Luke 12:13-21 Scripture Study
By Pastor Chris Simmons – Trinity Lutheran Church, Paso Robles CA
A reinforcement/supplement study to our Sunday service meant for “Building up the body of Christ… the manifold Wisdom of God made known” (Ephesians 4+3)
For Sunday, August 3, 2025
As spoken by the great Swedish Theologians ABBA - “Aha, All the things I could do, If I had a little money, It's a rich man's world.” (Song by ABBA ‧ 1976). Whether you know the song or not, you can see a bit of the lesson taught there. We are never satisfied with what we have. What if we could have just a little bit more? If I could just be rich, then my problems would be solved… but what does it mean to be rich? In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man. The word rich in Greek is πλούσιος - plousios - which means “abounding in muchness” or “fully resourced”. Being rich is not only about money, we have been made rich in Christ. Jesus emptied Himself of the riches of God upon the cross, making us rich in His mercy. We are fully resourced, we are “abounding in muchness” for the eternal life God has set before us tomorrow, and the ministry He has set before us today. Blessings on your study.
Prayers for a blessed study.
Pastor Chris Simmons.
Discuss: What is something you’re “rich in” now? Perhaps you collect something as a hobby? (stamps, wine, GI Joe, experiences, coins, books, etc.)
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
This circumstance is not actually all that unusual, people often brought problems like this to respected rabbis at the time. Although “spiritual authorities” a Jew would respect the decision of a rabbi over the Roman Government. As community leaders, they held this position often over even higher counsels like the Pharisee or Sanhedrin. Even though this interaction is not unusual, it is quite ironic…
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Many times throughout Scripture, we read that Jesus has been appointed the Judge over all Mankind John 5:22 “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son”. and 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” So actually, if anyone would be “qualified” to settle this legal dispute of inheritance, it would be Jesus. What does He really mean by this statement? Well, from the beginning of this exchange, Jesus already wants to shift our focus from the temporal (worldly and temporary) to the spiritual (Godly and eternally).
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…
Jesus gives us all this warning: be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Greed, simply put, is the desire for more. That what you have is not enough to be satisfied. I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t strive for more, work hard, and be motivated. Greed is something different. It’s a desire for more that refuses to be satisfied, neglecting God and others. And that pursuit for more that cannot be satisfied blinds us to what truly satisfies.
Discuss: Jesus tells us to “Be on guard against all kinds of greed.” What kinds of greed are there?
Furthermore, Jesus continues in that same verse:
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.
Now, often when we talk about Love in the Bible and how there are four different words for it. What doesn’t get as much attention is the word Life. Did you know that in the Koine Greek (The Greek the New Testament was originally recorded in) there are three words for life? Bios - the life of the physical body. The English word biology comes from bios.
Luke 8:14 - The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
Psuche - the “psychological life” or “the human soul”, the mind, emotion, and will. The English word psychology comes from psuche.
Matthew 16:25 - For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
Zoe - The eternal life of God, the divine life uniquely possessed by God.
Luke 12:15 - “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.
It is important to note, and informative for the parable, that the word for life Jesus uses is Zoe. Again, you see this separation from the temporal and eternal. Your “eternal life in God” does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
Discuss: You may have heard the old phrase someone shares as they are about to pass on “Well, you can’t take it with you”.... How would you apply that principle here to Zoe life?
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.
We had defined what a “rich” person was in our introduction. Again, a “rich man” is defined as one “abounding in muchness” and “fully resourced”. This much abounding fully resourced man has been blessed with another abundant harvest. He is so much more abounding and fully resourced that this new abundant harvest cannot be stored in his measly barns, so he tears them down and builds bigger ones. Nothing about this is “alarming” as of yet. It could be seen as good stewardship; one wouldn’t want the grain to spoil after all.
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.”’
The ESV Translation (English Standard Version) as well as many other English translations, translate verse 19 as And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
This verse exposes the real problem… Recall when Jesus said “life (Zoe) does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Yet here, the man looks within himself and says to his very own soul, that he can find satisfaction in life from his great abundance. He sees abundance and says, “here is where I can rest” rather than “how can I serve with what I’m blessed”. And Jesus says, “be on guard against all kinds of greed”. If this rich man is already… well rich, what is it about this new abundance that satisfies? It will only satisfy the greed for a moment, before the desire for more continues to devour.
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?’
When you see the word “Fool” in Scripture, you can always refer to this definition in Psalm 14:1 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
The fool says, “there is no God”... and now it all starts to make sense… you can count through this section of Scripture the references to “self” “I, me, say “you” to myself” thirteen times. When did the crops become my crops? When did the storehouses become my storehouses? When did the harvest become my harvest? When did the inheritance become my inheritance? When did it all become mine and stop becoming God’s? This is why it is called “The Parable of the Rich Fool”. In all the times He’s mentioned and talked about himself, he’s completely forgotten God. He has forgotten to steward well the blessings God has given him. And in all this “rich fool” has stored for himself, not one speck of grain will do him any good as he is judged by God. As they say, “you can’t take it with you”.
Discuss: How often do you view yourself as a “caretaker” of God’s possessions? “Stewardship” means to “manage or supervise” God’s possessions He’s given you to hold onto, do you feel you do that well?
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
So, Jesus teaches us, to avoid the judgement this “rich fool” suffers, we simply need to be “rich toward God”. Sounds easy enough, does God take check or money order?... Well, not exactly. What Jesus means is that we are called to treasure what He treasures. To be “rich toward God” is to see the two most important things to Him, His relationship to us, and our relationships with one another.
2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich…
We see this lived out as Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, asking for assistance for the church in Jerusalem. We are rich, fully resourced, abounding in muchness, in the richness of Christ. His abundant Life (Zoe, also used in John 10:10) is in us. We are rich in His goodness and mercy in the eyes of God the Father. So that, we in turn can see our neighbors and be generous out of response.
14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.
We in turn, treasure what God treasures. That’s what it means to be rich toward God. We can see what He treasures through the actions of Jesus Christ for us, the abundant life placed in us, and His Word to teach us how to love one another.
Discuss: How would you like to be remembered? What particular words, phrases, actions, memories?
Prayer
What do you treasure now? Is it what God treasures?
What kind of greed has a grip on you? How can you bring it before God and ask to be satisfied by His riches through Jesus?
Are you building bigger barns, or asking God how to steward and serve with how you’ve been blessed? How do you balance?
Lord God, we ask you for satisfaction. When we don’t guard ourselves against greed, we find ourselves building bigger barns to be satisfied with more and more. Forgive us Lord, encourage our hearts to treasure what you treasure. That we can be satisfied with you, and in life giving service to one another. We pray this all in your name Jesus. Amen.