The Parable of the Rich Fool
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Someone in the crowd that was following Jesus yells at Him and asks Him to take his side on a disagreement with his brother...Rabbi's were often ask to help settle disputes, and Jesus' many followers were aware of His knowledge of scripture...So Jesus fit the part of being an unbiased judge...But Jesus refuses to get involved with the dispute...He does not take sides in the brotherly dispute, and asks the brother, who appointed Him their judge...Jesus uses a parable about a farmer to explain His position on this situation...
Jesus talks about selfishness and greed and about a farmer who had a wonderful, plentiful crop year...Now there is nothing wrong with a farmer having an extraordinary yield at harvest...The prudent farmer is planning ahead, because he doesn't have the storage places to store his large yield...Again, there is nothing wrong with prudent planning and organizing...But Jesus uses the words my crops, my barns, my grain, and my goods...After the farmer stores the grain, he can take life easy and eat, drink, and be merry...The farmer says I now have plenty of good things laid up for many years...The farmer with the plentiful crop is not thinking at this time about anyone, but himself (and his crop)...The farmer is completely caught up in this moment of his abundance, and is not thinking about anything else...
Greed is not generous...Greed is not sharing...Greed is not cheerful...St. Paul tells us each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7)...
The farmer does not know it, but God is going to take his life that very night...Now, without question, all the farmer's grain will go to someone else...Jesus sums it up for us and says this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God...
When Jesus is ask about the two greatest commandments, He tells us to love God with all our heart, with all our minds, with all our souls, and with all our strength...The second commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself...Jesus is telling us to share ourselves and our love to God...He is also telling us to share ourselves and our love to our neighbors...Let us share more...