Ron Korzeniowski: Now, About The Sparrows (Mt. 10:29; Lu. 12:6) (Part 2)

1. THE PRICE FOR THE SPARROWS

EXPLANATION

Sparrows – any small birds, found in abundance, that were used for sacrifice or food.
Assarion / assaria (pl.) – 1/16 denarius (1 denarius = a day's wage for a laborer). What is an assarion worth today? Take your annual gross pay, not including benefits, and divide it by 4,000.¹If you make $16,640 per year ($8/hr., 40 hrs./wk., 52 wks./yr.), then one assarion is worth $4.11.
Deal

Matthew > Two sparrows – one assarion. If that is true, then you should be able to get four sparrows for two assaria.
Luke > five sparrows – two assaria. The small birds were so numerous, so invasive and so easily attainable that they were cheap. Two assaria could buy four sparrows, but a fifth sparrow was thrown into the mix for free.

ILLUSTRATION

Estate auction. People come to an estate auction to bid on expensive items. Cheap items are either donated or are not auctioned. In the event the auctioneer takes a chance and attempts to auction a cheap item, usually it doesn't sell. The item fails to bring in even a low bid. When no one bites on a low starting bid, that is the ultimate statement of worthlessness.

APPLICATION

Many people today struggle with a sense of worth. They ask questions similar to the following:

Do I matter?
If I dropped dead right now, would anyone care?
Would anyone, other than my pastor, even attend the funeral?
With over 7 billion people on planet Earth, am I reduced only to a Social Security number and a digital SKU code?
If I matter to God, let alone anyone else, and I truly am worth something, why do I struggle to agree? There is so much “stuff” that keeps happening to me! I must be a disappointment to God, since I am in weeds this deep.

Ron Korzeniowski