Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious,” three times in this passage. Quick question that comes up: how does anybody have the audacity to command us to not be anxious? Nobody gets up in the morning and says, “I’m going to really be anxious today. I can’t wait.” It’s not a very voluntary thing.
So why would Jesus command us? If we look carefully, we’ll see that he’s not commanding us in a drill sergeant way. Instead, he gets underneath and he explains and he reasons with us. There’s a sense in which he does surgery. He’s saying, “If you let me do my surgery in you, if you listen to my instructions, I can get anxiety out of you. I can deal with your anxiety.”
Let’s look at what Jesus shows us about 1) what is anxiety? 2) where does it come from? and 3) what do we do about it?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1990. Series: The Lord’s Prayer 1990. Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34.
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Released on 5 Jan 2026