“Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15).
The topic of wealth/possessions is quite frequent in Luke’s gospel. In this instance, Jesus turns a question into an opportunity for ministry to the gathered crowd – to teach the danger of greed.
Today’s Scripture finds Jesus among people…walking with them…listening to them and answering back. Jesus interacted with the crowd.
People were coming to Jesus: to be healed; to intercede for their sons, daughters, servants; to test Him with questions about the Mosaic Law; to ask His mediation in a family feud.
While He walked among the people, doing good (Acts 12:12), yet He focused on the task of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God and teaching people the kingdom values. He also ministered under a specific time frame (John 2:4): “…My time has not yet come”.
In this case, Jesus didn’t get involved. His short answer was: “…Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” (Luke 12:14). His teaching was not.
This request prompted Jesus to give people a warning which was followed by a parable.
The warning: “Watch out! Be on your guard…” – is a double warning. To grasp its importance, we’ll compare it to some other warnings issued by Jesus.
“Watch out…for false prophets…” (Matthew 7:15). “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod…” (Mark 8:15). “Keep watch…you don’t know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).
Greed corrupts the soul and puts one in a collision path with God. It starts little (just like yeast) and then overtakes one’s mind and life.
It makes one “poor toward God”. The Scripture tells us that “greed … is idolatry”. (Colossians 3:5). Hence, “Watch out!” Be on your guard…”