Parable of the Rich Fool

thumb|The Parable of the Rich Fool (Rembrandt, 1627) The Parable of the Rich Fool is a parable of Jesus which appears in the Gospel of Luke. It depicts the futility of the belief that wealth can secure prosperity or a good life. Quotes about Bible Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Gospel of Luke 13:12-21 NIV. Others The man believed that he owned his own soul, just as he owned his possessions, and his soul did not object. The dialogue he carried on with himself somehow took the place that dialogue with God, prayer, should have had. And he seemed to live well with his soul, because it agreed with him, because it accepted to stay within that perspective of life, filling the barns so that he could then enjoy everything. But now, since his soul is being asked back, the owner suddenly finds himself poor. His soul will have to stand naked before God. His barns are completely empty. The accounts no longer add up. [...] God's warning is a final act of benevolence for the frightened owner, the only one that still counts. He must change his relationship with God very quickly. God is his true wealth: for the sake of this good, he must renounce all other goods, and only those who surrender to it will discover God again. But God is not a granary. He is love that gives itself freely, as the Son showed on the cross. He gave himself to the last drop of blood: love, forgiveness, redemption. He will find this treasure again with the Father, but not as a hoarded good, but placed in the relationship of eternal self-giving. Adrienne von Speyr, Le parabole del Signore (Gleichnisse des Herrn, 1966), translation into Italian by Giuseppe Reguzzoni, Jaca Book, Milano, 2008, p. 150. ISBN 978-88-16-30459-8. External links Parable of the Rich Man Category:Parables of Jesus