The Rich Fool

Luke 12: 13-21

My father passed away leaving a great fortune. At this point, his older brother takes over the legacy left by his father. Is this a story you hear a lot? Yes, that's right. This is “The Story of Heungbu and Nolbu” that you are all familiar with. Who would object to the fact that Nolbu, who had a monopoly on the fortune, was the villain? However, “The Story of Heungbu and Nolbu” does not seem to be just a story from the distant past. Even today, court battles often arise between brothers over inheritance. Of course, the <Inheritance Act> is well established now. As the inheritance ‘rank’ and ‘ratio’ became clear, conflicts between siblings over inheritance have been greatly reduced, but still remain.

Today's Bible scripture addresses the same issue. Let's look at the scripture together. The story begins with a man from the “crowd” coming to Jesus and asking for something. However, the Bible reports that the number of people gathered here now, according to 12:1, is “tens of thousands” (muria,dwn [plural genitive of muria,j] = myriads, literally “tens of thousands”). It is said that people flocked to it and were “to the point of being trampled upon each other.” If there were tens of thousands of people, perhaps all the locals would have gathered? No, maybe even people from nearby areas have flocked to it.

That is to say, an anonymous person in the midst of a huge crowd says these things to Jesus. Perhaps this person shouted loudly from some distance away. “Teacher, please order my brother to share the inheritance with me.” To this, Jesus replies to him: “Man, who made me your judge or dispenser?” And then he says to people: “Be careful, and stay away from all kinds of greed.”

But who is being criticized here as “a man blind to greed”? Often we understand that Jesus' words to “abandon greed of every kind” were referring to this very man, a ‘brother’ who asked to share with him the inheritance his older brother had occupied. In other words, this is how most people understand it. As Jesus said, “To be outraged by your brother's monopoly on the inheritance, and to claim a portion of his brother's inheritance, is greed.”

But is your brother's request really greedy? Is it so reprehensible to demand a division of the estate? Her brother thinks he hasn't been given his fair share. He must have constantly demanded of his brother to share the inheritance “fairly”. But the older brother ignores his younger brother's request. The younger brother appeals to several places, but no one listens to his brother's injustice. As such, the younger brother did not receive the portion he was supposed to receive, and in the end he ended up asking Jesus for help. If I were to express my brother's complaint by unraveling it, this would be the meaning. “Sir, your brother has taken over your father’s legacy. Is this fair? Could this be it? Doesn't that make sense? What do you think, teacher? Please tell my brother what you think is right.” Is your brother's request justified? Or is it too greedy?

In the so-called “parable of the prodigal son” in Luke 15, the younger son says to his father: “Father, give me now my share of your possessions.” So it is said that the father divided the property between the older and younger sons. Perhaps, according to Deuteronomy 21:17, the Jewish inheritance law requiring the firstborn to be given “a double share,” he gave the eldest two-thirds of the estate and the younger one-third.

In today's scripture, it seems that the younger son did not receive his share of his father's inheritance. In Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible, this verse is translated as follows: “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.” (Teacher, command my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance that will return to me.)

What's more, Jesus is not saying to his brother, “Get out of greed”. After saying to his brother, “Should I be a judge?” (turning away from his brother), he looked at the people gathered there and said, “Away from greed.”

In fact, who is greedy? Is a person claiming his fair share a greedy person? Or is it the greedy person who has even taken away someone else's share? Didn't Jesus say to his brother, who might have been mixed with the tens of thousands of people present, "Avoid greed"? Even if the older brother wasn't there, the townspeople who were there could have informed his brother of the news. It must have been a matter of time before the foreword went round and round and entered his brother's ears. In this conscripture, isn't Jesus' teaching to abstain from greed was not addressed to his younger brother, but to his older brother who wanted to take over the estate?

And now, let me tell you a parable. This is the well-known “parable of the rich fool.” There is one thing I don't understand in this parable either. Is this rich man really stupid? Isn't it rather wise?

The crop was so good that year that the crops grew so much that it was almost impossible to put them all in the barn. So he expanded the barn. And then he thinks in his mind. “Now that I have earned enough for the rest of my life, I will retire and spend the rest of my life comfortably, resting, playing and having fun.” In today's terms, isn't that the image of a "wise" person who perfectly prepares for old age by providing 'savings', 'insurance' and 'annuity' with the money he has worked his whole life? But why did Jesus call this man “stupid”?

At that time, the crowds listening to Jesus were poor people of the ruling class being exploited by the parasitic Jewish ruling class in Rome. They were poor people who had to worry about what to eat today. Immediately after today's scripture (in Luke 12:22; 29), Jesus says to these poor and needy people who need to worry about food right away, "Do not worry about what you will eat, what you will drink, or what you will wear."

Back to the parable again. Is this rich man stupid? yes! That's right. The reason this rich man is foolish is that he pursued private interests, not public interests. The poor peasants of Galilee, which were under Roman colonial rule at the time, are starving because they have nothing to eat right away, but the rich man only cares about his own personal favors.

