Money: Good or Bad?

Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (NIV)

Luke 12:13-21 Jesus is asked to judge a disagreement among brothers. The keywords are judge, arbitrator, and guard against greed. Jesus teaches a lesson regarding possessions by describing a rich man who builds a larger barn to contain all his grain. Owning grain was not the issue, but his desire to live a carefree life was a sin. Earning an honest living is not a sin. The sin is the manner of faith placed in the money. The parable teaches that God is to be praised for the abundance. In the parable, the farmer looks at the situation as something he made happen. He gave no regard to God.

As a teacher of the law, it was not uncommon for people to look to a priest or rabbi to make a decision as a judge or arbitrator.[1] Instead of making a decision, Jesus tells them a parable. The hearers would understand that the farmer was greedy. He decided to live a life of ease instead of sharing with his neighbors or those in need. He was only thinking of himself without any regard to God creating the crop and producing the abundance.[2] From Leviticus 19:9, it was prohibited to reap to the edges of the field and go a second time over a bushes or trees. These provisions were to be left for the widows, orphans, and the poor.

When God blesses our store houses, it is not to sit back and become lazy, but to share with those in need. In the time of Jesus, this would have been in the form of leaving grain for the poor, widows, and orphans at the edges of the fields. In our current times this is in the form of food pantries and other helpful agencies.

Meditating on the parable, the current generation should seek God’s favor regarding abundance. There are several locations offering assistance to low-income families. Time and money are of equal importance when given with a cheerful heart.[3]

[1] David E. Garland, Luke, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 529. [2] Ibid., 530.

[3] Ibid., 530-533.

Bibliography

Garland, David E. Luke. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.