Parable · Luke 12:16-21

The Rich Fool

A man with a bumper crop tears down his barns to build bigger ones, and dies that night.

Also called The Bigger Barns

The point

Count the first-person pronouns in his speech. He is having a conversation with himself.

16Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.

17So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’

18Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods.

19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

21This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter

Using this at church

Read in church on

Lectionary 18 Year CGospel, Luke 12:13-21

For a newsletter or sermon notes

The parable of the Rich Fool, explained in plain words. A man builds bigger barns for his crop, and dies that night. https://freescripture.org/parables/rich-fool/

Lines for the next eight Sundays, on Digital Lutheran Church