The rich fool is a parable that Jesus Christ teaches us in the gospel of Luke 12:13-21 where we can observe that it is useless to treasure material goods in this world, if we do not have God in our lives. Material things are temporary but spiritual things will determine our eternal life.
Therefore we must focus on seeking God and his justice before striving for money, riches and earthly things. Certainly we are blessed by God in terms of his providence, but he does this with the purpose that we can help our neighbor.
I invite you to read:
Everything we have must be for Christ, for his glory and honor, and to bless, not to hide, as shown in the following quote:
“A rich man’s estate had produced much. And he thought within himself, saying: What shall I do, because I have nowhere to keep my fruits? And he said: This will I do: I will tear down my barns, and build them greater, and there will I store all my fruits and my goods; and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods stored for many years; rest, eat, drink, rejoice. But God said to him: Fool, tonight they come to ask for your soul; and what you have provided, whose will it be? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and he is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21)
Analysis of the parable of the Rich Fool
The previously quoted parable of the “Rich Fool” shows us a man who refused to share his inheritance with his brother and Jesus Christ taught him through a parable the importance of getting wealth for the kingdom of God and not hoarding goods in this world.
That man was not guilty of being rich, but his mistake was in trying to keep his wealth. He was haughty and hoped to treasure his possessions for “many years.” But the only one who knows our future is God, so it is not possible to specify how long we will be in this world.
Through this teaching, the Lord showed the foolishness of that rich man who did not share his blessings with his neighbor, but tried to live off them so as not to have to work and look for daily bread.
But how can you enjoy riches, fulfilling the will of our Lord, because he is the one who provides us with everything we have.
As believers we must be humble in every way and not boast of material things because they are temporary.
We can enjoy everything we have as long as we live humbly and share our blessings with others.
Sometimes those who have the most give the least, and those who don’t have much give it all, just like the widow who gave everything she had to honor God:
“Jesus was in the temple, and he saw how some rich people put money in the offering boxes. He also saw a widow who put in two small coins of very little value. Then Jesus said to his disciples: – I assure you that this poor widow gave more than all the rich. Because they all gave from what was left over; but she, who is so poor, gave everything she had to live ” (Luke 21:1-4)
In this way, the Christian who truly wants to follow the will of the Lord must have only what he needs to live well. He can enjoy all that God gives him but do it to glorify his name.
They must have what they need, and not acquire things just for show, to boast about themselves. Being rich is not bad, what is bad is loving money and material goods, clinging to the things of this world and not seeking communion with God. But faith without works is dead, as the word expresses:
“My brethren, what good is it if someone says he has faith and does not have works? Can faith save you? And if a brother or a sister are naked, and need daily maintenance, and one of you says to them: Go in peace, warm yourselves and be satisfied, but you do not give them the things that are necessary for the body, of what use? take advantage of? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself. (James 2:14-17)
For this reason it is important to manifest love, serving the Lord, helping others, serving in every need, in scarcity and sickness. Activating the spiritual gifts that God has given us to build and build a people of Christ according to the principles of love and compassion.
It is better to give than to receive, so to the extent that we give, we are blessing and proclaiming that we are true children of God. But when we feed the poor, we help the humble, we must do it from the heart, and not out of obligation, because then everything would be in vain, as the word expresses:
“And if I distributed all my goods to feed the poor, and if I gave my body to be burned, and I have no love, it is of no use to me” (1 Corinthians 13:3)
In the parable of the rich fool, we can see that he did not intend to give anything to anyone, but wanted to keep them for his personal and individual use for many years. That is to say that in his heart there was no compassion, only selfishness prevailed.
It is not about giving alms, offerings of what you have left over or giving what you no longer need or were going to throw away. It is about giving with love, applying empathy and feeling mercy and love for others.
When we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, this love is activated in our being and we must put it into practice and not allow the enemy to harden our hearts, because if that happens, we could lose the greatest treasure that is salvation.
