PARABLES OF JESUS


F. About Wealth

The Parable of the Rich Fool
Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.  Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? 
Then he said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
 
And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'  Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' 

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'  This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.
Luke 12:16-21
reflections



The Parable of the Great Banquet
One of those at the table with him said to Jesus, Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.

Jesus replied: A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.  At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'  But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'  Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'  Still another said, 'I have just got married, so I can't come.'  The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'  'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'  Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.  I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'
Luke 14:16-24



The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Jesus told his disciples: There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-  I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
 
So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'  'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'  Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' 

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.
For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.  I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.  Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.  So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?  
Luke 16:1-12