Study 29. Luke 12:13-34
7. Jesus refuses to judge between two greedy sons (12:14). Instead, He tells a parable to show how God will judge all men like these (12:15-21). What is the rich man's mistake? The man who approaches Jesus does not ask Jesus to decide on the merits of two claims: he asks for a decision in his own favour. He seems to be acting unilaterally for nothing indicates that the brother had agreed to have Jesus try the case. 'Man', is far from cordial (cf. Bengel, ‘He addresses him as a stranger’). He came to bring people to God, not to bring property to people (Morris) The rich man: is blessed by God (his land produced plentifully, v.16) had foresight for his finances looking forward to a comfortable retirement. selfish -he had no thought for others ('my' 4 times in vv. 17–19 while 'I' occurs eight times in the Greek) thoughtless for eternity He was a 'fool' - he missed the issues of greatest importance. He thought he could control his future and his lifespa...