What Is Jesus’ Message in the Parable of the Rich Fool?
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Wisdom is an important theme throughout Scripture, and it is one that Jesus underscored often in his earthly ministry. Over and over, Jesus pointed to the importance of achieving godly wisdom, using parables, proverbs, and other teachings to help people understand what it means to live wisely — that is, to live in accordance with God’s good and righteous plan for our lives.
In the parable of the rich fool, found in Luke 12, wisdom is yet again on display. In Luke 12:13-21, Jesus offers a story that teaches about true wealth, something far different from the earthly wealth so many people focus on.
The Bible tells us that when he offered this parable, Jesus had been teaching before a crowd of many thousands, offering wisdom about what is truly important — honoring God. Only God has supreme authority over the afterlife, and we honor him with our thoughts and our words, recognizing the true and glorious power of the Holy Spirit.
Into this powerful and rich discussion comes a seemingly petty, earthly demand that Jesus resolve a financial squabble between two brothers. Jesus addressed that demand by offering the parable of the rich fool, first issuing a dire warning to the brother about greed and inflating the importance of possessions in one’s life.
What is Jesus’s message in the parable of the rich fool? Quite simply, his message is that greed and concern over possessions or wealth have no place in God’s kingdom. Rather, our focus should be on the Kingdom of God, not on the self.
What Is the Parable of the Rich Fool About?
The parable of the rich fool was shared after Jesus was asked by one brother to divide an inheritance with him. Jesus was a teacher, or rabbi, and this would have been a common request of those considered wise and thoughtful — to decree some sort of God-inspired or respectable judgment about earthly, familial, or societal disagreements. But Jesus wasn’t some everyday rabbi, and he certainly wasn’t encouraging people to focus on common, earthly, everyday concerns. Rather, Jesus wanted people to set their thoughts on what was truly important: God’s kingdom.
So Jesus chastised the brother making this request, first telling him he wasn’t there to decide such things and then offering a warning — don’t be greedy, as life isn’t about money or possessions.
Then he shared about a wealthy man who was blessed one year with a great abundance of crops. The man didn’t have enough room to store such an abundance, and he wondered what to do.
Jesus tells us the wealthy man then determined, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’” (Luke 12:18-19).
God was not pleased with the man’s determination, responding, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (v. 20).
Jesus then noted that for anyone who is similarly selfish with their possessions, “This is how it will be” (v. 20).
Who Is This Rich Fool?
Sadly, this rich fool represents many of us. Perhaps the words “rich fool” bring to mind some pompous, overdressed sluggard, lounging with his nose in the air — someone as far away from yourself as possible.
But in actuality, we’re all that rich fool when we let selfish, petty, earthly concerns worry us. We are all fools when we cling to “our” money or “our” possessions, mistakenly thinking they belong to us instead of understanding they are gifts from the Lord that can be given or taken at his will.
What Is So Wrong with the Rich Man’s Plans?
Look closely at the rich man’s words to see what’s missing: God.
In place of God, we see a lot of “I” and “my” statements from the man — in short, the rich man was concerned only with himself, not with the Lord and not with others. The man didn’t consult God in his plans. He decided on his own, “This is what I’ll do” (v. 18). He referred to the barns and the grain as his own, not as blessings from above, calling them “my” barns and “my” surplus grain.” Then, he planned to sit around and “take life easy,” reaping his rewards without any concern or care for others around him.
God saw the selfishness behind the man’s words and plans and identified it for what it was: foolishness.
The Greek word used here for “You fool” is aphrōn, and it translates to foolish, ignorant, unwise, and senseless — someone with no understanding. This man missed the point. God provided abundance for the man as a gift, and the man chose instead to see it as additional possessions designed solely to benefit him.
What Did the Rich Man Not Understand?
The rich man was a “fool” because he lacked understanding about the true importance and meaning of life. It’s not about gathering and accumulating wealth, which serves no purpose and is temporary and fleeting. As Jesus elaborates in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Things are impermanent. Things do not last.
As well, the man seemed to inflate the importance of these things — his crops and ensuing wealth — as the point of his life, his reward. He didn’t think of ways he could provide for the poor in his community or even his friends, or how he could do other good works with the abundance. He planned to keep all the fruits of that harvest to himself, making himself king of his own little dominion.
But as Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
After telling of the man’s immediate demise, Jesus summed up the parable by stating we, too, face this consequence when we store up things for ourselves instead of being “rich toward God” (v. 21).
The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible, describes Jesus’s point this way: “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”
What Else Is Happening in This Chapter That Relates to the Parable?
Immediately after the parable of the rich fool, Jesus goes on to offer more teaching, this time on what we should seek. In his famous teaching on “do not worry,” Jesus shares how God cares for the ravens and the wildflowers with such lovingkindness, and he cares even more for us than these.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear,” Jesus said (Luke 12:22).
Instead, focus on one thing, Jesus said.
“Seek his kingdom.”
God will provide for all our needs. We can sell our possessions and share all we have with everyone around us without worry. This sort of abundant, faith-rooted living is in direct opposition to the selfish, hoarding mentality of the rich fool from Jesus’ parable.
Don’t be like the rich fool, worrying about your inheritance and all these petty, unimportant things, Jesus is telling the brother and — consequently — all of us. Step out in faith, trusting that God will provide.
The world tells us one thing, convinces us we must cling tightly to our home and our money and our investments lest someone else swoops in to take it all away. But when we hold our blessings with an open hand instead of a clenched fist, when we allow our focus to rest on the Lord and use our blessings in a loving, generous, magnanimous manner, we’re taking a step toward Kingdom living.
Let Jesus’s words help liberate you from the shackles of this earth and, instead, set your mind on the things of heaven.
Photo credit: Unsplash/theyshane
