INTERPOLATING JESUS’ PARABLE of the “RICH MAN”

Let’s interpolate Jesus’ “Parable of the Rich Man” to illustrate to us the correct way of viewing, discerning, and executing the spiritual supernatural message of salvation contained in all of His parables about the kingdom of God/heaven that is present on earth at this time with Christ’s judgment of what is yet to come. In the previous parable of the “Unjust Steward,” the older son in his profane secular humanistic worldview believes he can literally manipulate, force, and secure for himself the physical position and lifestyle he desires. But is this in accordance with God’s judgment found in the “Parable of The Rich Man?” This parable illustrates the spiritual processes of an Unbeliever resting in the faulty and counterfeit worldly reasoning/common sense leading to Christ’s judgment of eternal condemnation. (1)
(1) You younger men, follow the leadership of those who are older. And all of you serve each other with humble spirits, for God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets himself against those who are proud. (1 Peter 5:5) TLB

The Parable of the Rich Man:

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you {you shall die}; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21) NKJV

This parable has a semblance to the third person/group of the parable of the “Seed and the Sower but with an ironic twist. In the parable of the “Seed and the Sower,” the “Born Again” person/ group was led back into the physical world and the physical things of the world because of the pressure of trying to maintain and preserve his/their material wealth – “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful {No longer wins lost souls/sinners and disciples them in Jesus Christ.}.” (Matthew 13:22) NKJV

The ironic twist in this parable of the “Rich Man” is that this man/group has been greatly blessed with bountiful riches by God in his life, but he/they fail to acknowledge God’s blessings on them. (2)
(2) {I am God} Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. And beware lest you say in your [mind and] heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. Like the nations which the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.    (Deuteronomy 8:16-22) AMP

The irony of this parable being that the rich man/group did NOT recognize nor affirm that it was God Who gave him/them their ability to acquire riches – the wealth they were going to enjoy to the “max” for the rest of their lives. Not only did they fail to acknowledge God’s Sovereignty and Providence in their lives and that He also has a purpose for their riches in the Kingdom of God/heaven here on earth, (3) but they failed to realize that it is He Who controls the number of their days, (4)
(3) As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment. [Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others], In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed. (1 Timothy 6:17-19) AMP
(4) Since a man’s days are already determined, and the number of his months is wholly in Your control, and he cannot pass the bounds of his allotted time — (Job 14:5) AMP

In conclusion to this parable, Jesus further interpolates this parable for us when He said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:22-34) NIV

Too many Christians are not content with God’s testing of them – His caused situations, trials, circumstances, and events to lead them to the fulfillment of His foreknown and predestined plans that He has for them. The grass always appears to be greener on the other side of the fence to many of us because we become impatient with the lack of God’s immediateness, speed, and the way He is training us for what we think our ministry should be i.e. what we believe to be our worship and service to Him. What we are actually doing is denying and thwarting God the Holy Spirit’s process of our individual sanctification. This is an extremely serious sin! One that could lead to one’s backsliding and eventual falling away from the Christian faith/apostasy which is called the eternal sin of blasphemy of God the Holy Spirit. (5) We keep looking at and comparing how God is blessing and anointing someone else for ministry by pointing fingers and declaring the faults and inadequacies of that person(s), and we become very disgruntled with the seemingly ineptness of God’s involvement in our lives. We have the same profane secular humanistic worldview as the older son who gave his Father a piece of his mind when his Father did not do things the way that he thought and wanted.
(5) Truly and solemnly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever abusive and blasphemous things they utter; 29 But whoever speaks abusively against or maliciously misrepresents the Holy Spirit can never get forgiveness, but is guilty of and is in the grasp of an everlasting trespass. (Mark 3:28-29) AMP