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much more you, O you of little faith. And yet He Himself works all these things; For all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made; but yet He nowhere for the present mentions Himself. For it was sufficient for the present to show His authority, to say at each of the commandments: You have heard that it was said to them of old time; but I say to you. Do not marvel then, when also in the things that follow He hides Himself, or utters something humble about Himself. For He was for the present zealous for one thing, that His word might be made acceptable to them, and to show through all things that He was not some adversary of God, but one who is of one mind and in agreement with the Father. Which indeed He does here also. For having spent so many words, He continually sets Him in the midst, marveling at His wisdom, His providence, His care for all things, both the great and the small. For when He spoke of Jerusalem, He called it the city of the great King; and when He mentioned heaven, He again named it the throne of God; and when He spoke about the economy of the world, He again ascribed the whole to Him, saying that: He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. And in the prayer too He taught to say that, His is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. And here, speaking of His providence, and showing how He is a master craftsman even in small things, He says that He clothes the grass of the field. And nowhere does He call Him His own Father, but theirs, so that He might win them by the honor, and that when He does say He is His Father, they might no longer be indignant. But if one must not be anxious for bare necessities, of what forgiveness would they be worthy who are anxious for luxuries? or rather, of what forgiveness would they be worthy who do not even sleep, in order to take what belongs to others? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For all these things the Gentiles of the world seek. Do you see how again He also put them to greater shame, and indicated that He commanded nothing burdensome, nor grievous? Just as therefore when He said, If you love those who love you, you do nothing great; for even the Gentiles do the same; from the memory of the Gentiles He roused them to what is 57.302 greater; so also now He brings them into the midst, rebuking and showing that He requires a necessary debt from us. For if it is necessary to show forth more than the scribes and Pharisees, of what would we be worthy who not only do not surpass them, but even remain in the lowliness of the Gentiles, and emulate their small-mindedness? Yet He did not stop with the rebuke, but after rebuking from this point and rousing them, and putting them to shame with all hyperbole, He also exhorts them from another angle, saying: For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. He did not say, God knows, but, the Father knows, so as to lead them to a greater hope. For if He is a father, and such a father, He will not be able to overlook His sons being in the utmost evils; seeing that not even men, being fathers, endure this. And after this He again brings forward another argument. What sort of argument is this? That you have need of them. And what He says is something like this. For are these things superfluous, that He should despise them? And yet He did not despise even superfluous things, in the case of the grass; but now they are also necessary. So that which you think is a cause for your anxiety, this I say is sufficient to lead you away from this anxiety. For if you should say, "Because of this I must be anxious, since they are necessary," I say the opposite, that for this very reason you should not be anxious, because they are necessary. For if they were superfluous, not even so should one despair, but one ought to be confident about the supply of them; but since they are necessary, one must no longer doubt. For what father is there, who endures not providing even the necessary things to his children? So for this reason also God will certainly provide. For He Himself is the Creator of nature, and He Himself knows its need with exactness. For you could not say this either, that He is indeed a Father, and the things sought are necessary, but He is ignorant that we are in need of them. For He who knows nature itself, and is its Creator

