How to cite this article: Joshua N. Tilton, “Like Every Sparrow Falling: The Symbolism of Sparrows in a Saying of Jesus,” Jerusalem Perspective (2025): [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/31282/].
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To embolden his disciples in the face of persecution, Jesus assured his audience that while in the marketplace human beings may sell a group of sparrows for a few coins, not one sparrow falls to the ground without God’s knowledge and consent. Yet the mission of the disciples was of even greater interest to God than the small doings of sparrows. God may be aware of every individual sparrow that falls, but every single hair on the head of each and every disciple was numbered.[1] Since the disciples are of far more importance than sparrows, Jesus’ followers can take heart that whatever befalls, they will never be outside God’s attention or care (Matt. 10:28-31 ∥ Luke 12:4-7).[2] But of all God’s creatures to chose from, why did Jesus choose the sparrow for his admonition? And was it to a sparrow specifically that Jesus referred or just to small birds in general? We will address these questions in reverse order.
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- [1] See Michael Wolter, The Gospel According to Luke (2 vols.; trans. Wayne Coppins and Christoph Heilig; Waco, Tex.: Baylor, 2016-2017), 2:136. ↩
- [2] The differences between the Lukan and Matthean versions of the saying will not detain us here. On the whole, it is the author’s opinion that Matthew’s is the closest to the pre-synoptic version of the saying, with the possible exception of Luke’s “five sparrows for two assarions.” Cf. François Bovon, Luke: Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (3 vols.; trans. Donald S. Deer; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002-2013), 2:181. ↩