It is the story of an old couple. Her grandmother sits her grandchildren and says: “There used to be people starving to death,” she said. Then her grandfather was astonished and said, "Is there anyone in town starving to death?" People are dying of starvation, how did you let the locals starve to death? It was something that would never have happened in the town where he lived. This is the village community called “neighborhood”.

Back to the parable again. Is this rich man stupid? yes! That's right. The reason this rich man is foolish is that he pursued private interests, not public interests. The poor peasants of Galilee, which were under Roman colonial rule at the time, are starving because they have nothing to eat right away, but the rich man only cares about his own personal favors.

It is the story of an old couple. Her grandmother sits her grandchildren and says: “There used to be people starving to death,” she said. Then her grandfather was astonished and said, "Is there anyone in town starving to death?" People are dying of starvation, how did you let the locals starve to death? It was something that would never have happened in the town where he lived. This is the village community called “neighborhood”.

In Israeli tradition, accumulating wealth is never just. At the time of the Exodus, God gave abundant “manna” to the hungry Israelites, but it was never to be stored. Even the prayer Jesus taught us to ask for “daily bread” (Luke 11:3. cf. Matt 6:11). It is not food to be stored in a warehouse, but food to be filled right now.

Of course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't save in today's society. Today we live in a much more affluent society (unlike they 2,000 years ago). Also, there was no concept of retirement at that time, and moreover, the elderly were a social structure that young people had to support. However, today we live in a society where we have to “personally” prepare for our old age. So, if you are a wise person, you should save what you use now and prepare for your old age.

But their society at the time was different. There were many hungry people in that society. There were naked people everywhere. In such a society, “the hunger and nakedness of our neighbors” was more urgent than our own old age. And it was the social welfare system called “neighborhood” that had to take responsibility for their hunger. But the rich man in the parable turns away from them. There was no thought of social solidarity and responsibility. They only care about their own well-being. So, don't you hear that it's stupid?

The end of the parable defines the rich fool as “one who is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Who is “the one who is not rich toward God”? A long time ago, Professor Ahn Byung-mu called the sin of man who ate the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden as “the sin of privatizing public things.” What is God's is something we all have to share, and to take it for ourselves is the first and original sin of mankind.

Let's go back to the beginning and look at my brother's request to share his inheritance. Is your brother's request justified? Yes, legally you can. But how does Jesus respond to his brother's request for an inheritance? “Should I be your judge? Shall I act as a division of property between you and your brother?” Jesus does not accept his brother's request. Jesus criticizes his brother's greed, but at the same time never grants his brother's request.

People often asked Jesus to act as a judge. He demanded that he decide whether to stone or forgive a woman caught in adultery. He also required that he decide whether to pay taxes to the emperor or not. Each time, Jesus did not choose one of the two, but came up with a third answer. “He who is without sin, let him first throw a stone at him.” “The emperor’s things to the emperor, and God’s things to God.” The same is true here. My brother's request is actually these questions. “Is it right for me to ask for the distribution of the estate, or is it right for my older brother who took possession of the estate? Please give me a word.” He demanded a legal judgment from Jesus, but Jesus did not choose either one. He was simply telling everyone, including his two brothers, to “stay away from greed.”

In the end, the younger brother is portrayed as someone quarreling with the older brother over his inheritance. They are not interested in the “vision of the kingdom of God” (ie, public interest) presented by Jesus, but rather “what I will eat, what I will wear” (ie, private interest) that should not be concerned. He too (like his older brother) is defined as a “private person” who pursues “private interests”. Jesus rejects all pursuits of material wealth and personal gain. He rejects the passive idea that he should only do no harm to others. (In Luke 12:33, Jesus) didn't he say, "Sell what you have, and do alms"? Of course, today we cannot sell everything we have and give it all to the poor. But shouldn't we keep deep in our hearts that this is Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God, and that we should be truly concerned?

The vision presented by Jesus was a “jubilee.” Of course, a jubilee has never been practiced in history, but we do not give up on it. The Jubilee as an unrealistic ideal points us Christians in the direction we should look.

In the “parable of the rich man and Lazarus” reported in Luke 16, the beggar Lazarus is held in the arms of Abraham, and the rich man suffers excruciatingly in Hades. How did this happen? What is the rich man's sin? But what else did Lazarus do well? To this, Abraham tells the rich man: “Son, look back. While you were alive, you enjoyed all kinds of luxuries, but Lazarus suffered all kinds of troubles. So he is comforted here and now, and you suffer.” As long as we have Lazarus the beggar among our neighbors, we will all never be saved.

We hope that Jesus’ “impossible” teaching to “seek the kingdom of God” will be true good news for us “Lazarus-like” who suffer from the corona crisis for several years, and also suffer from rapid inflation and rising interest rates. . We also hope that the impossible ideal of “jubilee” will make our lives more beautiful.