The rich fool is a parable about answering a painfully predictable plea to any Rabbi. There are age-old questions you know every youngster will ask one of those day, it may be a simple as the incessant “why?” from preschoolers, the “can I still do bad things if God will forgive me?” from the older child, or the “how far until I break the rules?” of a young teen. Ninety percent of Jesus’ world lived in poverty, two thirds in extreme poverty — the death of the father figure and division of his estate could easily result in the life of a day labourer or beggar. With the oldest receiving a double portion, many younger sons would seek the authority of religious leaders for help.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
Main Passage : Luke 12
The crowd was huge, thousands of people were trampling others, pushing and shoving to get near the teacher Jesus. They all wanted to hear his teaching, some people had even whispered that he may be the messiah. That whisper had brought even more people.
In the middle of the chaos, Jesus was teaching his disciples, his closest friends, aware that many people were listening in. As he finished what he was saying, he looked about the crowd that had gathered. In the pause, a voice shouted loudly;
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus sighed, it was an old call, a question every rabbi would be asked at some point. The religious law was clear. When a father died his wealth would be shared between his sons, the oldest son would get twice the amount. Many younger sons would get upset about this and come to the rabbi to seek more. Jesus knew that for some seeking more was a way to survive, but for many it was simply being greedy.
How would Jesus answer? He’d tell a story, a parable.
“One year a rich farmer had a huge harvest. It was so big he didn’t have enough room to store all the crops in his barns. So he made a plan. He would tear down all his barns and build even bigger ones. His barns only stored enough food for 2 years, but his new barns would store enough food for many, many years. Then he wouldn’t have to farm the land, he could sit back and enjoy an easy life.”
Many people in the crowd were smiling. How many of these poor farmers who listened to his words dreamed of a day like that one. A day their struggle with the fields would end. A day when they would be rich.
Jesus continued;
“But God said to the man, ‘You fool!’ This very night, your life will end. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
The people in the crowd started to murmur, calling someone a fool was a very strong insult.
Jesus hadn’t finished. Raising his voice over the crowd, he said;
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The crowd went quiet again. Perhaps their dreams weren’t as foolish as they sounded. Perhaps this parable was not just about getting rich, but about being generous, about seeing wealth differently, about trusting God’s provision.
Jesus continued teaching the crowd without stories. He talked about how they shouldn’t worry about what they have or what they wear but trust that God would provide. That there was a different kind of treasure you could get, not earthly treasure of money and possessions that would one day be gone, but heavenly treasure that would last forever.
Jesus never did meet the man’s brother and ask him to share his inheritance.
Today’s hero is The Rich Fool because he shows us the gift of HEAVEN’S TREASURE.
