By taking the references to sparrows and ravens closely together, we may save ourselves from a onesided interpretation of Mt 6-" which has found favour with many. Thus O. Holtzmann (Life nf Jcs^ts, p. 102) says : ' AVith the drudgery and toil of human labour, Jesus contrasts the toilless life of nature, in which God feeds the raven and clothes the lilies.' A parallel saying from the Talmud is cited in Delitzsch's Jewish Artisan. Life, which suggests the same view of our Lord's teaching. 'Didst thou ever .see in all thy life,' says Kabbi Simeon, son of Eleazar, ' a bird or an animal working at a craft? And yet tliese ereatun-s, made simply for the purpose of serxing me, gain their living without dirticulty. But I am crciUr,! to serve my Creator : and if those who an- cirainl to serve can gain their livelihood -Hitlioiii, .lilli- culty, shall not I, who am made to ,si'i\r my Creator, earn my living without trouble ■.' ' If this saying is modelled on JNIt 6-'*, then Kabbi Simeon and O. Holtzmann seem to agree in interpreting our Lord's teaching to the effect that 'the birds are fed, without working : surely we may expect God to feed us too, witliout our 'toil.' Such an inter- pretation makes iSIt 6'-'^ the magna charta of idle- ness. But the superiority of the birds does not lie in their not working, but in their not worrying. If we may paraphrase the passage, ' the birds do not engage in any methodical toil : yet they trust God for daily food, and praise Him for His care : men are better than binls, a superiority shown in
the fact that ii wnik in an <inlcrly manner:
now, if God f.r^U \\i.- Iiinl . vlii.li I'ive a hap- hazard kind ot li!c, liott Diiirli nioie will He re- ward men's patient labour witliont their needing to be anxious?' This section of the Sermon oii the Mount is best interpreted Ijy St. Peter's words, ' casting all your care (i.e. "your worries and anxieties) on him ; for he caretii for you' (I P 5'), or by St. Paul's lesson of contentment under all cir- cumstances (Ph 4"-"). Our daily wants are the care of God. The saying about the sparrows for-
bids us to assume that daily needs will be met exactly in the way we expect. We are not to assume that food and raiment will be provided amply and at all times. Privation and suffering may fall to men's lot ; but suffering even unto ileal h is not to be feared, because the very death 111 a, fpaniiw is not forgotten before God. (iin l,(.T<r.>^ teaching' as to the trust in Ood's provirlenre,
lip ill tiic second of the five iirw Sa\ iii-s ren-iilh- rliscnvered \>v Grenfell and Hunt. Thev nvlnrr tins in-^m,, ;,. inl|,,„s : ■ .lr,iiH s.iith(yeask? who are thi.s..) ,h,,t .li;,w i,s(t,i Uir kiiv^.l,,,,,. ,() thekinmlom is in Heaven? . . . Tli.> t.uvis <if ihr an-, imd all beasts tliat are under the eartli nr U].nn Ih.- .■riiih, ;uHt tin- li.>hes of the sea (these are they wiiieh draw) \mii, tm.l \\w kini;floni of Heaven is within vou ; and whoeiei ^Imll kiiMU liiiusvif shall tindit. (Strive therefore?) to kn.iw \nnr-ir]>,s mid ve shall be aware that ve are the sons of the (:ilnMulit\ 1 lnli.r ; (and?) >r sliiill know that ye are in (the cm ,.l i;.-l i m.l m- are (the :!■ 1. Mir restoration of the s;iyiii- !■ li _ i,: - - i-niral, but ' li'' Iiased in part on.Iuh 1 ihe beasts
I :ii]I teach thee; and 11m i ■ i; , i and they
-N 1,1 u M I ii.r. Or speak to the earl II aii'i ii -hill irai;h thee; ana lii^ li-lRS of the sea shall declare uiilu ih^c' .\iul the con- i saying is intended apparentl; following ver - • • in Job. ' Who knoweth not in all these that the hand Lord hath wrought this ? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind ' (v.^f-). In effect we are taught that converse with nature should produce a calm trust in God.
It does not fall within the scope of this article to discuss the wider aspects of our Lord's attitude towards Nature. But the place taken by animals in His teaching bears out the truth of tlie follow- ing words of a recent writer. ' .lesus loved Nature as Nature : here as everywhere He was in touch with the actual. Plenty of people — from ./Esop to Mrs. Gatty — have made or tlrawn parables from Nature, but not like His. His lost sheep have no proverbs : His lilies may be dressed more charm- ingly than Solomon, but they have not Solomon's wisdom : and His sparrows are neither moralists nor theologians, but .sparrows, — two for a farthing, sparrows chirping and flying about and building their nests, — just sparrows ! But the least motion which they made seemed a thrill of pleasure. . . . Sparrows, lilies, lost sheep, hens and chickens, midnight stars and mountain winds, — they all entered into His mind and heart, and spoke to Him of the character of God, of His delight in beauty, and His love' (T. R. Glover).