MY SHORT REPORT LUKE 12 - JOHN 2
The link that brought you to this page and the page title are a bit of a misnomer, because this short report is not long enough to cover so many chapters of the Bible. What the link and the title do, however, is track where we are in our plan to read through the entire Bible in 1 year. May each report pique your interest and help you to draw near to God. The Bible, James 4:8, tells us if we do so God will draw near to us. Works cited are at the end of the report. Unless otherwise indicated Scripture is from the English Standard Version. Internal links are to Biblegateway and show Scripture, ESV and NKJV, in Parallel. Although not indicated some internal links may show additional verses so you can see the passage in context.
BIBLE READING—WEEK 44—LUKE 12 - JOHN 2: In last week’s paper we viewed Jesus’ special love for some of the most vulnerable members of Jewish society, including the poor, weak, sick, and women. With Luther’s help, we also took a quick look at Mary’s Song, which he praised and viewed to be a product of love. We finished by considering a woman described as a sinner that responded to God’s great love and wept at Jesus’ feet. This week’s Short Report examines The Parable of the Rich Fool.
Being surrounded by His disciples and the crowds much of the time, Jesus spent many hours teaching about the Kingdom of God. With so many short instruction narratives, including The Parable of the Rich Fool, Luke chapter 12 is indicative of that. Jesus tells this parable in response to a man in the crowd that wants Jesus, with His ability to educate and persuade others, to speak on his behalf. A reasonable request that any of us might ask of a family member, close friend, or good neighbor. On the surface, Jesus appears unwilling to help when He says, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”(v. 14). A reasonable response from anyone not wanting to get mixed up in matters that are bound to end badly. However, Jesus is not avoiding the problem but correctly judging the situation when He shifts our focus to the heart of the subject, which He identifies as covetousness (v. 15).
I do want to comment on the way this parable is labeled. With a few variations on the words, most popular versions of the Bible call it “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” He is rich and he is a fool; and God calls the man a fool, but the parable should have been named for the higher lesson it teaches when the translators and editors worked on their specific versions, which the Amplified Bible does when is uses the label “Covetousness Denounced.” The label is not so catchy, but it is to the point.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it (Matthew 5:17). Luther’s Small Catechism (LSC) teaches that the Law of God serves three purposes, first it acts as a curb “to control violent outbursts of sin and keeps order in the world” (1 Timothy 1:9 and Romans 2:14-15). Second, the Law acts as a mirror to show us our sin, Romans 3:20 and 7:7 reinforce this view. The third purpose of the Law is to guide us to live God-pleasing lives. “The power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel.” Bible verses that support this include Psalm 119:9, 105 and 1 John 4:9,11 (p. 94).
By making a reference to this particular form of covetousness Jesus is speaking directly to the Ninth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house” (Exodus 20:17 KJV). LSC explains that this means we should “not scheme to get our neighbors inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it” (p. 87, my emphasis).
Clearly this Commandment was written with this man in mind (indeed, with the whole world in mind). Not only is he a schemer, his plan to enlist the aid of Jesus to give the appearance of propriety is contrary to the definitive teaching of the Ninth Commandment. In summation of this Commandment, LSC says, “God forbids every sinful desire to get our neighbors possessions openly or by trickery” (p. 87).
Keeping the focus on covetousness, as a transitional statement, Jesus introduces His parable by saying, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). As the common label for this story informs us the parable features a rich man. He is rich because he was abundantly blessed by God. For we are not told that this man is rich because he worked his tail off, or as a result of his hard working, loyal servants. Rather, we are told it was his land that produced his wealth. The land has to do with nature and brings to mind nature’s God, who is the Creator and Supplier of all good things (John 1:3; Philippians 4:19; Psalm 23:1).
Many may attribute this wealth to hard work, like clearing the land, adding fertilizer, removing weeds, and the like, but the labor involved gets credit only in part, for the glory belongs to God. This is true 2000 years ago in a world where a team of oxen and an improved stick (for a plow) was the cutting-edge tools of the trade, and today with all of our advanced technology since farmers, ranchers and other industries that depend on the land and nature, and the God of nature, still pray for rain and other needs to keep their farm or ranch productive. That said, I respect the hard work of the people that make their living, with God’s help, from the land. I also recognize hard work is man’s portion because of sin. For God asserts His control over man when He says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
This is equally true no matter who we are or how we make our living, as the Bible teaches in Isaiah 45:9, Does the clay say to the Potter, What are You making? And again in Isaiah 64:8 we are told, He is the Potter and we are the clay, and the work of His hands (cf. Ephesians 2:10).
One opposing point of discussion is with men that rebel against God and are children of the father of lies. Here, Isaiah says, "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…[he] will be put to shame and disgraced” (45:9, 16). But even when we rebel our Creator does not abandon His creation “he [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
In the parable, Jesus tells us, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry”’ (Luke 12:17-19).
