And he said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for [it is] not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
A man interrupts Jesus with a family dispute over an inheritance. Instead of settling it, the Lord turns to the whole crowd with a warning about the heart. His answer touches two questions at once: what Christ came to do, and what a human life is made of.
The Occasion: Two Covetous Men
The question behind this warning sounds fair. One brother wants his share of the family inheritance. Commentators note that the Lord does not take sides, because both men were driven by the same thing.
C. H. MackintoshThe spirit of covetousness was clearly in the whole affair. Covetousness ruled both sides of the case. One wanted to grab, and the other wanted to keep. What was this but covetousness? "And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" It was not a question of who was right or wrong about the property. By Christ's pure and heavenly teaching, both were wrong.
The refusal in verse 14 is not indifference to justice. It marks out the errand He was on at that moment.
J. N. DarbyHe was not come to set things right in this world then; though He will do this when He comes again. Had He been accepted as Messiah, He would have done so then; but the counsels of God were otherwise. It was quite right that the man should have his inheritance; but as Messiah He was rejected... He was then come about men's souls; therefore He says to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness."
What Covetousness Is
The word can sound like a crime word — theft, fraud, sharp practice. That is not what Jesus is naming here.
W. T. P. WolstonThe question is not just about getting something in a wrong way. No, that is not the point. It is this. In the heart of man there is a settled determination to acquire. The urge to acquire is natural to the human heart. That heart busies itself with the things of time — the things of the senses — the things of this life.
That makes it far harder to spot, because the whole culture around us runs on it and calls it ambition.
William KellyCovetousness involves no dishonesty. It is not even harsh or sharp dealing. It is no more than the desire for more. It is the very spring of modern effort — the drive to better yourself, praised in everyone from the workman to the millionaire. So the creature becomes the object, and not God. That is why covetousness is called idolatry. It is man looking down, not up in dependence on God.
Not a Rich Man's Sin
Because the sin sits in the wanting and not in the having, no income bracket is safe from it.
J. N. DarbyAlways remember this. Riches are a snare to the rich man. But for a poor man to envy a rich man because of his riches is as bad or worse. It just shows that he would have riches too if he could. It is not a question about riches. The Lord wants to get souls into heaven, and riches will not take them there; that can only be by being rich towards God.
What Faith Puts in Its Place
Kelly traces the request back to the heart's wish for what it does not have, then names the path faith takes instead.
William KellyThis anxiety for Christ's help to settle questions comes from the heart's desire for something it does not have here below. Here the Lord judges the effort to hold on to your position. He exposes the eagerness after earthly righteousness — "be on your guard against all covetousness." The rejection of Christ, and the revealing of heavenly things, led into the true path of faith. That path means trusting God for whatever He gives. It means relying on Him, not on man, in every difficulty. It means being content with what we have. God arranges all to faith.
If a life is not measured by holdings, the obvious next question is what does measure it.
Well, you say, what does his life consist in? That is a very serious question. What does your life consist in? Is Christ your life? You know what Paul said, "For me to live is Christ." That was life indeed... but in having Christ as an object and motive. The Lord reads our hearts very simply. He knows the danger of the urge to acquire in the human heart, whether it is the heart of an unconverted man or the heart of one of His own people.
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Summary
- Guard — the Lord answers a property dispute with a warning about the heart. Both brothers were wrong, because the same appetite drove both.
- Grasping — covetousness is not fraud but the plain desire for more. That is why it hides so easily inside honest, respectable ambition.
- Ground level — it belongs to no income class. Envying a rich man proves you would be one if you could.
- Gauge — abundance is no measure of a life; the real measure is Christ Himself as the object of the heart.
- Gain — riches cannot carry a soul to heaven. Only being rich toward God can.