Luke 12:6 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is an insight that only the Son of God could give us. No one could say these words with such authority and assurance who did not have access to the secret thoughts of God. It is truly a revelation of the mind of God, that Christ gives us here. God has not made innumerable creatures, great and small, only to put them out of his mind, and be unconcerned for their welfare. He cares for each one, however insignificant they may appear to us. Even in a fallen world he continues to care for them. Death is present in the illustration of the sparrows, because it is the death of his children at the hands of persecutors that Christ is fortifying them against. By one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. Death affects not just man but the entire creation. Wherever we look we see the effects of human sin, because the creation is cursed for our sake. The sparrow was sold in those days for a very small amount of money – that was the value that men set on it – and yet what man scarcely notices and sells as a food product is a creature that God does not forget. The apostle Paul teaches that ‘the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, ²¹ Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now’ (Romans 8:19-22). In spite of allowing the curse for our sake, God loves all that he has made, and he does not forget the smallest creature. In proportion to what they are and their needs, he is concerned for them. How exactly that concern is expressed we are not told, but we are assured it is there. We believe that only man has an eternal soul, and so we do not believe that the animals have an afterlife, and yet in some way God is concerned for them. He is by nature the God who provides and cares for all he has made, even though he has allowed the fall to affect them. If human beings are encouraged to treat their animals well (Deuteronomy 25:4; Number 22:28; Proverbs 12:10), how much more does God remember them in this providential care. Christ wants his disciples to be very sure of this so that they can complete the syllogism: God loves the least of his creatures, even the little sparrows; you are far greater than a mere sparrow; therefore God can never forget you. It is a powerful argument from the lesser to the greater.Another argument is brought forward to strengthen faith: ‘even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.’ This too is an insight into the private thoughts of God. How does Christ know this? Because he is one God with the Father, and as the Son of God he shares those same thoughts himself. God’s children worry that the loss of their lives will not be noticed by God, that their enemies will prevail over them and they will lose more than just their bodily life. That anxiety betrays little knowledge of the detailed care that God has for each one of them. It goes far beyond what they imagine. In this beautiful picture Christ assures them that God has a knowledge of his children that they do not even have of themselves. Who knows how many hairs he has growing on his head? No one. It is a piece of knowledge far too detailed for any to bother to obtain, and it changes from day to day. But our Father in heaven knows this. Furthermore it is just a sample of God’s knowledge. He knows far more than this; he knows many more things that Christ does not go on to speak about.