The very hairs of your head are all numbered
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Matthew 10:26-33
“She knows my name,” says Ted, amazed. “Some of my best friends don’t know my name.” (There’s Something About Mary.)
To be known is an incredible thing. Many a marriage is destroyed when one of the spouses feels unappreciated. As they take up with someone else they will often say, “It’s just that so-and-so really understands me!” We crave face to face in which we know and are known.
Well, ask yourself…
How many people know your nationality?
How many people know your eye colour?
How many people know your birthday?
How many people know your middle name?
How many people know your blood type?
At each stage I’m guessing that the number of people shrinks. But as the numbers decrease, so the level of intimacy grows. Perhaps only one or two people know your blood type. But they’re likely to be very close to you.
What about this question:
How many people know the number of hairs on your head?
Jesus says your Father in heaven does:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)
It would be easy to write this off as a statement about abstract omniscience. As though numbering our hairs was some parlour trick God wheels out to impress the dinner guests. As though the numbering of our hairs merely demonstrates God’s computing powers. But it’s not a display of mere knowledge – there’s nothing mere about knowing in the Biblical sense. This is about His intimate knowledge.
Some people know my middle name, very few know my blood type, but the Father alone numbers the hairs on my head. This is deeply personal knowledge and it shows intense care. What purpose could there be in knowing my hair-count? What good is it to know such trivia about me? And yet the Father knows it about me. He loves me and cares for me down to the smallest detail. He knows me – better than I know myself.
The context of this verse is Matthew 10 where Jesus sends out His disciples to the mission field. Though they are sheep among wolves, yet they go with the Father’s wisdom and with the Father’s love.
Do you ever worry that God’s love for you is vague and impersonal? Perhaps you trust He has a plan for the cosmos but is a little hazy on the details of your own situation. Nonsense. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore!
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