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πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς, ὀλιγόπιστοι. Καίτοιγε ταῦτα πάντα αὐτὸς ἐργάζεται· Πάντα γὰρ δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδαμοῦ ἑαυτοῦ μέμνηται τέως. Ἤρκει γὰρ εἰς τὸ δεῖξαι τὴν αὐθεντίαν τέως, τὸ λέγειν καθ' ἑκάστην τῶν ἐντολῶν· Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐῤῥέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις· ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν. Μὴ τοίνυν θαυμάσῃς, ὅταν καὶ ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα κρύπτῃ ἑαυτὸν, ἢ ταπεινόν τι περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φθέγγηται. Ἓν γὰρ ἐσπούδαζε τέως, εὐπαράδεκτον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι τὸν λόγον, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἀποδεῖξαι οὐκ ἀντίθεόν τινα ὄντα, ἀλλ' ὁμονοοῦντα καὶ συμβαίνοντα τῷ Πατρί. Ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖ. Τοσούτους γὰρ ἀναλώσας λόγους συνεχῶς αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τίθησι, τὴν σοφίαν αὐτοῦ θαυμάζων, τὴν πρόνοιαν, τὴν κηδεμονίαν τὴν διὰ πάντων, καὶ τῶν μεγάλων καὶ τῶν μικρῶν. Καὶ γὰρ ὅτε περὶ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔλεγε, τὴν πόλιν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως αὐτὴν ἐκάλεσε· καὶ ὅτε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐμνημόνευσε, θρόνον πάλιν ὠνόμασε τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ὅτε περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν κόσμον οἰκονομίας διελέγετο, αὐτῷ πάλιν τὸ πᾶν ἀνατίθησι λέγων ὅτι· Τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς, καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους. Καὶ ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ δὲ ἐδίδασκε λέγειν ὅτι, Αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία, καὶ ἡ δύναμις, καὶ ἡ δόξα. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα περὶ τῆς προνοίας αὐτοῦ διαλεγόμενος, καὶ δεικνὺς πῶς καὶ ἐν τοῖς μικροῖς ἀριστοτέχνης ἐστὶ, φησὶν ὅτι Τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἀμφιέννυσι. Καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα καλεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐκείνων, ἵνα καὶ τῇ τιμῇ καθάψηται, καὶ ὅταν αὐτοῦ λέγῃ Πατέρα, μηκέτι ἀγανακτῶσιν. Εἰ δὲ ὑπὲρ ψιλῶν καὶ ἀναγκαίων οὐ δεῖ μεριμνᾷν, τίνος ἂν εἶεν ἄξιοι συγγνώμης οἱ ὑπὲρ τῶν πολυτελῶν μεριμνῶντες; μᾶλλον δὲ τίνος ἂν εἶεν συγγνώμης ἄξιοι οἱ μηδὲ καθεύδοντες, ἵνα τὰ τῶν ἄλλων λάβωσι; Μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε λέγοντες· Τί φάγωμεν, ἢ τί πίωμεν, ἢ τί περιβαλώμεθα; Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ κόσμου ἐπιζητεῖ. Εἶδες πῶς πάλιν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐνέτρεψε μειζόνως, καὶ παρεδήλωσεν ὅτι οὐδὲν φορτικὸν, οὐδὲ ἐπαχθὲς ἐπέταξεν; Ὥσπερ οὖν ὅτε ἔλεγεν· Ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, οὐδὲν μέγα ποιεῖτε· καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἐθνικοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν· ἀπὸ τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἐθνικῶν αὐτοὺς διήγειρε πρὸς τὸ 57.302 μεῖζον· οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἐκείνους εἰς μέσον ἄγει, καθαπτόμενος καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι ἀναγκαῖον ἀπαιτεῖ παρ' ἡμῶν ὀφείλημα. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων πλέον ἐπιδείξασθαι χρὴ, τίνος ἂν εἴημεν ἄξιοι οἱ μὴ μόνον ἐκείνους μὴ ὑπερβαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν ἐθνικῶν εὐτελείᾳ μένοντες, καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν μικροψυχίαν ζηλοῦντες; Οὐ μὴν μέχρι τῆς ἐπιπλήξεως ἔστη, ἀλλὰ καθαψάμενος ἐντεῦθεν καὶ διεγείρας αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐντρέψας μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἁπάσης, καὶ ἑτέρωθεν παρακαλεῖ λέγων· Οἶδε γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος, ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἁπάντων. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Οἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ', Οἶδεν ὁ Πατὴρ, ὥστε αὐτοὺς εἰς μείζονα ἐλπίδα ἀγαγεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ πατήρ ἐστι, καὶ πατὴρ τοιοῦτος, οὐ δυνήσεται περιϊδεῖν τοὺς υἱοὺς ἐν ἐσχάτοις ὄντας κακοῖς· ὅπου γε οὐδὲ ἄνθρωποι πατέρες ὄντες τοῦτο ὑπομένουσι. Καὶ ἕτερον δὲ μετὰ τούτου πάλιν ἐπάγει λογισμόν. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτον; Ὅτι χρῄζετε αὐτῶν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει,τοιοῦτόν ἐστι. Μὴ γὰρ περιττά ἐστι ταῦτα, ἵνα καταφρονήσῃ; Καίτοιγε οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς περισσοῖς κατεφρόνησεν, ἐπὶ τοῦ χόρτου· νυνὶ δὲ καὶ ἀναγκαῖά ἐστιν. Ὥστε ὃ νομίζεις αἴτιον εἶναί σοι τῆς φροντίδος, τοῦτο ἱκανὸν εἶναί φημι τῆς φροντίδος σε ταύτης ἀπαγαγεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ λέγοις, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτό με χρὴ μεριμνᾷν, ἐπειδὴ ἀναγκαῖά ἐστι, τοὐναντίον ἐγώ φημι, ὅτι δι' αὐτὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο μὴ μεριμνήσῃς, ἐπειδὴ ἀναγκαῖά ἐστιν. Εἰ γὰρ περιττὰ ἦν, οὐδ' οὕτως ἀπογινώσκειν, ἀλλὰ θαῤῥεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτῶν χορηγίας ἐχρῆν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀναγκαῖά ἐστιν, οὐκέτι ἀμφιβάλλειν δεῖ. Ποῖος γάρ ἐστι πατὴρ, ὃς ὑπομένει μηδὲ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα παρασχεῖν τοῖς παισίν; Ὥστε καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντως παρέξει ὁ Θεός. Καὶ γὰρ δημιουργὸς τῆς φύσεως αὐτός ἐστι, καὶ τὴν χρείαν αὐτῆς μετὰ ἀκριβείας αὐτὸς ἐπίσταται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Πατὴρ μέν ἐστι, καὶ ἀναγκαῖά ἐστι τὰ ζητούμενα, ἀγνοεῖ δὲ ὅτι ἐν χρείᾳ αὐτῶν καθεστήκαμεν. Ὁ γὰρ τὴν φύσιν αὐτὴν εἰδὼς, καὶ δημιουργὸς αὐτῆς