Foolish Farming

Why did Jesus call the guy who had a great harvest a fool? (Luke 12:13-21)

Suppose, instead of deciding how he could use the harvest to produce a retirement income, he had started thinking about how many people he could employ, or how many poor widows he could feed? Suppose that after he got this great harvest as income, he had found a pearl of great value hidden in a field? How might his heart have contrasted the cost of that field and the value of his possessions?

When the rich young ruler walked away sad because Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor and follow Him, Jesus commented that it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom. Roman myths explain this as a reference to “going to heaven” or to a small low gate somewhere in the mythical parts of old Jerusalem. Entering the Kingdom is moving your life into a place where you no longer trust your wealth to provide comfort and pleasure, but you convert to trusting your King to provide life and purpose. That’s a difficult shift for a person who is self-centered, like the farmer, or wealth-centered, like the young ruler.