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Author: Stephen Weller
650 words, 3 minutes read time

Flee Covetousness

Scripture: Luke 12:13-15

With the previous lesson we finished up the section in which Jesus taught about the importance of fearing God who can kill the body and send its soul to eternal hell, and not fearing man who can only kill the body. With this lesson we will start a new section and a short one about the parable of the rich fool.

^{Lk 12:13} “Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But [Jesus] said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”’

This conversation between Jesus and a man in the crowd is what led up to the parable of the rich fool. It appears that the brother of the man had received an inheritance and the man felt, for some reason, that his brother should share it with him. Perceiving that Jesus has power over people, this man comes to Jesus in an attempt to obtain his help in convincing his brother to share his inheritance.

Jesus was indeed the Lord of the universe but was careful not to become involved in matters that were not directly a part of his earthly work and ministry. Matters like this were outside that realm and could be resolved by other means.

Jesus perceived that this man had a covetous heart and out of greed wanted some of the inheritance. Responding to the man with the question, “Who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”, Jesus tells him indirectly that he will not become involved in the matter. Sensing the man’s greed, Jesus turns to the crowd and tells them to “Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.”

Paul speaks to Timothy about this in 1 Timothy 6:6 – 11 ESV: ⁶ “But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. ¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”

Jesus said that we are to be “on guard against all covetousness” and then adds, “for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” We find a related comment in Luke 9:24 – 25 where Jesus said, ²⁴ “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” It is easy to be drawn to the riches the world has to offer and miss the opportunity to obtain salvation and enjoy the true riches of God.

Verse 15 is a transition verse from the man’s covetous comment to a parable about a man who was rich but coveted even more. This parable will be covered in the next lesson.

Conclusion

What kind of guard do you have in place to protect you from encroaching covetousness? How do you maintain a healthy balance between worldly possessions and the things of God? “As for you, O [person] of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:11 ESV).