Luke 12:16 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And he spake a parable unto them,— The first thing to be inquired into, is the true drift and meaning of this parable. In the 15th verse our Lord warns his hearers to beware of covetousness. In this parable, he represents the foolish rich man enlarging his barns,that he might heap up his goods in store: in the text he warns us of the danger of laying up treasures for ourselves, while we neglect being rich towards God, and Luke 12:33 he exhorts us to sell what we have, and give alms; to provide for ourselves bags which wax not old; a treasure in the heavens that faileth not; where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. From these circumstancesitiscommonlyunderstood,thatcovetousnesswastherichman'scrime; that enlarging his barns to receive his plentiful crop was the instance and proof of it: and that the only way to be rich towards God, is to sell our goods, and to distribute them in works of charity and mercy. Thus the parable is commonly understood;—but, I think, not rightly. Our Saviour, it is true, introduces this parable in consequence of the caution that he had given against covetousness: but he had before given a reason against covetousness, Luke 12:15 and the parable was added to illustrate this reason given against covetousness, and not to display the folly or vice of covetousness in general. The rich man is not described in the colours of a covetous man; his wealth arose from no oppression or usury: it was the product of his own land, which has always been esteemed as honest way of being rich, and to proceed, as much from the immediate blessing of God, as any whatever. The ground was his own; he is not said to withhold it from the rightful possessor by violence or fraud. Thus far then there is no mark of covetousness, or any other fault. But when he found his crop to be great, he enlarged his barns; and this perhaps was his crime. But where was the iniquity of this? Does not every man endeavour that his barns should be in proportion to the product of his land? May not the most charitable man in the world have, or build a barn large enough to receive his crop, and yet be guiltless? Nay, it is evident hence, that covetousness, properly so called, was not his fault, for he built his barns to lay up stores for many years, proposing rest and satisfaction in the goods already gotten, and intending to trouble himself no further about wealth: he had enough. A covetous man would rather have turned his goods into money, and putit to usury, and slaved on still for more. Besides, in Luke 12:20 where God is brought in, reproving the rich man for his folly, there is not one word said of his building large barns to receive his fruits:—Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee! But, if the large barns had been the crime, the consistency of the parable requires that the reproof should have pointed to the crime, and it should have been said, "Thou fool! this night shall the lightning fromheaven consume thy large barns," or something to this purpose. Further,neitheruponthis is it rightly concluded from the circumstances of the parable, that this rich man was void of charity to the poor. He is represented as fully satisfied in his abundance. There had been much more reason to have thought him uncharitable, had he been represented as not contented with his abundance; but still fearful of poverty and want; which is often the case, and the pretence of the rich uncharitable man. Nor, lastly, is it reasonable to limit and confine the notion of being rich towards God, to works of charity only: all good worksin proportion make us rich towards God. St. Paul speaks in general of the richness of good works, and St. James of the richness of faith: and in the present passage, to be rich to God, does particularly signify to trust and rely upon his providence for our life and support, in opposition to relying on treasures of our own heaping up, or large barns of our own buildingandfilling.Andnow,havingthusfarexaminedthecommoninterpretation,and shewn how much it falls short of our Saviour's true aim and intent, I shall endeavour to point out the true meaning, which will lead us into the right understanding of the inference drawn by our Lord, Luke 12:21. When our Saviour exhorted his hearers to beware of covetousness, he supported his advice with this reason, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth; this reason he illustrates and confirms in the following parable. So that the aim of the parable is to shew, that wealth is no security; that it is folly to pretend, by heaping up treasures, to arm ourselves against the accidents or casualties of life, from which nothing can protect us, but the good providence and care of our heavenly Father. In this point all the circumstances of the parable meet. The rich man is represented as flowing in plenty, so that he was necessitated to pull down his barns and storehouses, in order to build larger. This plenty made him forget God, and vainly imagine that he had a securityin his own hands against allthe calamities of life. His riches made him promise himself many happy days and years; in which confidence he expresses himself as in Luke 12:19. This folly God reproves him for, and checks him in his presumptuous security, Luke 12:20. Thou fool, &c.—"Thou shalt die;—and what then must become of those mighty pledges of thy security? So little will they avail thee, that they themselves will fall under the power of another, never to return to thee again. So is he, continues our Lord, who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God." Which words being the moral of this parable, must be expounded so as to answer the design of the parable; and therefore to lay up treasures for ourselves, must signify, to lay them up for our own security, as if we meant to become thereby the carvers of our own fortune. Consequently to be rich towards God, being placed in opposition to laying up treasures for ourselves, must denote our placing confidence and trust in him; our endeavouring to procure his favour and protection, as knowing that in them only is all our hope and stability. See the Inferences and Reflections.