PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL (LUKE 12:13-23)

Years ago a friend of mine at work explained his lack of interest in God with his theory of life. He said that a man goes through three stages of life: in his 20's he is preoccupied with sex, in his 30's and 40's his major interest is sports, and he turns to religion when he reaches about 50. Assuming that is true, what happens to him if he dies before he reaches 50? The necessity of being prepared spiritually at all times is therefore stressed in several "Watchfulness" parables of Jesus. The first to consider is that of the rich fool.

Context

 Most of Luke 12 deals with issues of fear, anxiety, money and security and is held together by repetition of the same or similar words: fear (4,5,7,32), worry (11,22,25,26), divide / division (13-14; 51-53); soul (19,20,22,23); possessions (15,33,44); five (6,52); thief (33,39); and barns (18,24).

Verse-by-verse

Hardly anyone treats this straightforward parable as an allegory so it is best to just go through it verse by verse.

verse13: Someone in the crowd interrupts Jesus' spiritual teachings with a purely worldly matter so Jesus takes it as an opportunity to address the root problem of greed.

verse 14: “Man” (not "friend" as in NRSV) in this context is a severe form of address” (Plummer)

Craddock perceptively asks, “Who can judge whose greed is right?”

verse 15b: Jesus will explain what he means at the conclusion of the parable.

verse 16: Similar stories are found in the Apocrypha with significant differences: In Sirach 11:18-19 the wealth is obtained by hard work, and in I Enoch 97:8-10 the man becomes rich through cheating others. This parable differs from both those situations. The farmer is not evil in the sense of cheating or stealing, but that doesn't keep him from being a fool. In contrast to the account in Sirach, notice that the field prospered as a hint that God, not the man, was responsible. (Snodgrass) And in contrast to the second story, “His life was not characterized by sins of commission, but by sins of omission.” (Kistemaker)

verse 17: Saint Ambrose: “The rich man has storage plenty in the mouths of the needy.” Ambrose himself was a wealthy man who was drafted by the crowd to be a bishop. At that point, he gave all his wealth to the church and to the poor. (Snodgrass)

verse 18 “Other goods” expands the application to those besides farmers. (Fitzmyer)

verses 18-19: He felt that building bigger barns was all he needed to make himself perfectly content, but experience shows that there are never enough goods to accomplish that. One will always be wanting more. Look at the repeated words “I” and “my.”

verse 19: There are a lot of parallels with the book of Ecclesiastes here. This same trilogy “eat, drink and be merry” or a variation appears in four times in Ecclesiastes (as well as in Judges 19:4-9; Isaiah 22:13; and I Corinthians 15:32). In Ecclesiastes 1:16 and 2:1-3, a person has a conversation with his heart or soul. And in Ecclesiastes 5:10 it states: “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth with gain.”

verse 20: Snodgrass points out that this is the only parable in which God is an active participant.

It literally reads, “This night they require your soul from you.” “They” probably is an indirect way of referring to God (see 6:38 which reads, “ give and it will be given you...they will put a good measure into your lap” ) although others think it refers to angels of death, robbers, mistreated neighbors or the possessions themselves. That last explanation may seem strange but consider James 5:1-3 where the rust on a rich man's possessions acts as evidence against him after his death. There are two variant forms of the verb “require” in the manuscripts. One of these Greek words has the added connotation of giving back something that was on loan (from God). (Metzger)

verse 21: “Being rich in God means to live productively, reflecting the character of God in all our relations.” (Snodgrass) Being “rich in God” means using wealth on behalf of others.

verse 23 forms an appropriate framework for this story along with 15b. It provides an explanation of Jesus statement there. 

It always helps in interpreting a parable when the same point is taught elsewhere in Scripture. In this case:

    Jeremiah 17:11 on the treasures of the rich deserting one at death and the person proving to be a fool.

    The parable is a narrative form of Luke 9:25. (Fitzmyer)

    Matthew 6:19-20 on not storing up treasures on earth.

    “We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that, etc.” I Timothy 6:6-10

    James 4:13-14 teaches exactly the same point.

 The major issue is on the proper focus for our lives, specifically in regard to possessions. The financial advisor I have been using for years is a Christian and so are all the members of his firm. Their motto of “Finish well” refers to leaving a spiritual as well as a financial legacy when you die.