In this way, as faithful believers in Christ, we must try not to take over our lives, because we are called to be servants, not owners. Let us learn to always say “if the Lord wants”, because only his will is good, perfect and pleasing, as indicated by the word:
“Do not conform to this century, but be transformed through the renewal of your understanding, so that you may verify what is the good will of God, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2)
In this sense, we must ask God to help us to be able to do his will and what we have for him in the first place in our lives, and not make the mistake of the rich fool.
The gospel of Luke and his teachings
One of the characteristics that we can find in the Gospel of Luke is the sensitivity towards the poor and his suspicion of riches. The parable of the rich fool reveals to us the position of Jesus Christ with respect to the goods of the earth.
Faced with the family dispute that arises from the acquisition of an inheritance, Jesus Christ clearly expresses his warning about being ambitious, arrogant and selfish, since the goods that have been obtained cannot ensure the life of a person, since that the only one who has control of life and death is God.
You can read:
The parable gives us the example of an owner who, when faced with a large harvest, only thinks of the well-being he will achieve in the coming months. Jesus Christ considers this a great mistake, since this life passes and is not definitive.
The Lord knows that the ultimate life is not life in this world, but life with God in which we are called to serve and share. From this point of view, work in this world only makes sense when it comes to preparing for eternal life.
In this sense, in life we need material things, such as a house, clothes, cars, among others. They allow us to have a future for our family and for society. However, everything deteriorates when we put these realities in the depths of our hearts and change them in the sense of our own existence.
From the point of view of unbelievers, it may seem normal, and even sensible, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ and what he teaches in the gospels, it represents an error and foolishness, since we place our hope in things that sooner or later soon they end and do not remain.
In this sense, true wealth is that which is forged before the eyes of God, and which has been shown to us by the evangelist Luke, where compassion towards those in need, the teachings of Jesus, and prayer stand out.
Reflections on the parable “The rich fool” – What does Jesus Christ mean to us?
If we see the context of the parable of the rich fool, we can realize that Jesus Christ was not interested in solving legal problems or conflicts.
It only leaves us with the teaching that we must protect ourselves from all feelings of ambition and love of money because these are temporary things.
In this way, Jesus Christ emphasizes that the lust for power will not leave us anything productive, and if we do not put God first, we may be closing the doors to the kingdom of heaven.
In this sense, Jesus Christ does not play the role of mediator, but rather emphasizes to us the spiritual and ethical principles on which our behavior must be based. He shows us that we should not put our trust in the things of this world, but in God.
We must first seek the kingdom of God and in this way he will provide us with everything we need, without having to worry about what we need. This can be seen in the following quote: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)
As believers we must focus first on God, because everything else will come in addition, we just have to trust that he will provide us with everything we need to have a full and happy life.
The material is temporary and necessary to live in this world, and God blesses his children in a great way and provides them with everything so that they have dignified, prosperous and happy lives. However, he puts us tests in which we must be firm so as not to fall.
Perhaps believers turn to prayer to solve specific problems. However, the gospel will not solve everything for us by itself, we must have the willingness to get closer to God.
The word of the Lord and its impact on the community can undoubtedly illuminate discernment and help us make decisions about our life, projects, regarding the church and what we want to achieve.
On the other hand, material goods can easily tempt us and make our hearts puffed up. But true wealth, according to Jesus, is to be generous with our brothers, with our neighbor, just as God did when he gave up his only son to save us.
So putting trust in riches shows a lack of sanity and wisdom. Whoever loves money has no consideration for humanity and that is totally displeasing to God.
In this sense, the parable of the rich fool is an invitation to contemplate what Jesus truly means in our lives. If we are putting him first and if we are doing his perfect will.
Jesus Christ being God, became a humble man to bear our sin, suffer, receive insults and blows. He died and rose again to free us from all sin and have access to the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord is an invitation for us to be filled with joy, so that we have a life in harmony and united in the same love and feeling, the same purpose, the same feeling. As shown in the word: “Make my joy complete, feeling…