RICH AND DECEIVED LUKE 12:13-21
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Here we meet with someone who wanted something material. Perhaps he felt that the brother had taken too much or may be fellow wanted too much. The other problem is the person is not asking Jesus, but telling him what to do “tell my brother”. Who is man to command God?
Jesus answered the man with a question in verse 14 revealing to the person who he should turn to because Jesus was mainly interested in saving the souls of those brothers and not really material possessions. Judging in favour of one or the other or the other may have meant that the one who does not agree with the judgment would also be disobedient to the teachings of God. Jesus is not as a Judge or arbitrator whose word if not obeyed puts one in jail as can be seen in John 3:17 but the sins themselves bring pain and suffering.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
In verse 15 we are revealed to that covetousness is the cause of this violence or disagreement and a taught that ones true life is not in material possessions. Meaning regardless of one having or not having possessions they can have a good life. This teaching us not to follow possessions that may separate our hearts from God but to seek ye first the kingdom and its righteousness. Was God happy with the disagreement between the brothers over possessions?
In verse 16 Jesus begins a parable and the character in the parable is described as rich meaning he had possessions in plenty, which gave birth to more. In verse17 he asks himself a question which may deceive one to think he did not have any storage room until they get to verse 18 where we find that he had filled his barns and now is living in avarice. Isn’t this what happens today when we become wealthy? We open several prestigious bank accounts in highly ranked banks to store our money? If he had more than he required for life why not start sharing with the less fortunate. The greedy idea is to cover not just our need and greed’s but also those of all our future descendents not knowing that in the process we are losing faith in God because we no longer depend on him. Mentally we have deceived ourselves with the possessions we hold so dear.
In verse 19 we see the height of pride and greed that claims you now do not need anyone or anything and all you should do is eat, drink and be merry. This may be in the form of gluttony, alcoholism and wild parties. Can our possessions prevent us from diseases such as cancer? Can they buy eternal life? Does God love those who have more possessions more because of their possessions? What about the true possessions that come from God such as wisdom (Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding), are they not more important? Christianity is not for the weak minded because one has to be able to think beyond the natural to the supernatural to grasp Gods wisdom. By weak-minded am not referring to just grades in school because we know of people who grow up to be achievers such as a doctors knowing the effects of smoking and still smoke. God pleased when one archives great heights but displeased when you can’t reason wisely due to a weak mindset. This sot of a mindset may also claim there is no God.
In verse 20 we are presented with the question of death. How much of ones current life can they buy with their possessions? How much of ones possessions will one be able to consume in their coffins? Will this possessions not belong to others once one is dead? If inherited by posterity, will they lead them to God or will they be puffed up with pride misleading not just one but also their family? The verse begins with the rich fellow being called a fool. Who is a fool and what has he done according to psalms 14:1
KJV Psalm 14:1 {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Is it not true that possessions can deceive and lead one away from God? From this parable we can see the person who did not have possessions came to find Jesus while searching for them in verse 13. He actually found means to everlasting treasure. The brother who had the possessions probably did not make it there. People came and still come to Jesus with problems that were beyond their or any others ability to solve, such as sickness (leprosy, etc), sin, madness, death etc and Jesus assisted all of these. This brother came to Jesus with a problem that he himself had the ability to solve. He was able to talk to the brother and come to an understanding or get other possessions through working, blessing, prayer, inheritance, etc
What these brother who was in search of possessions needs to realize is that he already has some possession and once he is under Jesus even when he walks through a desert he will not go hungry as God provided to the children of Israel in the desert from captivity so will He provide. He should also realize the breath of God in this life does not strive with us forever. Our bodies in genesis were created from dust and without Gods breath they return to dust. Once the breath of God is gone, what good are material possessions?
In verse 21 we can see that God is not unhappy with man having material possessions as long as long as he is also rich towards God. If life is all about what can be seen how can we explain why one thinks about where they came from, life, death and life after death? One reason why man searches for possessions is because he is searching for God but may have lost His way. Some want Love which can only be found in God (God is Love). Love, Joy, Peace, Happiness, Hope, Future, Wisdom, Understanding, Patience, etc aren’t this things that we all seek and that come from God? So cant someone be blessed with these with or without possessions? Will man approach God with the wealth God created in genesis and try to buy what they do not have with wealth that is not theirs? Doesn’t our craving for the unseen gifts of God prove that we are more than flesh and blood?
Doesn’t our food rot if kept too long?
Don’t our metallic objects like cars rust with time?
Doesn’t our money lose values as currencies depreciate and inflation takes its toll?
Don’t moth eat old clothes in storage? Don’t shares lose value and markets collapse? Don’t we lack jobs to apply our knowledge after years of study?
Don’t thieves threaten to break in and take away our possessions?
Do we not end up having to hire labourers to take care of this possessions that we do not even use?
When Jesus walked the earth how many earthly possessions did He move around with or have? Have you compared His way of life on earth with yours?
Without God don’t we even begin to lose things that we need and are unseen such as sleep, peace of mind, Joy etc?
Doesn’t disease threaten health? Doesn’t death threaten life? Doesn’t divorce threaten marriages?
What do we really have without God?
Isn’t Jesus trying to teach that there is a state we should be in and a certain mind set towards God and possessions? Once we have this, it does not matter how much materialism we possess as per Luke12:21. Was Job not wealthy with 7000 sheep, 3000 camel, 5000 yoke of oxen, 500 she asses, etc? What about Abraham, King David, Solomon, Joseph, did they just live in poverty or did God abundantly bless and fulfil his promises?
In luke12:31-34 Jesus answers these questions once and for all.
31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
See also:
- Jesus Christ
- Believer
- Satan
- 666
- Theism/Atheism
- Death
- Salvation
- GOOD SAMARITAN
- FALSE TEACHERS
- QURAN ERRORs
- Christ Passion
- Scripture
- MARTIN LUTHER INTRODUCTION
- JOSEPH AND JESUS
- DAVINCi CODE
- RFID
- Excluded Verses
- Religion
- St Basil Hymnal
- Christian Wallpaper
- Believes
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