Sparrow

Sparrows were the cheapest creatures in the market, sold two for a farthing or five for two farthings — so worthless that the fifth was thrown in for free. They nested even in the temple courts, and the lonely psalmist compared himself to “a sparrow alone upon the house top.”

Jesus seized on their very cheapness to make an unforgettable point about providence: not one sparrow “shall fall on the ground without your Father,” and not one “is forgotten before God.” The least valued life in the marketplace is never outside the Father’s notice.

From that he drew the comfort: “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” If God attends to the fall of a bird worth half a farthing, the anxious disciple — worth far more — can rest in being fully known and cared for.