What does Matthew 6:29 mean?

This continues a thought begun in the previous verse (Matthew 6:28). Jesus asked His followers why they would worry about clothing. He's not talking about trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends, though that does apply, in a sense. Nor is He suggesting that clothes aren't important. So far as His immediate audience was concerned, many legitimately did not know where they would get their next set of clothes.

Jesus, though, has been showing that worry accomplishes nothing (Matthew 6:27). Those who serve God can trust Him to provide; excessive fear over material things is a form of serving money, not the Lord. Christ points to the lilies of the field as an example (Matthew 6:28). They literally don't do anything to provide for themselves, Jesus says. They don't work. They don't spin cloth to make clothes. Now He finishes the thought by saying they are arrayed in a beauty that is greater even than King Solomon.

Jesus' Jewish listeners would have known well the stories of Solomon's great and extravagant wealth from Israel's glory days (2 Chronicles 9:3–4). Not only was Solomon clothed in the best finery in the world, his kingdom flowed with gold and silver. He lived in great luxury. Still, Jesus insists, the splendor of the lilies' beauty surpasses even Solomon's, though they do nothing to put it on.

Jesus brings the point home in the following verse: God can and will provide what is "needed." That might not always be what we "want" (Matthew 5:3–12), but it is enough for us to accomplish His will.