The Marketplace of Sparrows [10-19-25]

October 19, 2025

Luke 12:1-12

“The Marketplace of Sparrows”

Last week, we spent a lot of time in hell. Today, we’re moving on up. We are moving up and out of hell.

Here’s where we ended last week. This will be our bridge up and out of hell:

While the Bible is quite clear about the consequences of sin, it overflows with clarity about the way out. Grace and mercy flow in abundance from the cross. Our “hellish” journey through these first verses of Luke 12 have clarified and opened wide the gift of God’s love. You say, “Since hell is real, what is the way out?” Jesus makes that way out very clear. And John adds to it in 1 John 4:4:

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

What a wonderful affirmation that is. The good news is that the bad news is old news. Amen?

Jesus uses a word understood by most people to describe people who are far away from God. Hypocrite. Religious people are hypocrites. They’re all about the show. They know the rituals, customs, and routines, and they love to let you know that they know the rituals, customs, and routines. For religious people, it’s more about what they do than what has been done for them. They strive for a position where they can look down on the less religious among us. Hypocrites.

As we’ve already seen, Jesus makes the way out of hypocrisy clear.

The first, again, as we saw last week, is to have a healthy and sincere fear of God. As Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

The second way Jesus draws us out of hypocrisy is through the affirmation that nothing escapes God’s knowledge.

Here’s Luke 12:6-7:

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Jesus is here reminding us about God’s omniscience. God knows everything about you. He knows everything that happens to you. God knows everything about your life. Nothing is hidden. God knows everything.

Here’s the thing about sparrows. What do we mean when we say something is a dime a dozen? Cheap…not valuable…readily available. That was sparrows. People would catch them in nets, pluck them, skin them, roast them, and eat them. They were like tiny hors d’oeuvres. You could buy them five for two pennies. For perspective, a penny was one-sixteenth a day’s wage, which was a denarii. But here’s how cheap they were. According to Matthew’s gospel, sparrows were two for a penny. But, just like sales today, for two pennies they’d throw in an extra sparrow. Hence, five for two pennies. Sparrows were cheap. Nobody really cared about the life or welfare of sparrows. All people cared about was how good they tasted.

But God cares about them. God knows them. God remembers them. As Jesus says in Matthew 10:29:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

In other words, God knows them, loves them, and is aware of every single thing that happens to every single one of them.

So, here’s where Jesus is leading us. If God does not dismiss from His mind the little sparrows sold in the market, then God will not ignore what happens to disciples who remain loyal to Jesus. Amen? It takes us back two chapters to where Jesus says your name is inscribed in heaven. Because you are not forgotten by God, then whatever hardship or challenge or hurt you experience in life, God provides a way through, up, or out. You are not alone. We are never alone. The point here is not that God will specifically or always rescue you from danger. Jesus is telling his 

disciples…therefore, he’s telling us…that we have nothing to fear. We receive courage from the One who is mindful of every last sparrow.

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Even when life looks or feels like that, all is well. All is well.

Do you hear what Jesus is saying? You can put all your hope and trust in God because He knows everything. Absolutely, positively, everything. So be of good cheer. That’s what Jesus says in Matthew 9 and 14. “Be of good cheer.” Two distinctly different situations - the same encouragement. When trouble comes, God will protect you. When judgment comes, God will protect you:

• 1 Samuel 14:45 - Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.”

• Acts 27:34 – “Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it 

will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”

What are you hearing? Beyond what you experience or go through in life now, when the judgment comes, Jesus will protect you. God knows the minutest, most inconsequential details of your life. So don’t go fearing judgment. Why? Because, knowing everything about you, God sent Jesus to die for you. Therefore {and it’s something you might want to write down}:

DON’T FEAR…BECAUSE GOD HAS YOUR NAME WRITTEN DOWN IN HIS BOOK.

That is such an essential affirmation. There’s nothing to overthink. Why have no fear? Because you are counted as precious in God’s sight. It’s such a simple truth. If God values every single sparrow, what do you think He thinks about you? Do you remember that song you learned as a child?

Jesus loves the little childrenAll the children of the worldRed and yellow, black and whiteThey are precious in His sightJesus loves the little children of the world

Jesus died for all the childrenAll the children of the worldRed and yellow, black and whiteThey are precious in His sightJesus died for all the children of the world

Jesus loves the little childrenAll the children of the worldRed and yellow, black and whiteThey are precious in His sightJesus loves the little children of the world

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Simple and True. Simple and True. Like these middle verses of chapter twelve. Here’s something else you might want to write down or remember:

GOD IS ONLY KNOWN THROUGH CHRIST AND GOD IS ONLY HONORED WHEN CHRIST IS HONORED.

Which leads us to the next section of Luke 12:

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

• Luke 12:8-12

The last thing we’re going to look at is the most misunderstood yet most important part of these verses. What does Jesus mean by the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven?

Our first stop is, “Who can be forgiven for their sin and how?” Easy answers, right? Anyone can be forgiven. There is no sin so great that it 

cannot be forgiven:

• Mark 3:28 - “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.”

• Matthew 12:31 –  “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people.”

• Luke 5:32 – “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

And for good measure, here’s the Apostle Paul:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.”

• Ephesians 1:3-10

To get at what Jesus means by an unforgiveable sin, we first need to look at the word “hyperbole.” It’s from a compound Greek word that means “to throw something in excess.” Hyper=in excess; ballein=to throw. So “hyperbole” refers to any exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally. You find it everywhere. We use it all the time. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” immediately comes to mind. The Bible is full of hyperbole. Jesus used it. “You are not fit to follow me unless you hate your father and your mother…and your own life.” That’s hyperbole.

To say a certain sin is unforgiveable makes the hyperbolic point of the seriousness of the sin of denying the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I hope that makes sense to you.

Here’s what Jesus is saying. It’s clear, succinct, and to the point. It is blasphemy to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That’s all that’s to it. 

As simple as that. If you think you can get to heaven anyway other than by faith in Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross, then you are woefully mistaken. In the end:

IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO GIVES US UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD OF GOD. AND IT IS THE WORD OF GOD WHICH REVEALS THE SON TO US. AND IT IS THE PREACHING AND IT IS THE HEARING AND IT IS THE READING OF THE WORD OF GOD WHICH DRAWS US TO JESUS CHRIST.

Therefore, that is why we are of more value than the sparrows. Because of Jesus. To put it in the negative, rejecting Jesus Christ is the only way to stay out of heaven.

Let’s join our voices is this simple prayer of supplication:

HEAVENLY FATHER, LEAD EVERY HEART TO THE TRUTH OF JESUS CHRIST. LEAD EVERY HEART TO THE DESIRE OF SELF-DENIAL. LEAD EVERY HEART TO THE CONFESSION OF JESUS AS LORD. WE PRAY IN HIS HOLY AND RISEN NAME. AMEN.