Summary
To warn against greed and worry about possessions, JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More tells a parableA parable is a brief story with a setting, an action, and a result. A prominent aspect of Jesus' teaching was telling parables to illustrate something about the kingdom, or reign, of God. More about a rich man who does all he can to store up wealth and security for himself. All of the man’s preparations cannot protect him from an untimely death, however, suggesting that his efforts are futile. The alternative, Jesus says, is to endeavor to be “rich toward God.”
Analysis
This parable comes in response to a request someone brings to Jesus. A man wants him to arbitrate a family dispute about an inheritance. Jesus warns, in response, about being “on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” The parable he tells describes a life of acquisition and self-protection as a wasted life.
The parable is about a solitary man. He appears to have no one else in his world. No family, friends, workers, or neighbors are mentioned. He is rich when the parable begins, but then great success in his agriculture makes him even richer, so much so that he cannot store his bounty without tearing down his barns and building larger ones. There is nothing wrong with producing a bumper crop, and perhaps nothing wrong with storing resources for the future, especially since ancient Galilee was familiar with food shortages. But this man evidently never considers sharing his wealth or doing anything else with it except to ensure him, and him alone, a secure future, as far as he can tell. Even his speech is directed inward toward himself; he talks to his own “soul” as if it is a conversation partner. No one seems to exist in his world except for himself. As far as he can tell, his wealth benefits him and no one else. He presumes to be secure for a long time, for now he has “ample goods laid up for many years.”
The tables turn when “this very night” arrives and God demands his life. The language suggests he must give an account, as if he is facing a divine reckoning. The implication is that his death has come much earlier than he anticipated. Now his wealth can do nothing for him. It cannot guard his soul beyond death. The security he constructed for himself based on material goods was an illusion.
On its own, the parable leaves it unclear what the man should have done instead. Other passages in LukeThe "beloved physician" and companion of Paul. More, however, provide more insight into what it might mean if the man had tried to be “rich toward God.” For example, the passage that follows this one (Luke 12:22-34) urges people to trust God with their future by giving “almsGiving alms is generally regarded as freely giving money or food to those in need. While not discouraging people from giving alms, Jesus cautions against the practice if it is done in a hypocritical manner. More” to those who need resources (see also Luke 18:22). Jesus says that you can tell where someone’s heart is by where they put their money. Money devoted solely for self-preservation, as in the parable, indicates a heart that is not set on God. Wealth’s proper use is to assist others.
