Are you familiar with the parable of the rich fool? I’d tell it myself, but Jesus does it better.
A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”
What I love about Jesus’ parables is that they’re as applicable today in the 21st century, as they were in the 1st century. And what’s amazing is that the more you dig, the more you’ll find—this is true for the entire Bible. For example, while the crowds listening in on Jesus would’ve been shocked by the story, it’s likely for different reasons than us. Here’s why.
On the surface, it seems foolish that the man would first tear down his barns before building bigger ones. Perhaps his older barns were dilapidated? Or maybe he didn’t have enough land for additional barns? Both seem unlikely because this man was already rich, even before his year of plenty, which means he likely took care of his property.
And it’s not like we’re talking about Manhattan here, so the fact that he already had more than one barn shows us that he likely had room to build more. So why didn’t he just add on to his additional barns? And if he was already rich, why didn’t he give some of his crops away?
While these are the questions that naturally come to mind for a 21st century reader, Jesus’ initial listeners would’ve been shocked for different reasons.
Try reading through the parable again and counting how many times the rich man uses the personal pronoun. And did you notice to whom he was speaking?
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