Luke 12:13-34

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:33

Sell that ye have - Dispose of your goods. Be not like the foolish man already mentioned, who laid up the produce of his fields, without permitting the poor to partake of God's bounty: turn the fruits of your fields (which are beyond what you need for your own support) into money, and give it in alms; and the treasure thus laid out, shall be as laid up for yourselves and families in heaven. This purse shall not grow old, and this treasure shill not decay. Ye shall by and by find both the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:34

Where your treasure is - Men fix their hearts on their treasures, and often resort to the place where they have deposited them, to see that all is safe and secure. Let God be the treasure of your soul, and let your heart go frequently to the place where his honor dwelleth. There is a curious parallel passage to this in Plautus, quoted by Bishop Pearce on Matthew 6:21 . Nam ego sum hic; animus domi est, sc. cum argento meo . "I am here; but my heart is at home, i.e. with my money." read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:13

Verse 13 13.Bid my brother divide Our Lord, when requested to undertake the office of dividing an inheritance, refuses to do so. Now as this tended to promote brotherly harmony, and as Christ’s office was, not only to reconcile men to God, but to bring them into a state of agreement with one another, what hindered him from settling the dispute between the two brothers? (265) There appear to have been chiefly two reasons why he declined the office of a judge. First, as the Jews imagined that the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:15

Verse 15 15.Take heed and beware of covetousness. Christ first guards his followers against covetousness, and next, in order to cure their minds entirely of this disease, he declares, that our life consisteth not in abundance. These words point out the inward fountain and source, from which flows the mad eagerness for gain. It is because the general belief is, that a man is happy in proportion as he possesses much, and that the happiness of life is produced by riches. Hence arise those... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:16

Verse 16 16.And he spoke a parable to them This parable presents to us, as in a mirror, a lively portrait of this sentiment, that men do not live by their abundance. Since the life even of the richest men is taken away in a moment, what avails it that they have accumulated great wealth? All acknowledge it to be true, so that Christ says nothing here but what is perfectly common, and what every man has constantly in his mouth. But where is the man that honestly believes it? Do not all, on the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:17

Verse 17 17.What shall I do? Wicked men are driven to perplexity in their deliberations, because they do not know how any thing is to be lawfully used; (269) and, next, because they are intoxicated with a foolish confidence which makes them forget themselves. Thus we find that this rich man lengthens out his expectation of life in proportion to his large income, and drives far away from him the remembrance of death. And yet this pride is accompanied by distrust; for those men, when they have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:19

Verse 19 19.Take thine ease, eat, drink, enjoy thyself. When he exhorts himself to eat and drink, he no longer remembers that he is a man, but swells into pride by relying on his abundance. We daily perceive striking instances of this disdainful conduct (270) in irreligious men, who hold up the mass of their riches, as if it were nothing less than a brazen rampart against death. When he says, Eat, my soul, and enjoy thyself, there is an emphatic meaning in this Hebrew idiom; (271) for he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:20

Verse 20 20.Fool, this night they will demand thy soul from thee. The word soul carries an allusion. Formerly, the rich man addressed his soul as the seat of all the affections: but now, he speaks of the life itself, or the vital spirit. The words, they will demand, ( ἀπαιτοῦσιν ) though in the plural number, are used indefinitely, and mean nothing more than that the life of the rich man, which he imagined to be in his own power, was at the disposal of another. I advert to this, because some... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:21

Verse 21 21.So is he that layeth up for himself. As the two clauses are evidently contrasted, the one must be taken into account for the exposition of the other. Let us ascertain, therefore, what is meant by being rich in God, or, “towards God” or, “with respect to God.” Those who are tolerably acquainted with the Scriptures know that the preposition εἰς not unfrequently takes the sense of ἐν. But whether it be understood in the one sense or in the other, is of little consequence; for the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:29

Verse 29 Luke 12:29.And be not lifted on high (460) This clause corresponds to the last sentence in the passage taken from Matthew, Be not anxious about tomorrow Our Lord now charges them with another fault. When men wish to make arrangements in their own favor, they would willingly embrace five centuries. (461) The verb μετεωρίζεσθαι , which Luke employs, properly signifies to survey from a lofty situation, or, as we commonly say, to make long discourses: (462) for the intemperate desires of... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:33

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:34

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:13

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:15

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:19

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:20

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:21

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:29

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