This is a second view of covetousness. God provided more than the man needed. So much so that the man required bigger barns just so he could keep for himself all the abundance God had blessed him with, which was his plan. He was not content to fill the warehouses he had and give his surplus to the poor. He was willing to enjoy “his” wealth while others went without. Of course, this is not how we love God with our whole heart or our neighbor as our self, which Jesus commands us to do when He summarizes the Law (Matthew 22:34-40).
The rich man was rich because of God’s hand, and a fool because he did not acknowledge God, nor did he recognize the wealth he received was from God, or use the abundance to advance the Kingdom of God. Instead he said to his soul, “relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Here, too, he ignores God in thinking he controlled his soul. In Ezekiel 18:4 God says, “Behold, all souls are mine.” Everything about this man is centered in the way of the world, not the Kingdom of God. In short, his plan was to store up his treasure for this life, not to store up his treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), for one, by using the part above his usual harvest, which overfilled the barns he had, to help his neighbors, especially the most vulnerable members of society, including the poor, the helpless, the sick, and women.
It is interesting to note, just a few verses away at Luke 12:32-34 Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (my emphasis).
On the one hand we have a man that is hoarding everything he has; on the other hand Jesus tells His followers to sell their belongings and give to the poor. In the People’s Bible Commentary Victor H, Prange tells his readers, “Through the ages, Christians have asked just how literally these words of Jesus are to be understood. … Is this what Jesus wants every Christian to do? Hardly. We need to read these words of Jesus in the context of God’s total revelation. … Disciples of the world need to distance themselves from the attitude of the world that glorifies this earthly life and its possessions” (p. 147).
Walter L. Liefeld, in the NIV Bible Commentary, agrees with Prange’s train of thought, but adds this important principle, “Nevertheless the interpreter must be careful not to blunt Jesus’ strong teaching regarding a life of abandonment and giving (cf. [Luke] 6:27-36; 14:26, 33).”
In the two concluding verses God calls this rich man a fool and we are told this is the way of people that store up treasure for themselves. We have covered this ground, but have not considered what life apart from covetousness consists of, for Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”” (Luke 12:15)
Holiness comes to mind: In Leviticus 20:7 we are told, "You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God." And in 1 Peter 1:14-16 Peter says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The whole duty of man also comes to mind: King Solomon ended the book of Ecclesiastes with these two verses, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecc 12:13-14).
Contentment (a gift from God), however, seems to be the most appropriate way since it is the opposite of greed. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, ”But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”
In closing, this week’s Short Report looked at The Parable of the Rich Fool in light of the Law of God and some teaching from Jesus. While the foolish rich man thought his wealth and all he had belonged to him, everything—including man’s soul—belongs to God, our Creator, and his life and wealth should have been used to further the Kingdom of Heaven.
Being surrounded by His disciples and the crowds much of the time, Jesus spent many hours teaching about the Kingdom of God. With so many short instruction narratives, including The Parable of the Rich Fool, Luke chapter 12 is indicative of that. Jesus tells this parable in response to a man in the crowd that wants Jesus, with His ability to educate and persuade others, to speak on his behalf. A reasonable request that any of us might ask of a family member, close friend, or good neighbor. On the surface, Jesus appears unwilling to help when He says, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”(v. 14). A reasonable response from anyone not wanting to get mixed up in matters that are bound to end badly. However, Jesus is not avoiding the problem but correctly judging the situation when He shifts our focus to the heart of the subject, which He identifies as covetousness (v. 15).
I do want to comment on the way this parable is labeled. With a few variations on the words, most popular versions of the Bible call it “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” He is rich and he is a fool; and God calls the man a fool, but the parable should have been named for the higher lesson it teaches when the translators and editors worked on their specific versions, which the Amplified Bible does when is uses the label “Covetousness Denounced.” The label is not so catchy, but it is to the point.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it (Matthew 5:17). Luther’s Small Catechism (LSC) teaches that the Law of God serves three purposes, first it acts as a curb “to control violent outbursts of sin and keeps order in the world” (1 Timothy 1:9 and Romans 2:14-15). Second, the Law acts as a mirror to show us our sin, Romans 3:20 and 7:7 reinforce this view. The third purpose of the Law is to guide us to live God-pleasing lives. “The power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel.” Bible verses that support this include Psalm 119:9, 105 and 1 John 4:9,11 (p. 94).
By making a reference to this particular form of covetousness Jesus is speaking directly to the Ninth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house” (Exodus 20:17 KJV). LSC explains that this means we should “not scheme to get our neighbors inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it” (p. 87, my emphasis).
