13 And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me. 14 But he said, Man, who made me a judge or a maker of decisions for you? 15 And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has. 16 And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: 17 And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. 18 And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. 20 But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? 21 So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.
22 And he said to his disciples, For this reason I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about what food you will take, or for your body, how it may be clothed. 23 Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing? 24 Give thought to the ravens; they do not put seeds into the earth, or get together grain; they have no store-houses or buildings; and God gives them their food: of how much greater value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself any taller? 26 If, then, you are not able to do even that which is least, why are you troubled about the rest? 27 Give thought to the flowers: they do no work, they make no thread; and still I say to you, Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God gives such clothing to the grass in the field, which today is living, and tomorrow will be burned in the oven, how much more will he give clothing to you, O men of little faith? 29 And do not give overmuch thought to your food and drink, and let not your mind be full of doubts. 30 For the nations of the world go in search of all these things: but your Father has knowledge that you have need of them. 31 But let your chief care be for his kingdom, and these other things will be given to you in addition.
32 Have no fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction. 34 For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 12:13-34
Commentary on Luke 12:13-21
(Read Luke 12:13-21)
Christ's kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. Christianity does not meddle with politics; it obliges all to do justly, but wordly dominion is not founded in grace. It does not encourage expectations of worldly advantages by religion. The rewards of Christ's disciples are of another nature. Covetousness is a sin we need constantly to be warned against; for happiness and comfort do not depend on the wealth of this world. The things of the world will not satisfy the desires of a soul. Here is a parable, which shows the folly of carnal worldling while they live, and their misery when they die. The character drawn is exactly that of a prudent, worldly man, who has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity. How many, even among professed Christians, point out similar characters as models for imitation, and proper persons to form connexions with! We mistake if we think that thoughts are hid, and thoughts are free. When he saw a great crop upon his ground, instead of thanking God for it, or rejoicing to be able to do more good, he afflicts himself. What shall I do now? The poorest beggar in the country could not have said a more anxious word. The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. It was folly for him to think of making no other use of his plenty, than to indulge the flesh and gratify the sensual appetites, without any thought of doing good to others. Carnal worldlings are fools; and the day is coming when God will call them by their own name, and they will call themselves so. The death of such persons is miserable in itself, and terrible to them. Thy soul shall be required. He is loth to part with it; but God shall require it, shall require an account of it, require it as a guilty soul to be punished without delay. It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity.
Commentary on Luke 12:22-40
(Read Luke 12:22-40)
Christ largely insisted upon this caution not to give way to disquieting, perplexing cares, Matthew 6:25-34. The arguments here used are for our encouragement to cast our care upon God, which is the right way to get ease. As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is. An eager, anxious pursuit of the things of this world, even necessary things, ill becomes the disciples of Christ. Fears must not prevail; when we frighten ourselves with thoughts of evil to come, and put ourselves upon needless cares how to avoid it. If we value the beauty of holiness, we shall not crave the luxuries of life. Let us then examine whether we belong to this little flock. Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him. In this Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return to judge the world. We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready. If men thus take care of their houses, let us be thus wise for our souls. Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come.