Today’s passage: Luke 12:13-21
Helpful thoughts:
- This man just interrupted Jesus’ teaching to demand money from his brother. Evidently, Jesus’ teaching wasn’t meeting his personal felt need.
- The man called Jesus “teacher” which would make sense in that rabbis often arbitrated among family issues such as this. However, the man should have had a relationship with a Rabbi and a synagogue to go to for such issues.
- Jesus did not come to allocate possessions. Jesus came to bring life to man and bring man to God.
- There are rich and poor people in this world who are “rich” toward God. There are rich and poor people in this world who are “poor” toward God. (Verse 21)
Questions to consider:
- What does a passage like this do to the ideas of the “prosperity gospel”, “church shopping”, and even “seeker oriented ministry”? What does it really mean to be rich toward God?
- When a person comes to hear the Word of God (Bible reading, church services, etc.), should they come ready to hear whatever God has to say or should they come with a shopping list? What did this man in verse 13 come to Jesus with?
- How many times did the rich man use the words, “I” and “my” in verses 17-19? In what situations are you prone to start using many personal pronouns? What items might be on your shopping list?