Why Does Jesus Tell Us Not to Be Anxious

Matthew 6:25–30 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Series:

The Heavenly Father that cares part 1

Purpose:

To show why Jesus commands His disciples not to worry and how the Father’s care makes obedience possible.

Introduction:

What is anxiety? According to American Psychological Association “APA”

Anxiety is a state of apprehension, worry, or uneasiness about future events or uncertain outcomes, often accompanied by physical and psychological symptoms.

Anxiety is one of the most universal experiences of human life. It doesn’t matter your age, your income, your background, or your personality — every one of us knows what it feels like for worry to tighten its grip on the heart. Some of us worry about our health. Some worry about our children. Some worry about bills, jobs, relationships, or the future. And even when we try to hide it, anxiety has a way of showing up in our sleep, our thoughts, our decisions, and our prayers.

But here’s the truth: anxiety is not new. Long before modern psychology gave it a name, Jesus addressed it directly. In Matthew 6, He speaks to disciples living under Roman oppression, economic uncertainty, and daily survival. Their worries were real. Their fears were understandable. Their needs were pressing.

And yet Jesus looks at His disciples — then and now — and says something astonishing: “Do not worry about your life.”

Not because life is easy. Not because problems disappear. Not because faith makes us numb. But because the King of the kingdom knows what we need, cares for His children, and commands us into a better way of living.

In this passage, Jesus doesn’t ignore anxiety — He confronts it. He doesn’t shame anxious people — He shepherds them. He doesn’t offer clichés — He offers truth. And He gives us a path to live free from the fear that tries to dominate our hearts.

Proposition:

So, in this preaching moment, Jesus gives us four ways to confront our anxieties as His disciples. First, we see the command of Jesus in vv. 25–29. Second, we examine the correction of Jesus in v. 30. Third, we explore the confirmation of Jesus in vv. 31–32. And finally, we consider the confidence of Jesus in vv. 33–34.

Let’s begin with the command of Jesus in vv. 25–29.”

Prior context

As we look at this verse, we have to give context to this impactful sermon that Jesus gave to his disciples. This sermon begins in Matthew 5:1 so much was said. As quick recap in Matthew 5 we can see…

- Beatitudes in v.2-12

- We are called to be Salt and light

- How Christ came to fulfill the Law

- How to deal with anger

- The effects of Lust

- The true meaning of divorce

- The meaning of oaths

- The results of retaliation

- The command to love your enemies

- Giving to the needy

- The Disciple’s prayer

- The proper way of fasting

- The true meaning of laying treasures in Heaven.

My beloved we have been on a journey in the book of Matthew, and our Lord is giving us vital information on how to live for His glory. Now in Matthew’s gospel, we see so much about our Lord’s teaching, and we can see a transition on what our Lord can expect for His followers of old and even now may experiencing living these commands.

As we examine the command of Jesus in verse 25. We see important word “Therefore”. Now grammatically in the original language this word has importance and we can’t just read over this. This word is stated for what was said before about in verse 24 “ No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

I. The command of Jesus v.25-29

A. What did Jesus tell them to not be anxious about? Life

a. Now in this text we see the word anxious. A great observation question to ask of this text ‘What does this word mean in this context?’

Not our rendering.

This word is action word meaning to …

Be Anxious

Care for

Worry

Be troubled with cares

Be distracted

A part as opposed to the whole:

Properly, drawn in opposite directions; divided into parts. As we look at this word we can definitely relate how anxious/anxiety we are as people with different aspects of our life.

This word has so many layers. Now, my beloved we can see and interpret that our Lord was said was the state of life for what you need to survive. Now we that our Lord was not suggesting or inviting us as His followers to treat anxious as a pet or to cope with being anxious.

He says boldly and honestly “do not be anxious.”

Now my beloved this is a hard and sharp command that we can’t treat lightly. Now here these sobering commands from Apostle Paul in...

Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Peter also gives us encouraging words on our cares in this life in...

1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

B. What did Jesus tell his disciples not to be anxious about?

Matthew 6:25 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

- What you will eat

- What you will drink

- About your body

- What will you put on?

C. What is more important than food, and body more than clothing? Life

As you look at verse 25 you see the word “life”. We will examine this word life it is noun that has meaning of...

Soul

Life

Self

Inner being

In this context my beloved we can make a conclusion on this is not talking about eternal life, or your soul. We can see our Lord is referring to the condition of living in a physical. As we transition to

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

D. What did Jesus tell the disciples to look at in verse 26? The birds

We can see Jesus teaching an object lesson on what He want His disciples to look at intently.

Who feeds the birds in this verse 26? “Heavenly Father”

Can we all say that birds are free from anxiety. We can see birds live without any care of the world. They birds have...

Shelter

Food

Protection

E. Who is more valuable than the birds? Disciples

My beloved as human beings do you know we are the crown of creation! We are image bearers of a living God...

Turn your bibles to...

Genesis 1:27–28 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Matthew 10:31 “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

F. What can you not add a single hour to in v.27? Your span of life

Matthew 6:27 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

“Span” means One cubit - The cubit was originally the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The cubit of the Scriptures is not far from 22 inches. Terms of "length" are often applied to life.

My brothers and sisters in life us worry and trying to fixing our own problems in your finite mind will not add anything to our life.

Hear what the scriptures proclaims in...

Psalm 39:4–5 O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!

Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

James 4:14 “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

My beloved stay with me a great observation question we can glean from this text in 28?

G. What did Jesus tell us not to be anxious about in verse 28? Clothing

Matthew 6:28

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,