The rejection of Christ leads to an important change, both in our Lord’s position and in what men would find in and from Him. This is brought out remarkably in Luke 12:13-30. A Jew would naturally have looked to the Messiah as the judge of every vexed question. Even he who valued the Lord Jesus for His unblemished ways and holy conversation might well seek His aid. But it is here shown that His rejection by man changes everything. One cannot reason abstractedly therefore from what the Messiah was as such; we must take into account the fact of the state of man towards Him and God’s action thereon. The cross of Christ, which was to be the fruit and measure of the rejection of the Lord, would have in its train immense consequences, and very different from what had gone before; and this not only on man’s part, but on God’s.
Hence, when one of the company said to Him, “Master speak, to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me,” the Lord answers, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” He had not come to judge. The rejection of Christ leads into that infinite salvation He has wrought, in view of which He declines the settlement of human disputes. He had not come for earthly purposes, but for heavenly. Had He been received by men, He would undoubtedly have divided inheritances here below; but, as they were, He was no judge or divider over men or their affairs here in this world. But Luke, as is his manner and habit, presents the Lord immediately looking at the moral side of the matter, as indeed the rejection of Christ does lead into the deepest manifestation and understanding of the heart.
Covetousness
The Lord therefore addresses the company on broader ground. “He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” This anxiety for Christ’s help to settle questions flows from the heart’s desire of something that one does not have in this world. Maintenance of position is here judged, eagerness after earthly righteousness is exposed — “beware of covetousness.” The rejection of Christ and the revelation of heavenly things led into the true path of faith, of confiding in God for whatever He gives, of trusting, not man but Him, for all difficulties, of contentedness with such things as we have. God arranges all to faith. Nor is this the whole matter. The heart must be watched. “Beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” And this too He illustrates, as well as its awful end. There is exceeding selfishness, folly, and danger in what might seem to be earthly prudence. Hear the next words of the Lord. “He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?” Clearly this man counted that the prime good lay in the abundance of the things that he possessed. His desire was to employ what he had so as to get and keep more of present things.
Systematic Selfishness
The rich man (Luke 12:13-30) had no eye upon the future outside this world. All was in present life. It is not that the rich fool made a bad use of what he had according to human judgment, not that he was immoral, but his action did not go beyond gratifying his desire of ever-growing abundance. “He said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.”
This conduct stands in marked contrast with what the Lord afterward brings into prominence in chapter 16, where we see the sacrifice of the present for the future, and that such only are received into everlasting habitations. It is not the means of deliverance from hell, but the character of all who go to heaven. So far they resemble the steward in the parable, whom the lord commended, not for his injustice, but for his wisdom. He sacrificed present interests, his master’s goods, in order to secure the future. The rich proprietor here, on the contrary, is ever casting down his barns and building greater, in order to secure all his fruits and increase his goods. His sole and entire thought was for this present life which, he assumed, would go on unchangeably. The steward looked out for the reverse that was at hand and acted accordingly. May we feel ourselves stewards in what men would call our own and act with no less prudence. It was not so with him who says to himself, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” There was both self-satisfaction in what he possessed and withal the desire for a long enjoyment of present ease. It was practical unbelief of any future beyond this life; it was acting like the Sadducees. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?”
He never considered this. God was not in all his thoughts. He had reduced his soul to the merest slavery of the body, instead of keeping under the body, that it might be the servant of the soul, and God the master of both. But no: God was in none of his thoughts, yet God said to him, “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” He had looked onward for uninterrupted prosperity in the world. “This night!” Little did he think it. “This night thy soul shall be required of thee. ... So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Riches before God cannot be without what men shortsightedly count impoverishment of self, using what we have, not for ourselves but for others. These only are rich toward God, be their means great or small. If their means are small, they are nevertheless large enough to let them think of others in love and provide for wants greater than their own; if their means are great, their responsibilities are so much the greater. But in every case the gathering up is not for self, but for the service of grace, and this can only be by bringing God into the matter. Such only are rich toward God. Laying up treasure for oneself is the hard labor of self and the unbelief that reserves for a long dream of enjoyment which the Lord suddenly interrupts.
“Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after.” They were without God. “Your Father [not only God, but your Father] knoweth that ye have need of these things.” He advances now until He puts the disciples into the enjoyment of their own relationship with a Father who cared perfectly for them and could fail in nothing towards them. The God who watched over the ravens and the lilies — their Father — would surely care for them. He knows that we have need of these things and would be trusted by us.
W. Kelly