creation; He never had to argue with people who
denied the power or righteousness of God. ¹ The
stress of His teaching falls on the practical issues of
belief in God as the Father of men.

(a) The first of these is that the Father cares for
their interests. Thus, in the very act of insist-
ing that His disciples must subordinate every other
consideration to the interests of the divine kingdom,
Jesus assures them that God the Father is not in-
different to such matters as their food and clothing.
Your Father knows that you need these; only seek
his kingdom and they shall be added to you. ² The
very dangers and deaths which may be encountered
in the Christian mission lie within His fatherly
providence: --

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
Yet not one of them drops to the ground without your
Father.

Fear not, then: you are of far more value than
sparrows. ³

This is a belief which dominates the central concep-
tion of God's relation to men, in the theology of the
gospels. But it neither absolves men from legitimate
activity in the matter of providing for themselves,
nor from prudence in safeguarding life against
normal dangers. By His actions as well as by His
teaching, Jesus shows that this unswerving trust
in God as the Father implies a use of ordinary

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