Luke 12:13-21 Commentary

Jesus is speaking to a rather large crowd that is eager to hear from him—according to 12.1, they are even trampling one another to get close. Somehow, a voice from that crowd rises above the rest and the question asked and sparks Jesus’s warning about greed.

What Jesus says about greed relates to what he has already said and what he will say. In other words, it’s all of a piece if we have the ears to hear. Just before someone asked him to weigh on the division of the family inheritance, Jesus has told the crowd that they ought to be focused on their willingness to be part of and identify with the Jesus way. That even though this will cause them hardship here on earth, the Holy Spirit will be with them to show them the way, so they have nothing to fear about what is to come. This subtle message about trusting and joining God is repeated after the parable of the rich farmer even more explicitly: “do not worry about your life,” Jesus declares, and “strive for God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (v. 22, and 31-34)

Do not build bigger barns. When God gives you more than enough, it’s time to look outward and share it with others.

Notice how this particular farmer becomes trapped in his success. His land “produces abundantly” and his first thought is how to preserve it for himself. Jesus’s surrounding teachings imply that his first thought should have been to wonder with God and listen for the Spirit’s direction on how to sell it or share it with others.

But that’s the thing about wealth and greed. When they get a hold of us, they narrow our vision and focus. All too often, being rich is a self-interested phenomenon that leaves us at a loss for how to be rich towards God. We’ve all heard the jokes about how the rich don’t understand normal daily life for the rest of us, but that also means they don’t understand the challenges and needs that they could help alleviate.

Instead of asking who around him was hungry, the farmer asked himself how he could keep his grains and goods. True, he was playing the long game, hoping to get enough stored up so that he could enjoy his retirement. But he wasn’t playing the long game and thinking about what his life right now said about what he believed about the life and world to come.

The farmer wanted to provide for himself—just like he thinks to himself, speaks to himself, plans for himself, stores for himself. But like his stuff, he does not belong to himself, he belongs to God. And because of that fundamental truth, the way we measure our lives is completely altered from the way we want to—by wealth and success and gain.

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (v. 15) Measuring stuff and storing up for ourselves leaves us diametrically incapable of being obedient to God—of being rich toward God by blessing others as God would have us do.

It really is as simple as that. Too bad God has to spend so much time trying to get that lesson through our thick skulls. It is an underlying warning of the Psalms, a key theme Jesus returns to again and again, and one that Paul warns about in his letters. It is the basis for so many complaints from the prophets and so many pieces of Wisdom literature. Instead of being self-focused, may we become rich towards God, wondering and listening about how to share what God has given.

Textual Point

Scholars will point out the parallel language from Exodus 2.14 that Jesus uses here. “Man, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” is eerily similar to the time Moses was asked, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” by a fellow Hebrew he had caught fighting. It is a subtle message about authority: Moses did not yet have it, and the question sends him into a bit of a tailspin of worry. Jesus, on the other hand, already does have it and can catch out the motivation of the person asking him to be involved in their family business.

Illustration Ideas

In the cliffhanger season finale this spring (2025), the comedy show Ghosts revealed that its lead male character, Jay, had been duped into signing away his eternity to a ghost from hell. The ghost disguised himself as a publicist and played into Jay’s desire to see his restaurant become a huge success. In the final episode, the restaurant starts to gain attention from renowned reviewers and the ghosts who live on the property catch a glimpse of the so-called publicist and realize what’s happened. When Jay is finally told what he’s done, he immediately wants out of the deal: he had no idea that he was making such a high stakes deal! And isn’t that the way money and greed get their hooks in us? Wanting to be successful isn’t a bad thing, and yet when it becomes the focus of one’s life, it usually leads to the road to perdition. The stakes really are that high.

I’m also reminded about the proliferation of AI and its real cost for all social classes. For instance, this recent article about how AI will likely cut entry level white collar jobs and increase unemployment by 10-20% in specific fields should be sounding alarm bells. What is the human cost of such financial gain?