The Harvest We Desire—Luke 12:13-21

Russ Ramsey

The Parables of Jesus all pointed to a greater reality than the specific situations they presented. They focused on the coming Kingdom of Christ—one that is real, lasting and rich. The Parable of the Rich Fool also raises the important matter of the unpredictability of death, and explains well the Beatitude, “Blessed are the Meek.” We do not know when the Lord will return, or when we will pass from this life into death. Rule 2 of “The Grandmother’s Two Rules of Monopoly” describe our lives well: 1. Acquire, acquire, acquire. 2. When the game is over, everything goes back in the box.

But for the believer in Christ, we are told in the verses following the parable of the Rich Fool that Jesus Himself prepares our inheritance for us in Glory—that we are His, that He knows our needs and the details of our lives better than we do ourselves. There is an understated grace found in this Parable when we see that the Lord comes for our lives. He is coming for the life of a fool, but He comes for the lives of the believers too, to give us our inheritance in His Kingdom, which is and shall be forever!

The Beatitudes and this parable are told because we all want to acquire the earth. Many try to acquire it by stealing it. Others try to obtain it by earning it. Still others try to harvest it through ambitious scheming. But the only way we can acquire the earth is by living in it as we were made to—as heirs of God. Our acquisition of this world comes only through inheritance.