3/25/2020 – The Parable of the Rich Fool

Passage: Luke 12:13-21

Written By: Hailey Scott – Grad Student

Who do we meet in these verses? Obviously, Jesus, and the man who desires his brother’s inheritance; and the rich fool in the parable itself. More importantly, who is missing from this passage? There are several whose impact is central to the core of what is being taught here, but are absent from its telling. Are we to believe the rich fool reaped such an overwhelming abundance of crops single handedly, or that he alone built the additional barns in which to store them? He never grants a thought to the possibly dozens of workers who did this for him. In each part of his thought process, he only considers himself. Not only does he deny these workers any of the benefits of their work, he also gives none of the glory for his fortune to God. We see this also from the man whose request prompts Jesus to tell this parable. He thinks he is entitled to the wealth that neither he nor his brother earned.

Every page a victory.

Who cooked the feast for the victors?

Every 10 years a great man.

Who paid the bill?

– Bertolt Brecht

In Matthew 25, Jesus urges us to provide for those who cannot care for themselves; to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and take in the stranger; and that to do so is the same as providing for Jesus himself. To give selflessly from what you have is to honor God. When we think of the multitudes the rich fool could have fed with his crops, we see the wasted potential to serve God with our successes, and that to be rich toward God means to humble ourselves in times of plenty. We are encouraged to remember those whose efforts have blessed us and bless them in return. In this Lenten season, let us consider who and where we can serve outside ourselves.