Luke 12 - Indepthbible.org

12.16 But then he spoke a comparison / parable to them saying, The field of a certain2568 2569wealthy person was fruitful. 12.17 And he was reasoning in himself saying, What should I2567(...continued)occasion (which lawyers and judges can handle) and focuses attention on the basic cause (withwhich God is concerned), viz., covetousness...“The awesome thing about Jesus’ teaching is that it represents so unerringly this ultimatedivine point of view. This is one of the elements in what we mean when we speak of the divinityof Christ.” (Pp. 225-26)Marshall notes that “Jesus is called upon to intervene in a dispute, but refuses to do so, notmerely because he is not qualified to do so, but above all because he is opposed to the covetousdesire which underlies the request for his arbitration. A disciple is one who has a true sense ofvalues and recognizes that real life is not measured in terms of possessions. It only needs God totake away the real life of a man...and at once it is apparent that ultimately his possessions are ofno value to him. The man who is not rich in regard to God is indeed poor, no matter how big hisbank balance. He is, therefore, in the last analysis a fool, a godless and hence a senselessman...He has, as he thought, prepared for his own comfort, but he has not prepared for hisultimate destiny. He heaped up treasure for himself, the implication being that if he had given uphis wealth in alms he would have secured a lasting treasure for himself...” (P. 521)Fitzmyer states that “The saying in verse 15 adds commentary to the foregoingpronouncement, providing it with another basic attitude. It exposes the underlying covetousnessof the request for arbitration. Jesus warns against every kind of greed. He refuses to identifyauthentic Christian existence with the possession of material wealth, even inherited–especiallywhen abundant. It is much more important to be than to have–to be one who listens to God’sword and acts on it than to live in an unnecessary abundance of wealth...” (2, p. 969) “Fullnessof life consists not in what one has or in what one has labored and sweated for...Patristic allusionsto this verse often recast it: ‘Possessions are not life’...The greedy person acts as if the importantthing in life is only secured when he / she has amassed the superfluous.” (Ibid., p. 970)See Ecclesiastes 2:3-11 for the wisdom writer’s rejection of the amassing of goods as thekey to life’s meaning and purpose.2568Fitzmyer notes that “The details of the story would well be at home in a Palestiniansetting.” (2, p. 973) The verb used here, euvfo,rhsen, which we have translated “was fruitful”translated by Fitzmyer “produced abundant crops,” is found only here in the entire Greek Bible.2569The dative masculine singular reflexive pronoun eàutw|/, “in (or by, or for) himself,” ischanged to the dative masculine singular pronoun auvtw/|, “in (or by, or for) him,” by Vaticanusand the first writer of L.This variant reading does not change the meaning of Luke.This kind of “soliloquy” is found elsewhere in Luke, at 12:45; 15:17-19; 16:3-4; 18:4-5;(continued...)1243