Last edited on 23/Jan/2021
Introduction
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. — Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:29–31, ESV)
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. — Jesus Christ (Luke 12:6–7)
These passages in the Bible are a great comfort to everyone who reads them, because they show us how highly God thinks of and values us as individual human beings, the crown of his creation (Genesis 1:26–27). Jesus starts this teaching by saying how much sparrows (a common species of birds) are worth in the market. Two sparrows are sold for a penny—a very low form of currency—while five are sold for two. This shows us that in the eyes of humans, their worth is not that much.
Humans Are Worth Much to God
But Jesus then proceeds to say that not one of them will fall to the ground apart from God the Father, and that not one of them is forgotten before him. Throughout a common sparrow’s life even till the point of death, God is with them, and he does not forget a single one of them, though there are hundreds of thousands of sparrows in the world. Despite the fact that sparrows are not worth much in the market, they are very precious in God’s eyes.
Jesus moves on to say that even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. This is a metaphor which means that we, as humans, are so precious to God that he knows every single detail about us, even the seemingly minuscule things that we don’t know about ourselves, such as how much hair is on our heads, or any other bodily detail (Psalm 139:13–16). God knows us more than we know ourselves, and he loves us more than we love ourselves.
Jesus concludes this teaching by telling us not to be afraid, and that we are of more value than many sparrows. If God greatly values something as little and powerless as a sparrow by never being apart from them in their whole lives and never forgetting a single one of them, just think of how much more greatly God values us, we who are worth more than many sparrows.
Our Worth Is Seen Most Clearly through Jesus’ Crucifixion
We can clearly see our worth and value to God through the cross of Christ, and the message of Christ crucified, which is the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:17–18; 1 Corinthians 1:22–25; 1 Corinthians 2:1–2). The culmination of God’s love for every person in the world, is that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
We are so precious to God that, although we are sinners (people who do wrong) against him and one another, and don’t deserve his love, Christ, the only sinless person in the world, died for us (Romans 5:6–8). God’s love was made manifest through this action, and it is not because we loved God first, but rather God first loved us (1 John 4:9–10). This paid for our sin ransom, and we can accept this payment by simply believing in Christ (Mark 10:45).
Conclusion
Although our sins have separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2), faith in Christ crucified and risen from the dead reconciles us to God (1 Corinthians 15:14–22; 2 Corinthians 5:17–19), and gives us eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are the one God (1 John 1:1–3; 2 Corinthians 13:14). In order to save us from our deserved punishment of eternal separation from God because of our sins, God bought us back by his own blood in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:17–19), so that through faith, we can have eternal fellowship with him, as this is what he intends for every human. God wants fellowship with us—even eternal fellowship in his kingdom (1 Thessalonians 2:11–12; Revelation 21:1–7). Of how much value must we be to him! Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
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? — Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:26)
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by persmission. All rights reserved.