Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:16-21
King James Version (KJV)

 16And he spake a parable unto
them, saying, The ground of a
certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

REFLECTION

This parable gives us the life and death of a rich man, and the fate of the rich fool is generalized to all those who are concerned with possessions. He layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God, and thus fails to understand life’s true objective.

Jesus teaches that possessions neither give life nor provide security, because death separates us from things. The fool in this parable mistakenly looked upon his possessions as his own, not as gifts dependent upon the will of God and to be used unselfishly.

KINGDOM WISDOM

Here is an account of a man and his worldly wealth and abundance (Luke 12:16): The ground of this certain rich man brought forth plenty. He had a whole country to himself, a lordship of his own; he was a little prince. Observe: His wealth lay much in the fruits of the earth, for the king himself is served by the field, Eccl. 5:9. He had a great deal of ground, and his ground was fruitful; much would have more, and he had more. Note: The fruitfulness of the earth is a great blessing, but it is a blessing +which God often gives plentifully to wicked men, to whom it is a snare, that we may not think to judge of his love or hatred by what is before us.

We should perhaps give thought to the following.
a.) The description of this worldly man: He lays up treasure for himself, for the body, for the world, for himself in opposition to God, for that self will have to be denied. (1.) It was his error that he counts his flesh himself, as if the body were the man. If self be rightly stated and understood, it is only the true Christian that lays up treasure for himself, and is wise for himself, Prov. 9:12.
b.) It was his error that he made it his business to lay up for the flesh, which he calls laying up for himself. All his labor is for his mouth (Eccl. 6:7), making provision for the flesh.
c.) It was his error that he counted those things his treasure which are thus laid up for the world, and the body, and the life that now is; they are the wealth he trusted, and spent upon, and directed his affections toward.
d.) The greatest error of all was he had no care to be rich toward God, rich in the account of God, whose accounting us rich makes us so (Rev. 2:9), rich in the things of God, rich in faith (Jas. 2:5), rich in good works, in the fruits of righteousness (1 Tim. 6:18), rich in graces, and comforts, and spiritual gifts. Many who have abundance of this world are wholly destitute of that which will enrich their souls, which will make them rich towards God, rich for eternity.
e.) The folly and misery of a worldly man: So is he. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows what the end of things will be, has taught us what his end will be. Note, It is the unspeakable folly of the most of men to mind and pursue the wealth of this world more than the wealth of the other world, that which is merely for the body and for time, more than that which is for the soul and eternity.

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine &Performing Arts (BSTFPA)
www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org