The Parable of the Rich Fool
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Be a cheerful giver and bless others with what God has given you. Treasure Jesus and not what He has given you.
![Luke 12:13-14
[13] Someone in the crowd said to
him, “Teacher, tell my brother to
divide the inheritance with me.”
[14] But he said to him, “Man, who
made me a judge or arbitrator over
you?”](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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The Parable of the Rich Fool
- 1. The Parable of the Rich Fool Luke 12:13-21
- 2. Luke 12:13-14 [13] Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” [14] But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
- 3. Luke 12:15-16 [15] And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” [16] And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
- 4. Luke 12:17-18 [17] and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ [18] 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.
- 5. Luke 12:19-20 [19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, [20] But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
- 6. Luke 12:21 [21] So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
- 7. REVIEW 1. Do not devote your life to the gathering and accumulation of wealth. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 2. Bless others with your wealth and be rich towards God. The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
- 8. INVITATION “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9- 10
Editor's Notes
- Luke 12:13–15 tell my brother to divide. Because of Jesus’ teaching on covetousness, which immediately follows this request, this man is probably speaking from personal greed. who made me a judge … ? … ? Though Jesus was Lord of the entire universe, he was careful not to become involved in matters that did not directly pertain to his earthly work and ministry, and he expected people to work out such things on their own. life does not consist in … abundance. Cf. 9:24–25; 12:22–34.
- The key to understanding this parable is in v. 15 (and later summarized in v. 21).Luke 12:15 says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus says this to the man who asked him to arbitrate between him and his brother. In ancient times, the firstborn was guaranteed a double portion of the family inheritance. More than likely, the brother who was addressing Jesus was not the firstborn and was asking for an equal share of the inheritance. Jesus refuses to arbitrate their dispute and gets to the heart of the matter: Covetousness! Jesus warns this person, and all within earshot, that our lives are not to be about gathering wealth. Life is so much more than the “abundance of possessions.” He proceeds to tell the man the Parable of the Rich Fool. This person was materially blessed by God; his land “produced plentifully” (v. 16). As God continued to bless the man, instead of using his increase to further the will of God, all he was interested in was managing his increase and accumulating his growing wealth. So the man builds larger barns in place of the existing ones and starts planning an early retirement. Unbeknownst to him, this was his last night on planet earth. Jesus then closes the story by saying, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
- Luke 12:19–21 Fool! Ironically, the man who took such great care to prepare for his own (earthly) needs turns out to be a fool. Instead of fulfilling his moral responsibility to care for the needs of others, he is rebuked for laying up treasure for himself and for not being rich toward God. Though this verse does not prohibit wealth, Jesus clearly warns his hearers concerning the dangerous eternal implications of wealth, with its seductive tendency toward complacency, self-sufficiency, and covetousness. Though the rich fool anticipates years of ease—a time to eat, drink, be merry—instead an eternal destiny apart from God awaits him. As Jesus’ condemning words confirm, “This night your soul is required of you.”
- The danger of riches is constantly emphasized in Luke, for the love of riches chokes out the seed of the gospel and keeps it from becoming fruitful. This danger is so great that Jesus often warns his readers not to set their hearts upon riches and to give generously to the poor. The woes pronounced upon haughty rich people stand in sharp contrast to the blessings pronounced upon the humble poor. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Mark 10:21 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:23 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:26 & Matthew 19:24 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. 1 Timothy 6:10a
- 1. We are not to devote our lives to the gathering and accumulation of wealth. There is an interesting point made in the parable. God says to the man in the story, “and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” This echoes the thought expressed in Ecclesiastes 2:18 (“I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me.”). You see it all the time in people who are singularly devoted to the accumulation of wealth. What happens to all that wealth when they die? It gets left behind to others who didn’t earn it and won’t appreciate it. Furthermore, if money is your master, that means God is not (Matthew 6:24). 2. We are not blessed by God to hoard our wealth to ourselves. We are blessed to be a blessing in the lives of others and we are blessed to build the kingdom of God. The Bible says if our riches increase, we are not to set our hearts upon it (Psalm 62:10). The Bible also says there is one who gives freely and grows all the richer (Proverbs 11:24). Finally the Bible says we are to honor God with the first fruits of our increase (Proverbs 3:9-10). The point is clear, if we honor God with what he has given us, He will bless with more so that we can honor Him with more. There is a passage in Second Corinthians that summarizes this aptly (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). In that passage Paul says, “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” We are blessed by God, so we can in turn “abound in every good work” and be a blessing in the lives of others. So if God has blessed you with material wealth “set not your heart on it” and “be rich toward God.” That is the message of the Parable of the Rich Fool.