+Today we hear a lot about “sharing the wealth” and being “fair” by making rich people share their wealth with poorer people. Did Jesus teach this? He did have opportunities to do so. One of them came when a man stepped out of a crowd following Jesus. The man called out:
+“Master, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us.”
+If anything, this amounted to a legally justified claim. The man’s brother was hoarding all the wealth their father had left the family, wasn’t he?
+Jews had a remedy for such situations. A rabbi in Jesus’ day could decide such cases. The law allowed the firstborn son to inherit a double share of the inheritance, while others in the family shared the rest. (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
+The man could have gone to a rabbi and forced the brother to share part of the wealth. That was a common practice. So why did he go to Jesus? All I can figure out is he thought he might get a better deal from Jesus than from another rabbi. Jesus was known to condemn people who depended on wealth for their security. Perhaps Jesus would condemn the wealth of this man’s brother and tell him to share the wealth equally or even more.
+Jesus’ answer shocked the man.
+“Man, who gave me the right to judge or divide the property between you two?”
+“Master, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us.”
+If anything, this amounted to a legally justified claim. The man’s brother was hoarding all the wealth their father had left the family, wasn’t he?
+Jews had a remedy for such situations. A rabbi in Jesus’ day could decide such cases. The law allowed the firstborn son to inherit a double share of the inheritance, while others in the family shared the rest. (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
+The man could have gone to a rabbi and forced the brother to share part of the wealth. That was a common practice. So why did he go to Jesus? All I can figure out is he thought he might get a better deal from Jesus than from another rabbi. Jesus was known to condemn people who depended on wealth for their security. Perhaps Jesus would condemn the wealth of this man’s brother and tell him to share the wealth equally or even more.
+Jesus’ answer shocked the man.
+“Man, who gave me the right to judge or divide the property between you two?”
+Jesus then added this comment as a lesson to the crowd listening.
+“Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because a person’s true life is not made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be.”
+What just happened? A man had asked Jesus to help him get what he deserved. Instead of helping the man get his “fair share” by judging his brother, Jesus switched the focus to the man himself. Jesus more or less said to him, “Your trouble is your own greed!”
+See Luke 12:13-15
+I can imagine a good rabbi would ask to talk to both brothers. Then, in their presence he would demand that the brother with the inheritance share part of it with his brother. Perhaps he would scold the brother with the inheritance for hoarding all the money. But Jesus did the opposite. He saw greed in the disinherited brother.
+In fact, Jesus followed this incident with a parable not only about greed, but about people putting their trust in and building their lives around the wrong things. Commonly called “The Parable of the Rich Fool,” it tells about a rich man who built bigger barns to store more of his crops so he could take a vacation, but God told him, “Tonight you’ll die. Then who’ll get your goods?”
+See Luke 12:16-21
+The rich man’s life centered on his possessions as did the cheated son’s. Both let greed reign.*
+What just happened? A man had asked Jesus to help him get what he deserved. Instead of helping the man get his “fair share” by judging his brother, Jesus switched the focus to the man himself. Jesus more or less said to him, “Your trouble is your own greed!”
+See Luke 12:13-15
+I can imagine a good rabbi would ask to talk to both brothers. Then, in their presence he would demand that the brother with the inheritance share part of it with his brother. Perhaps he would scold the brother with the inheritance for hoarding all the money. But Jesus did the opposite. He saw greed in the disinherited brother.
+In fact, Jesus followed this incident with a parable not only about greed, but about people putting their trust in and building their lives around the wrong things. Commonly called “The Parable of the Rich Fool,” it tells about a rich man who built bigger barns to store more of his crops so he could take a vacation, but God told him, “Tonight you’ll die. Then who’ll get your goods?”
+See Luke 12:16-21
+The rich man’s life centered on his possessions as did the cheated son’s. Both let greed reign.*
_
*_ I realize that some theologians prefer to see this as a parable of 'the times' rather that against greed. But I see no reason not to see both at work here. Greed takes your eyes off the coming Kingdom of God. And meeting your final destiny unprepared, whether it come at death or the future coming of Christ, jeapardizes all hope. See Archibald M. Hunter, Interpreting the Parables, 77-78; and Joachim Jeremias, Rediscovering the Parables, 129-130.
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