And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
All Commentaries on Matthew 6:29 Go To Matthew 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
But if Solomon was surpassed by their beauty, and that not once nor twice, but throughout all his reign:— for neither can one say, that at one time He was clothed with such apparel, but after that He was so no more; rather not so much as on one day did He array Himself so beautifully: for this Christ declared by saying, in all his reign: and if it was not that He was surpassed by this flower, but vied with that, but He gave place to all alike (wherefore He also said, as one of these: for such as between the truth and the counterfeit, so great is the interval between those robes and these flowers):— if then he acknowledged his inferiority, who was more glorious than all kings that ever were: when will you be able to surpass, or rather to approach even faintly to such perfection of form?
After this He instructs us, not to aim at all at such ornament. See at least the end thereof; after its triumph it is cast into the oven: and if of things mean, and worthless, and of no great use, God has displayed so great care, how shall He give up you, of all living creatures the most important?
Wherefore then did He make them so beautiful? That He might display His own wisdom and the excellency of His power; that from everything we might learn His glory. For not the Heavens only declare the glory of God, but the earth too; and this David declared when he said, Praise the Lord, you fruitful trees, and all cedars. For some by their fruits, some by their greatness, some by their beauty, send up praise to Him who made them: this too being a sign of great excellency of wisdom, when even upon things that are very vile (and what can be viler than that which today is, and tomorrow is not?) He pours out such great beauty. If then to the grass He has given that which it needs not (for what does the beauty thereof help to the feeding of the fire?) how shall He not give unto you that which you need? If that which is the vilest of all things, He has lavishly adorned, and that as doing it not for need, but for munificence, how much more will He honor you, the most honorable of all things, in matters which are of necessity.