Clearly this Commandment was written with this man in mind (indeed, with the whole world in mind). Not only is he a schemer, his plan to enlist the aid of Jesus to give the appearance of propriety is contrary to the definitive teaching of the Ninth Commandment. In summation of this Commandment, LSC says, “God forbids every sinful desire to get our neighbors possessions openly or by trickery” (p. 87).
Keeping the focus on covetousness, as a transitional statement, Jesus introduces His parable by saying, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). As the common label for this story informs us the parable features a rich man. He is rich because he was abundantly blessed by God. For we are not told that this man is rich because he worked his tail off, or as a result of his hard working, loyal servants. Rather, we are told it was his land that produced his wealth. The land has to do with nature and brings to mind nature’s God, who is the Creator and Supplier of all good things (John 1:3; Philippians 4:19; Psalm 23:1).
Many may attribute this wealth to hard work, like clearing the land, adding fertilizer, removing weeds, and the like, but the labor involved gets credit only in part, for the glory belongs to God. This is true 2000 years ago in a world where a team of oxen and an improved stick (for a plow) was the cutting-edge tools of the trade, and today with all of our advanced technology since farmers, ranchers and other industries that depend on the land and nature, and the God of nature, still pray for rain and other needs to keep their farm or ranch productive. That said, I respect the hard work of the people that make their living, with God’s help, from the land. I also recognize hard work is man’s portion because of sin. For God asserts His control over man when He says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
This is equally true no matter who we are or how we make our living, as the Bible teaches in Isaiah 45:9, Does the clay say to the Potter, What are You making? And again in Isaiah 64:8 we are told, He is the Potter and we are the clay, and the work of His hands (cf. Ephesians 2:10).
One opposing point of discussion is with men that rebel against God and are children of the father of lies. Here, Isaiah says, "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…[he] will be put to shame and disgraced” (45:9, 16). But even when we rebel our Creator does not abandon His creation “he [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
In the parable, Jesus tells us, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry”’ (Luke 12:17-19).
This is a second view of covetousness. God provided more than the man needed. So much so that the man required bigger barns just so he could keep for himself all the abundance God had blessed him with, which was his plan. He was not content to fill the warehouses he had and give his surplus to the poor. He was willing to enjoy “his” wealth while others went without. Of course, this is not how we love God with our whole heart or our neighbor as our self, which Jesus commands us to do when He summarizes the Law (Matthew 22:34-40).
The rich man was rich because of God’s hand, and a fool because he did not acknowledge God, nor did he recognize the wealth he received was from God, or use the abundance to advance the Kingdom of God. Instead he said to his soul, “relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Here, too, he ignores God in thinking he controlled his soul. In Ezekiel 18:4 God says, “Behold, all souls are mine.” Everything about this man is centered in the way of the world, not the Kingdom of God. In short, his plan was to store up his treasure for this life, not to store up his treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), for one, by using the part above his usual harvest, which overfilled the barns he had, to help his neighbors, especially the most vulnerable members of society, including the poor, the helpless, the sick, and women.
It is interesting to note, just a few verses away at Luke 12:32-34 Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (my emphasis).
On the one hand we have a man that is hoarding everything he has; on the other hand Jesus tells His followers to sell their belongings and give to the poor. In the People’s Bible Commentary Victor H, Prange tells his readers, “Through the ages, Christians have asked just how literally these words of Jesus are to be understood. … Is this what Jesus wants every Christian to do? Hardly. We need to read these words of Jesus in the context of God’s total revelation. … Disciples of the world need to distance themselves from the attitude of the world that glorifies this earthly life and its possessions” (p. 147).
Walter L. Liefeld, in the NIV Bible Commentary, agrees with Prange’s train of thought, but adds this important principle, “Nevertheless the interpreter must be careful not to blunt Jesus’ strong teaching regarding a life of abandonment and giving (cf. [Luke] 6:27-36; 14:26, 33).”
In the two concluding verses God calls this rich man a fool and we are told this is the way of people that store up treasure for themselves. We have covered this ground, but have not considered what life apart from covetousness consists of, for Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”” (Luke 12:15)
Holiness comes to mind: In Leviticus 20:7 we are told, "You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God." And in 1 Peter 1:14-16 Peter says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The whole duty of man also comes to mind: King Solomon ended the book of Ecclesiastes with these two verses, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecc 12:13-14).
Contentment (a gift from God), however, seems to be the most appropriate way since it is the opposite of greed. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, ”But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”
In closing, this week’s Short Report looked at The Parable of the Rich Fool in light of the Law of God and some teaching from Jesus. While the foolish rich man thought his wealth and all he had belonged to him, everything—including man’s soul—belongs to God, our Creator, and his life and wealth should have been used to further the Kingdom of Heaven.