The Source of Our Value: Luke 12:13-34

As we continue moving through our year chronologically moving through events in Jesus’ life and ministry, we come to a parable Jesus shared that is both fascinating as well as challenging. While many of Jesus’ parables and illustrations could be described this way, this one in particular challenges us with where we place our focus and how we respond to God when He has blessed us.

With that said, let’s read this parable and discover what we can learn from what Jesus shared.

Our passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 12, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting a few verses before the parable itself, Luke tells us starting in verse 13 that:

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to Him [referring to Jesus], “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

With this verse, Jesus ends His parable. While Jesus continues teaching following this parable, let’s stop reading here so we can focus on what we can learn from this parable and the question that prompted Jesus to share it.

First off, it is worth looking at how this parable is prompted by someone requesting Jesus to help with a family dispute that is happening over the family estate and inheritance. When we stop to think about it, the circumstances surrounding this dilemma are about as timeless of an issue as we could get. I suspect that most generations, if not most families, have tension, disputes, arguments, or even worse when dealing with the estate of a parent or grandparent who has passed away.

While the question or request over this estate is a fascinating situation in itself, equally amazing is the question Jesus responds with. Before redirecting His teaching, Jesus asked this man in verse 14, “Who appointed me as a judge over you?” This is a fascinating question because on one level, as God, Jesus is the final judge of the whole world. However, when we look at Jesus’ mission and ministry to this world, Jesus did not come to fill the role of a judge, who listens to case after case after case and then renders judgment. Instead, Jesus came as a Teacher and Savior, with the goal of leading people to a true picture of God. While it might have been interesting to know how Jesus would have acted if placed in the judge or negotiator role for this dispute, with the illustration Jesus shares following this dialog, we can get a sense for what Jesus would have said.

After asking this man the rhetorical question, Jesus then redirects His teaching onto the core issue in this situation. In verse 15, Jesus clearly states the root issue when He says, “Be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” In this opening statement, Jesus identifies that the root issue in this situation is greed. On one level, greed is trying to amass as much stuff and wealth as possible. On another level, greed is simply defining yourself by looking at the stuff, or amount of stuff, that you own.

Defining who you are based upon what you own can be as simple as feeling special because you are wearing a certain brand name, or feeling important because you travel a certain way or in a certain type of vehicle. It doesn’t have to be as cliché as the anti-social rich person who hoards everything and cannot let go of a single penny. If we narrowly define greed as something that only affects a certain subset of the population that we would define as rich, then we miss realizing that greed is a character trait that is very distinct from wealth.

Leading up to His parable, Jesus warns us that any time an object, a project, or a balance sheet becomes a part of our identity, greed is working its way into our lives.

In this parable, Jesus’ draws our attention onto the truth that even if you were the richest person in the world, and were so far ahead of whoever happened to be in second place that there was no way for anyone to even come close to catching you, your life would still not be equal to your stuff. In society, we call someone who defines their value in life by their net worth as shallow.

Intuitively, we know that money and stuff doesn’t equal our worth, but in culture today, very little focus is placed on your value in God’s eyes. Fame, fortune, and influence equals value and worth by culture’s standards. Even if culture and society say that stuff doesn’t equal value, culture and society act as though it is, and this is a very shallow view of life.

To contrast this, God showed you how much He values You, and He did this through the life of His Son. Jesus’ life is way more valuable than anything that can be listed on a balance sheet!

Jesus challenges the culture’s idea of our worth in this passage using one of His simplest parables – a parable that has only two characters. In most of Jesus’ parables, one character represents God, and another represents us, and this parable is the same – but in this parable, there is no guessing needed as to who is who. In this parable, God is God, and the man represents all of humanity on an individual level.

Everyone has the temptation to acquire more money, more stuff, and/or more status, but not everyone chooses to cave in to the temptation. The man in this parable does the most natural human thing to do – build bigger barns, which we could say is like buying another investment, buying a bigger house with more land, or depositing the money in another savings account.

However, this parable shifts the focus onto legacy; onto what happens after our life has ended. Regardless of the wealth we have acquired, someone else will get it after we have died. There is no escaping this, and no one gets to take carryon luggage with them on the journey to heaven.

While some might be quick to label this parable as speaking out against the wealthy, this parable is not about the evils of having wealth. The rich man only had an abundant crop because God gave it to him. In the context of this parable, God controlled the weather and other conditions surrounding how productive this rich man’s farm was, and if God didn’t want this rich man to have a productive year, it was easily within His power to do so. But this parable is not about God blessing or punishing rich people; it is about showing us enough about ourselves that He can then redirect us towards having a new perspective on our lives.

This parable, and Jesus’ teaching that follows it about worry, is all about where we place our focus and our trust. It is all about who or what we choose to focus on and where we choose to place our trust and security. Our balance sheet, and everything it represents, wants to tempt us into thinking it offers lasting security, but it is at best only a partial protection against what can happen. Only God can protect us in the present and future, because only He knows what the future holds for us.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and place your faith, hope, and trust in Him

Also, continue to personally pray and study the Bible, for yourself, in order to learn firsthand who Jesus is and what He thinks of you. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who loves you more than you could possibly realize.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or worry yourself away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!