Luke 12:20

My Notes

What Does Luke 12:20 Mean?

God speaks directly to the rich fool: thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then the devastating question: whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

The word "fool" (aphron) means senseless — not intellectually deficient but morally bankrupt. The man was smart enough to build bigger barns. He was senseless enough to forget he was mortal.

"This night thy soul shall be required of thee" — required (apaiteo) means demanded back. The soul was on loan. Tonight the owner calls in the loan. The man who had planned years of ease has hours.

"Whose shall those things be?" — the accumulated wealth now belongs to someone else. The man stored up treasure and cannot take it with him. Every investment that ignored eternity becomes someone else's inheritance overnight.

The parable is Jesus' commentary on the person who stores up treasure for themselves and is not rich toward God (v.21).

Reflection Questions

• 1.What makes the rich man a 'fool' despite his financial success?
• 2.How does 'this night' challenge your assumptions about the future?
• 3.What does it mean to be 'rich toward God' as opposed to rich toward yourself?
• 4.If your soul were required tonight, what would your investments be worth?

Devotional

Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. God calls a successful, wealthy, well-planned man a fool. Not because he was poor at business. Because he was poor at eternity.

This night. Not next year. Not in the many years the man planned for. Tonight. The timing demolishes every assumption the man made about his future. The plans were solid. The timeline was wrong.

Thy soul shall be required. Required — demanded back. The soul was never his to keep. It was on loan from the one who gave it. And tonight the loan comes due.

Then whose shall those things be? The question hangs in the air. The barns are full. The grain is stored. The retirement is funded. And the man is dead. Everything he accumulated transfers instantly to someone who did not build it.

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. That is the summary. You can be rich toward yourself — full barns, funded accounts, comfortable plans. Or you can be rich toward God — invested in what lasts beyond tonight.

The fool's mistake was not building barns. It was forgetting mortality. You are building something. The question is: what happens to it tonight?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture