Jesus teaching about wealth and greed in Luke 12:13-21 is expressed in "The Parable of the Rich Fool". According to a long-standing Jewish wisdom tradition that one finds in the Scriptures, Wealth was a sign of God's blessing. This conviction however has not gone unchallenged. There are wise men, like the authors of Ecclesiastes and Job, who have questioned it. The prophets too have put the conviction under a question mark because of the experience that wealth has made men forget the one they should depend on. A line in the Magnificat should remind us that ultimately the rich will be "sent empty away" in a reversal of fortunes that God Himself will carry out with "His mighty arm" (cf. Luke 1:53). It is this reversal of fortune that Jesus himself recalls when he lets out his woes against the rich:
Woe to you who are rich
for you have received your consolation
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way. (Luke 6:24-26)
Luke 12:13-21 can be divided into two parts: (a) vv. 13-15 introduces the parable of the rich fool, and (b) vv. 16-21, "the Parable of the Rich Fool" itself. The request of "someone" in the crowd gives the Lord an opportunity to say something about wealth and riches. But he does it in a way that sets up human aspirations within the context of the limitations of human existence that Death has established: "You fool, tonight, you will die; what will happen to the things you've been storing up?"
"Take care to guard yourself against all greed". In the Synoptics, greed is described as one of those things that make a man unclean (Mark 7:22). It is also characterized as the service of the god Mammon (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13). In the parable of the seed and the sower, wealth, together with worries and anxieties and the pleasures of life, is said to be like weeds that prevent one who has listened to the Word (of Jesus) to bear mature fruit (Luke 8:14). It is also because of his great wealth that one potential follower of Jesus "went away sad. ( Luke 18:23)"
In the writings of Paul, greed is described as characteristic of the unredeemed life: Romans 1:29 Ephesians 4:19 and should not be even named among the Christians. In Colossians 3:5 greed is even identified as idolatry. Finally, greed is also named as one of the characteristics of backsliding Christians in 2 Peter 2:3 and 2 Peter 2:14.
"You fool, tonight you will die" The parable of the rich fool is designed to make those who have made wealth and its benefits their commitment rethink the direction their lives are taking. The passage actually recalls Old Testament wisdom passages about wealth like the ones that follow:
I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and provinces. I got for myself male and female singers and all human luxuries. I became great, and I stored up more than all others before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom, too, stayed with me. Nothing that my eyes desired did I deny them, nor did I deprive myself of any joy, but my heart rejoiced in the fruit of all my toil. This was my share for all my toil. But when I turned to all the works that my hands had wrought, and to the toil at which I had taken such pains, behold! all was vanity and a chase after wind, with nothing gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:8-11)
In this passage, Ecclesiastes narrates how he realized that all the wealth and its benefits that he has amassed and enjoyed counted for nothing when set against the fact that he is going to die anyway.
The covetous man is never satisfied with money, and the lover of wealth reaps no fruit from it; so this too is vanity.
Where there are great riches, there are also many to devour them. Of what use are they to the owner except to feast his eyes upon?
Sleep is sweet to the laboring man, whether he eats little or much, but the rich man's abundance allows him no sleep.
This is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches kept by their owner to his hurt.
Should the riches be lost through some misfortune, he may have a son when he is without means.
As he came forth from his mother's womb, so again shall he depart, naked as he came, having nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.
This too is a grievous evil, that he goes just as he came. What then does it profit him to toil for wind?
All the days of his life are passed in gloom and sorrow, under great vexation, sickness and wrath. (Ecclesiastes 5:10-17)
In these one-liners, not only wealth but also work is characterized as "vanity", "a zero" when seen within the context of human existence itself which is lived under the shadow of death." In the parable of the rich fool, the reality of death is put forward as a reminder that all wealth passes.
The Parable Within A Larger Context. Jesus' instructions about wealth and greed continues until verse 33. True wealth is in the life that we already have: worry cannot add to its beauty nor to its length. God himself takes care of it, as he does the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Food, drink and clothes -- goods that derive from wealth -- shouldn't even be the worry of a disciple; instead he should seek the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added. True wealth is not lost nor robbed. Where one's treasure is, there also will be one's heart. (Luke 12:22-33). Seen within this greater context, the "Parable of the Rich Fool" is just one side of a bigger reality. To be greedy for wealth or even to worry about one's wealth is not only useless because of death but also because it is not necessary for a happy life. In fact, it only becomes a burden seeing that to maintain one's wealth, one has to guard it with one's life. True wealth, on the other hand, does not cause anxiety because it is given by one who is revealed as "Father" and who intends to give the disciples a kingdom. A cup cannot be filled with wine unless the water that fills it is thrown out first. So the true wealth that Jesus talks about cannot be possessed unless what fills one's heart now is unloaded first. Thus, Jesus says "Sell what you possess..." (v.33), the same thing that he will say to the rich young man later on: "Sell all you have, give it to the poor and you will have riches in heaven." (Luke 18:22). This command is in contrast to the thoughts of the Rich Fool whose program of life is to build bigger barns and to enjoy his wealth. Ecclesiastes has known that this is vanity. So does Jesus. One who stores up treasures for himself and is not rich before the eyes of God is a fool and will suffer the destiny of fools.
