The Parable Of The Rich Fool
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL
LUKE 12:13-24
An interruption comes from the crowd. Jesus didn’t take sides but his warning is deadly serious.
The stern rebuke to the man who brought his problem of injustice to Christ must be looked at within its context. There is no reason why such difficulties should not be brought reverently to Christ, along with all our problems of conduct, suffering and perplexity. It seems apparent however, from the drift of a highly condensed narrative, that the man interrupted a serious discourse on dependence upon God with an untimely intrusion. Deaf to the immortal words which he might have heard to his eternal profit, the fellow blundered tactlessly forward with his financial problem. All he could think about in the presence of Christ was money. Hence the rebuke.
And hence the parable about the fool who could not see past material things. In other respects there is nothing to indicate that he was a bad man. He was a successful farmer. Palestine generally is not good agricultural country, save on the coastal plain. The chocolate-brown soil of the valley bottoms is fertile enough, but the boulder-strewn hillsides are hungry and difficult to farm. The Parable of the Sower gives a fair picture of the land. But the man in the story, no doubt both by good fortune and good management, had built up high prosperity. He was rich.
Unlike some rich people, he also saw that riches were meant for use and enjoyment. He knew when to retire. There is nothing to show that anyone grudged him this pleasure. He had paid his laborers. He owed no man anything. His wealth was fairly won. But his fault is apparent. In a land marred by poverty, inequality and suffering, he had no thought of stewardship. It was “my barns,” “my fruits,” “my goods.” No other was to share. Lazarus might lie at the gate with the sores of malnutrition tormenting his body, but there is no relief from the comfortable and insensitive farmer. He has no mercy.
He has no thought, in fact, but for himself. And life for him is “eat, drink and be happy.” (This is the meaning of the word: eg “God rest you merry,” which of course means: “God keep you happy.”) Happiness was a state confined to self, and limited to eating and drinking. His error was threefold:
Here is the very essence of materialism.
Notes 12:13: “inheritance”—Deuteronomy 21:15-17. 12:14: “divider”—“arbitrator.”