NOTES for Luk 12:13-21

This parable is humanity’s dream. To gather as much as possible, insure oneself against every disaster, cushion every possible fall, so that nothing could destroy our prosperous existence. The whole development of civilization is built on this desire: after working, to gather everything into the barn and feel independent of what is happening. In talking with people, one constantly encounters the conviction that this is possible and that if this goal cannot be achieved, it can be regarded as misfortune and total defeat in the struggle for the barn. Nevertheless, the problem is that this illusion is the first thing to perish not merely in a collision with reality, but even under a more attentive look at what is happening around us. One close look is enough to see that a person’s only guarantee is not to fill a barn, but to grow into God, as Jesus Himself described the life of branches joined to the vine, so that no storm can tear us away from Him. This is the only prescription He gives us for life in the world.