- Slaves in the ancient times were not considered as persons but as thing without any rights of their own. They have no time of their own and the Master can do anything with them even to the extent of killing them. As Christians we have to realize that we are the slaves of God without any rights or time of our own.
- ‘Mammon’ – This Hebrew word is used to denote material possession. Its original meaning: that which is entrusted to another person for safe keeping. It later became something that in which people put their trust. Jesus is correcting this attitude towards material possession and teaching these a) All things belong to God, nothing is ours b) People are more important than things, they should never be treated as thing c) Wealth is always a subordinate good, only love of money is root cause of all evil (1 Tim 6:10)
- Jesus is not advocating a shiftless, thriftless, reckless, thoughtless, improvident attitude towards life, rather he is forbidding a careworn, fearful life which takes all the joy out of life.
- Trust in God for the things which are necessary to support life, one who has given a gift which is beyond a price will not be stingy to buy the wrapper for the gift.
- When comparing with the birds it is said that no one works harder than the average sparrow to make a living but they seldom worry. The flowers Jesus talking about were on the hillsides of Palestine and the grass which were used to heat up the oven when women wanted to cook something in a hurry is made with such a care by our Heavenly Father.
The two typical diseases of modern life are stomach ulcer and the coronary thrombosis and in many cases both are the result of worry. Jesus is assuring God’s care and protection. During our lifetime many things may go wrong and it is here we need to place our trust in God without depending too much on our talents and our potentialities.
‘FEAR NOT I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS’
Courtesy
William Barclays’s Commentaries on Bible
Sacra Pagina Series
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