Thank you for the biblical question on Matthew 6:28 why worry about clothes?
As one reads the broader context of Matthew 6:28, Jesus declares that one should be more concern for the eternal things rather than the temporary things on earth.
Matthew 6 says this, “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV).
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration about why a person would worry about “clothing”:
A. During the Old Testament times and into the New Testament, a hired worker was paid daily for his labor. That wage was the source of income to provide for himself or for his family.
The Parable of the Vineyard in Matthew 20 reflects that workers were paid at the end of the day. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard…8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’” (NIV).
B. Many of the workers lived from day to day in hopes of receiving their agreed upon wages.
A poor person with limited income is dependent on that day’s wage to buy food and drink, perhaps even to pay for his shelter. If the landowner was dishonest, he may withhold their wages for a few day or pay him less than what was agreed upon. If the worker didn’t receive his wages for a few day, he would begin to worry whether he is being cheated while seeing his family go hungry. The worker was powerless to force the landowner to give him his wages.
The biblical narrative of Ruth working in Boaz’s field reflects that without her working in the fields, she and Naomi may starve unless extended family and friends would help them. What she picked that day was what they ate that evening. She may have saved some of her harvest while with the others she may have sold it to buy other necessities as oil, vegetables or even meat.
For the very poor, they had limited amount of exchange of clothing while the moderate to the very wealthy, they may be “worrying” or thinking about what they will wear the next day or what articles of clothing they would like to buy. The Parable of the Rich Fool certainly had plenty of food, clothing, and a large estate. His “worry” was planning to enjoy his life.
The text says this, “6 And he (Jesus) told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ (NIV).
For those individuals who lack, they worry about the next meal, paying the next bill, how to keep paying the rent while hoping that nothings goes wrong as being sick or have to pay for unexpected expenses. For those individuals who have much, they are “worrying” or thinking about the next delicious meal, the new cloths that they want to buy or places to visit. Thus the poor and the rich both “worry” about the essentials of life.
I find it interesting that John the Baptist didn’t have the customary clothes of people but a camel’s skin for his clothing and a belt. He ate whatever he found in the dessert as locusts or what people would gave to him. He didn’t worry about tomorrow’s meal or clothing. He was content.
Matthew 6 teaches that the life is more than eat, drink, and be merry with the clothes and places that one will go. Life is more than that. Failure to think about eternal values is viewed as foolishness. Jesus teaches that there is coming Kingdom of God and that one should/ought to invest into that Kingdom. When one dies, s/he will leave it all behind for others.
SUMMARY: The fretting about the tempo things without thinking about eternal things is unwise.
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