God. Is that your present condition? Then the Lord's words, "Do not be anxious," and "Your Father knows," may well comfort your heart.
This chapter deals with three things that spoil a life. Each has its own cure.
The great practical principles that are to mark His own are then unfolded. They are not to think about tomorrow, but to trust in God. "Your Father knows that you need them" is a lovely word indeed. If they sought God's kingdom, everything else would be added. Precious instruction for our anxious hearts. So the Lord disposes of three terrible foxes that spoil the grapes in God's vineyard: fear, covetousness, and care. He meets the fear of man with the fear of God, covetousness with being rich toward God, and care with the care of God.
- Care. Worry about food and clothing is not a small weakness. It eats out the very life of many a child of God, and it grips the poor as tightly as greed grips the rich.
- Cause. Busy, anxious providing confesses that you are not satisfied with what you have. Commentators call it plain evidence of poverty toward God.
- Comparison. The verse does more than argue from greater to lesser. Life and body have higher ends than eating and dressing — the body is to put on and be the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Creation. The ravens keep no storehouse, yet their food comes daily — God's own object lesson, because the God of creation is the God of revelation.
- Cure. The fear of God answers fear, being rich toward God answers covetousness, and the care of God answers care — "Your Father knows that you need them."