Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 6:26-27

"Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?" — Matthew 6:26-27 (ASV)

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Having confirmed our hope by arguing from the greater to the lesser, He next confirms it by arguing from the lesser to the greater: Behold the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Some argue that they ought not to labor, because the birds of the air neither sow nor reap. Why then do they not pay attention to what follows: neither gather into barns? Why do they seek to have their hands idle and their storehouses full? Why, indeed, do they grind grain and prepare it? For the birds do not do this.¹

Or even if they find people whom they can persuade to supply them daily with prepared food, they at least draw water from the spring and set it on the table for themselves, which the birds do not do. But if they are not even driven to fill vessels with water for themselves, then they have taken a new step in righteousness beyond those who were in Jerusalem at that time,ⁱ who, from grain sent to them as a free gift, made or had loaves made for them, which the birds do not do.

But the command not to store up anything for the next day cannot be followed by those who withdraw from the sight of others for many days at a time, allowing no one to approach them as they shut themselves away to live in fervent prayer.

What? Will you say that the holier people become, the more unlike the birds of the air they become in this respect? What He says about the birds of the air is for this purpose: that none of His servants should think God is not mindful of their needs when they see Him provide even for these lesser creatures.

It is indeed God who feeds those who earn their bread by their own labor. And just because God has said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you (Psalm 50:15), it does not mean the Apostle should not have fled. He should not have remained still to be seized, expecting God to save him as He saved the Three Children from the midst of the fire.

If anyone were to object in this way to the saints fleeing from persecution, they would answer that they ought not to tempt God. They would say that God, if He pleased, would deliver them just as He delivered Daniel from the lions and Peter from prison—at a time when they could no longer help themselves. But since God made flight possible for them, if they were saved by fleeing, it was still God who saved them.

In the same way, those servants of God who have the strength to earn their food by the labor of their hands could easily answer anyone who objects to them from the Gospel concerning the birds of the air, which neither sow nor reap. They would say, "If we are unable to work because of sickness or any other obstacle, He will feed us just as He feeds the birds, who do not work."

But when we can work, we ought not to tempt God, since even this ability is His gift. We live here by His goodness, which has enabled us to live. He feeds us, by whom the birds of the air are also fed. As He says, Your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much greater value?

You are of more value because a rational animal, such as man, is higher in the scale of nature than an irrational one, such as the birds of the air.²

Indeed, a higher price is often paid for a horse than for a slave, or for a jewel than for a servant girl, but this is not based on a reasonable valuation. Instead, it comes from the need of the person requiring it or, rather, from the pleasure of their desire.³

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For God created all animals for man, but man for Himself. Therefore, the more precious the creation of man is, the greater is God's care for him. If, then, the birds find food without toiling, shall man not also find it, to whom God has given both the knowledge of labor and the hope of its fruitfulness?

St. Jerome: There are some who, seeking to go beyond the limits of their fathers and soar into the air, instead sink into the deep and are drowned. These interpret "the birds of the air" to mean the Angels and the other powers in the ministry of God, who are fed by God's providence without any care of their own.

But if this is indeed as they interpret it, how does what was said to men make sense: Are you not of more value than they? It must, then, be taken in its plain sense: If birds that exist today and are gone tomorrow are nourished by God's providence without any thought or toil of their own, how much more so are men, to whom eternity is promised!

St. Hilary of Poitiers: It may be said that under the name of "birds," He exhorts us by the example of the unclean spirits, to whom provision for life is given by the power of the Eternal Wisdom without any trouble of their own in seeking and collecting it. And to lead us to connect this with the unclean spirits, He suitably adds, Are you not of much more value than they? This shows the great distance between piety and wickedness.

Glossa Ordinaria: He teaches us not only with the example of the birds but adds further proof that our own care is not enough for our being and life; rather, Divine Providence is at work. He says, Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?⁴

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For it is God who day by day brings about the growth of your body, while you yourself do not feel it. If, then, the Providence of God works daily in your very body, how could that same Providence withhold its work in providing the necessities of life? And if by taking thought you cannot add the smallest part to your body, how can you save yourself completely by taking thought?

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, this may be connected with what follows, as if He were saying: It was not by our own care that our body grew to its present stature, so we should know that we would be unable to add even one cubit to it if we desired. Therefore, leave the care of clothing that body to Him who made it grow.⁵

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, just as He established our faith in the provision of food for our lives by the example of the spirits, so now He cuts off all anxiety about the provision of clothing by an appeal to common sense. Since it is He who will raise every kind of body that ever drew breath into one perfect man, and He alone is able to add one, two, or three cubits to each person's stature, surely when we are anxious about clothing—that is, about the appearance of our bodies—we insult Him who will add as much to each person's stature as is needed to bring all to an equality.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But if Christ rose again with the same stature with which He died, it is impious to say that at the time of the resurrection of all, a size will be added to His body that it did not have at His own resurrection (for He appeared to His disciples in the same body in which He had been known among them), making Him equal to the tallest of men.⁶

If, on the other hand, we say that all people's bodies, whether tall or short, will be brought to the same size and stature as the Lord's body, then much will be lost from many bodies, even though He has declared that not a hair shall fall.

It remains, therefore, that each will be raised in his own stature—the stature he had in his youth, if he died in old age, or if he died in childhood, the stature to which he would have attained had he lived. For the Apostle does not say, "To the measure of the stature," but, To the measure of the full age of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). For the bodies of the dead shall rise in the state of youth and maturity that we know Christ attained.ⁱ

1. De Op. Monach., 23
2. Serm. in Mont., ii, 15
3. City of God, xi, 16
4. non occ.
5. Serm. in Mont., ii, 15
6. City of God, book xxii, ch. 15