Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 14 He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 15 Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 17 He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ 18 And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods 19 and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ 21 Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Luke introduced the topic of material possessions and tried to show that amassing possessions contributed little to the salvation of souls. Someone in the crowd wanted Jesus to settle a dispute between him and his brother about an inheritance. Jesus’ response is reminiscent of the Hebrew slave's response to Moses when Moses tried to settle a dispute between two Hebrew slaves; “Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us (Ex. 2:11-15)?” Greed was at the center of the dispute between the man and his brother. The parable about the Rich Fool that followed warned the disciples about the futility of greed. Having possessions would not insulate them from the same fate as those who rejected Jesus’ teachings. The soul and its salvation is of supreme importance.
The rich man’s land produced a bountiful harvest which was a gift from God (Gen. 1:29-30). He was not grateful for the bountiful harvest but saw it only as a means to having greater possessions. He did not think about his responsibility to be a good steward of God’s gift (Gen. 1:28; 2:15). He believed that the bountiful harvest of grain was his possession to do with whatever he pleased. He decided to build bigger barns to store all his grain and other goods (v. 18). He was going to ignore the needs of others and lead a life of dissipation (v. 19). He did not acknowledge that his very life was a gift from God (Gen. 1:27) and that he had no control over his life span or to whom his possessions would pass (v. 20). He had not cultivated his relationship with God, the Creator and giver of all his goods (v. 21). The rich fool demonstrated the effects of original sin. He broke his covenantal relationships – his relationship with the land (nature), His relationship with his fellow man by not caring about his needs, his relationship with self by not caring about the gift of his life, and his relationship with God the giver of life and all good things.
Almighty God, giver of all good gifts, cultivate in us a spirit of gratitude and a love for our brothers and sisters so that we may build a relationship with you and share our possessions with others. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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