Matthew 6:28-30

Ver 28. "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

Chrys.: Hom., xxii: Having shewn that it is not right to be anxious about food, He passes to that which is less; (for raiment is not so necessary as food;) and asks, "And why are ye careful wherewith ye shall be clothed?" He uses not here the instance of the birds, when He might have drawn some to the point, as the peacock, or the swan, but brings forward the lilies, saying, "Consider the lilies of the field." He would prove in two things the abundant goodness of God; to wit, the richness of the beauty with which they are clothed, and the mean value of the things so clothed with it.

Aug., Serm. in Mont., ii, 15: The things instanced are not to be allegorized so that we enquire what is denoted by the birds of the air, or the lilies of the field; they are only examples to prove God's care for the greater from His care for the less.

Pseudo-Chrys.: For lilies within a fixed time are formed into branches, clothed in whiteness, and endowed with sweet odour, God conveying by an unseen operation, what the earth had not given to the root. But in all the same perfectness is observed, that they may not be thought to have been formed by chance, but may be known to be ordered by God's providence. When He says, "They toil not," He speaks for the comfort of men; "Neither do they spin," for the women.

Chrys.: He forbids not labour but carefulness, both here and above when He spoke of sowing.

Gloss, non occ.: And for the greater exaltation of God's providence in those things that are beyond human industry, He adds, "I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Jerome: For, in sooth, what regal purple, what silk, what web of divers colours from the loom, may vie with flowers? What work of man has the red blush of the rose? the pure white of the lily? How the Tyrian dye yields to the violet, sight alone and not words can express.

Chrys.: As widely as truth differs from falsehood, so widely so our clothes differ from flowers. If then Solomon, who was more eminent than all other kings, was yet surpassed by flowers, how shall you exceed the beauty of flowers by your garments? And Solomon was exceeded by the flowers not once only, or twice, but throughout his whole reign; and this is that He says, "In all his glory;" for no one day was he arrayed as are the flowers.

Pseudo-Chrys.: Or the meaning may be, that Solomon though he toiled not for his own raiment, yet he gave command for the making of it. But where command is, there is often found both offence of them that minister, and wrath of him that commands. When then any are without these things, then they are arrayed as are the lilies.

Hilary: Or; By the lilies are to be understood the eminences of the heavenly Angels, to whom a surpassing radiance of whiteness is communicated by God. "They toil not, neither do they spin," because the angelic powers received in the very first allotment of their existence such a nature, that as they were made so they should ever continue to be; and when in the resurrection men shall be like unto Angels, He would have them look for a covering of angelic glory by this example of angelic excellence.

Pseudo-Chrys.: If God then thus provides for the flowers of the earth which only spring up, that they may be seen and die, shall He overlook men whom He has created not to be seen for a time, but that they should be for ever?

Jerome: Tomorrow in Scripture is put for time future in general. Jacob says, "So shall my righteousness answer for me tomorrow." [Genesis 30:33] And in the phantasm of Samuel, the Pythoness says to Saul, "Tomorrow shalt thou be with me." [1 Samuel 28:19]

Gloss: Some copies have "into the fire," or, "into an heap," which has the appearance of an oven.

Chrys.: He calls them no more lilies, but "the grass of the field," to shew their small worth; and adds moreover another cause of their small value; "which today is." And He said not, "and tomorrow is not," but what is yet greater fall, "is cast into the oven." In that He says "How much more you," is implicitly conveyed the dignity of the human race, as though He had said, You to whom He has given a soul, for whom He has contrived a body, to whom He has sent Prophets and gave His Only-begotten Son.

Gloss: He says, "of little faith," for that faith is little which is not sure of even the least things.

Hilary: Or, under the signification of grass the Gentiles are pointed to. If then an eternal existence is only therefore granted to the Gentiles, that they may soon be handed over to the judgment fires; how impious it is that the saints should doubt of attaining to eternal glory, when the wicked have eternity bestowed on them for their punishment.

Remig.: Spiritually, by the birds of the air are meant the Saints who are born again in the water of holy Baptism; [ed. note: Vid. the Breviary Hymn, Magnae Deus Potentiae] and by devotion raise themselves above the earth and seek the skies. The Apostles are said to be of more value than these, because they are the heads of the Saints.

By the lilies also may be understood the Saints, who without the toil of legal ceremonies pleased God by faith alone; of whom it is said, "My Beloved, who feedeth among the lilies." [Cant 2:16] Holy Church also is understood by the lilies, because of the whiteness of its faith, and the odour of its good conversation, of which it is said in the same place, "As the lily among the thorns."

By the grass are denoted the unbelievers, of whom it is said, "The grass hath dried up, and the flowers thereof faded." [Isaiah 40:7]

By the oven eternal damnation; so that the sense be, If God bestows temporal goods on the unbelievers, how much more shall He bestow on you eternal goods!