The Parable of the Rich Fool
The Parable of the Rich Fool is found in Luke 12:16-21. Below is the parable and surrounding context that provides an explanation of this parable. The meaning seems straightforward, but we will see if there is anything worthwhile to add.
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And 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.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But 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?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you (Luke 12:13-31).
Meaning of the Parable of the Rich Fool
In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus speaks about a rich man who has more than enough. So much so, that his current barn is not large enough to contain all that he has. So, he decides that he will build a bigger barn, and since he has more than enough, there is no need to continue working. He will simply sit back and enjoy his abundance.
According to the wisdom of this world, this seems like a reasonable idea. However, God calls this man a fool. Why is he a fool? He is a fool because the man trusted in his riches, but he was not rich towards God, and that very night the man would die.
If we trust in the securities of this life, but are not rich toward God, then we are truly poor. We are poor because when we die, we will truly die. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Without Him, it does not matter how much we have in this world, because all of those possessions do nothing to save a person’s soul from death.
Jesus goes on to teach that life consists of more than our earthly possessions. Jesus understands that it is in the nature of man to look to the securities of this life, but we should instead look to God for our security by seeking Him first and trusting in Him. When we put God first, then He will provide our daily needs, but when we put our earthly needs first, then our very soul is depraved of true life from He who is Life.
Is there anything further that we might consider from the Parable of the Rich Fool?
On the global sphere, this makes me think of the current idea of “build back better.” There are some who want to tear down the current orders of our society globally, supposedly for the betterment of all people. However, what they really want to do is build a new barn of their own and fill it with the riches of the masses, who they will surely leave in complete poverty unless they go along with the program.
Be assured, that it does not matter how much they enrich themselves, because they are truly poor in the things of God. If they succeed in this for a time, and we suffer as a result, then we can rest assured that the riches that God gives are everlasting and cannot be taken from us. Jesus says that the “thief breaks through and steals” our earthly riches, but they can do nothing to steal what Jesus gives us. In-fact, the more they take from us in the world, the more we grow in Him as our faith is made stronger. All things that the Enemy plans as an evil is used for our good. We can trust in this.
What else might we consider, as it pertains to us Christians?
What things in our lives might be the same, symbolically speaking? What is our barn, and what are we filling it with? What are we looking to as a means of security that makes us feel as if we have everything we need, and in so doing, we are unable to see how much we lack?
This can apply to many things. We might apply this in terms of our pursuit of financial security, but that’s not the only way we can look at this.
We can also apply this to our sense of spiritual security.
As we “seek first the Kingdom of God,” we should never consider ourselves to be full. We could look at the barn in terms of ourselves, as those who are the temple of God. We never want to think that we have enough wealth spiritually, then decide that we can now sit back and take our ease.
There is always more to gain. There is always more growth as we are conformed to Christ.
Both of these ideas can be considered in light of what the Spirit says to the church of the Laodiceans.
The Spirit says, “you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and know not that you are poor, blind, and naked.” Jesus instructs them to “buy of me, gold tried in the fire that you may be rich, and white raiment that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness is covered, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, so you may see.” He also says that they should be zealous and repent, He rebukes those He loves, and He is standing at the door ready to speak with us.
This teaching goes directly against any type of prosperity gospel preaching. This also goes against ministries that measure their success in terms of financial or social prosperity, especially when done to the exclusion of sound Christian teaching that builds people up in fruitful faith that encourages real transformation of the believer—transformation that is ongoing and should never be neglected.
Jesus says, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” If we are poor in spirit, then we never claim to have enough. We are always hungry and thirsty in sense of our intense need to be filled by God. We never want to get to a place of staleness and stagnancy. Jesus also says, “blessed are those who hunger and thrist after righteousness, for they will be filled.”
This is not to say that we are always looking for something new and different. There are core aspects of our Christian faith that remain sure no matter what, and they do not change.
However, this is to say that on a personal level, we are always growing spiritually. Even if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we need more from Him always. Even if we have a good relationship with the Father and the Son, we need to become more receptive and more obedient. Even if we are active and serving our fellow servants and the world at large, there is more that we can do.
We should never simply “take our ease” in regard to our faith. It is true that Jesus is humble, and His ways are not overly burdensome. Jesus says, “take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy, and my yoke is light.”
He makes a way for us to do all things, but this also means tearing us down and rebuilding us in some capacity—not just once—but over and over again. We are crucified with Christ, and we are raised in Him. This does happen when we enter into the faith truly, as symbolized by our baptism. However, though we only need one baptism, the process of dying and rebirth are continual. The baptism is the beginning of our new life, and a demonstration of this commitment to die to all others gods, including the god of the self, and to seek Jesus so that we can live.
So, let’s not ever be complacent, thinking that we have everything that we need. On one hand, we do have everything we need. We have the promises of Jesus that are sure and can be trusted in. Yet, so long as we are living, let us keep pushing on in the faith, seeing the work of the Lord done in us more and more, and when we die, we will not be fools but wise.
This is part of a series of articles discussing the Parables of Jesus. You can visit the link for quick access to more articles within this series.
Previous Article Within This Series: Parable of the Money Lender and Two Debtors
This idea as it pertains to the Church of the Laodiceans is discussed in the online book, These Things Saith He.
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