Luke 12:13-21
This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on July 31, 2016.
The Bible contains around 500 verses on prayer, 200 verses on faith, and about 2000 verses on money. This fact reveals the importance of money in our lives. Jesus had been teaching a crowd of thousands when a man approached him seeking money. Obviously money and the love of money was an issue in Jesus’ day as it is in our day. Jesus had been teaching and warning people about the coming tribulations when this man interrupted him. This man, like so many, was so distracted by money he did not pay attention to Jesus’ teaching. Obviously this man did not want to learn from Jesus, he only wanted Jesus to do something for him. Jesus took advantage of the opportunity to teach the crowd about what it means to be successful in life. This was a topic vital not only to the crowd but also to his own disciples. At first, Jesus basically told the man “Dude, what does this have to do with me?” Then Jesus used the moment to teach on the importance of making the right choices with money. Money can be as big a threat to faith as persecution.
Jesus addressed the issue of greed. The Greek word he used for greed means the desire to have more. He told the story of a rich man plagued with greed. The fact is a person can struggle with greed even if she does not have a lot of money. Jesus defined success by pointing out it is not achieved by one’s possessions. He emphasized this warning by using the phrases “Watch out” and “Be on your guard.” He did this to reveal the underlying danger of giving in to greed. The world measures a person’s worth by his wealth; God views a person’s worth differently. Jesus used this warning as a segue to a parable concerning a rich man. The big question would be if the man would see himself as the main character in the story or not. Jesus told parables not necessarily to make things easier but to invite the person into the story. Jesus did not tell parables just to illustrate a point; he used them to confront people with truth.