JESUS AND THE CHEATED BROTHER

“My friend, who made me a judge over you?” (Lk.12:14)

            With a bag of wild oats slung across his shoulder, a young man runs away from home, and has himself a time. He bumps along from town to town and job to job in support of a life style of wine, women, and song. His self absorption is so complete that he never troubles to let the folks back home know where he is or what he’s up to. One day, by the chanciest of coincidence, he meets up with a boyhood chum who is presently doing a hitch in the occupation army. Over a glass of wine he learns that his father is dead. Six months ago! Heart attack. No warming.

            When the first searing pangs of grief cool to a numbing sadness, it dawns on him that he is richer than he thought. Part of his father’s estate belongs to him. He heads for home and asks his older brother for the money that he takes to be his due. The brother balks: “Nothing doing. You wanted out, and now you are out! All of the estate is mine!”

            Angry almost to the point of murder, and certain that he has been cheated, the returned wanderer seeks redress. One afternoon he blends in with a crowd that is forming around an itinerant teacher from Nazareth. The talk is of the worth of man and the unpardonable sin. But our angry and aggrieved young man is so obsessed with his violated rights that he hears nothing. He restrains himself, not without considerable effort, until the master pauses for a drink of water. That narrow bit of silence is his cue. Loudly enough to be heard by all, he shouts out, “Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me.”

            Jesus cannot go on. His train of thought is broken, and the concentration of the crowd is severely distracted. Converting interruption to opportunity, he comes face to face with his single-minded suppliant and levels him with a question: “My friend, who made me a judge, or arbitrator, over you?

            Following that, he delivers a parable about greed.

            If not that, something like it must have happened as background for the incident reported there in Luke 12.  Why did Jesus refuse to intervene? A few thoughts in answer to that question.

            Jesus refused to pronounce on this dispute because this was not his mission. He had come into the world for one specific purpose, to bring God to us and us to God. I imagine Jesus loving the words which we read from Hosea this morning. God speaking says, “When Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called, the further they went away from me; they offered sacrifice to Baal, and burnt incense to idols. I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I myself took them by the arm, but they did not know that I was the one caring for them.” Out of such Hebrew literature, with which Jesus was totally acquainted, he drew his mission. “I will be the one who brings God back to God’s people, and God’s people back to God.”  “My friend, who made me a judge over you.” That’s not why I am here!

            A second thought. Jesus refused to pronounce on this dispute because he respected the powers in society that were responsible for justice. It would be terribly wrong for us to deduce from Jesus’ reaction that the gospel has no interest in the temporal well-being of people. The Bible is big on justice. Judaism is big on justice, and Jesus was raised in that tradition. It is a false spiritualization of the gospel which suggests that we ought to be concerned about the inner life and its grooming, not the outer life and its needs.  The important point is that Jesus knew that there were people in society who were responsible for justice. The emphasis in his reply falls on the word “me.” “My friend, who made ME a judge over you?” The law was clear on this subject. The Mishnah spelled it out.  If a man had four sons, the estate was to be divided into five parts with the oldest getting two shares. If a man had three sons, the estate was to be divided into four parts with the oldest son getting two.  “My friend, who made me a judge over you?”

            A final thought. Jesus refused to pronounce on this dispute because both parties were wrong. In a sense his reaction was “A plague on both your houses.” Each brother, in his own way, was guilty of covetousness; one for wanting to keep what he had, and the other for wanting to get it. They were covetous, translated, “greedy.” That one fact in their situation outweighed all the other facts. So Jesus turns to the crowd upon hearing this request and says, “Beware of covetousness.”  Then he drifted into that frightening story of the man who found that he did not have enough room in which to keep all of his produce and determined to build larger and larger barns.  One night the angel of death summoned him out of the world and stunned him with the devastating question, “Whose shall these things be?”

            Covetousness is one of the nicer sins. It’s one of the more respectable sins. It just barely got into the Decalogue.  It’s as though God said, “I don’t want to operate on a base of nine, let’s make it ten! O yes, coveting. It’s not one of the biggies, or is it? Nineteen times mentioned in the New Testament.  Paul grouped it with fornication and idolatry. The ancients called it a “malignant passion, hard to cure.” Here in the United States we have elevated it to a virtue, and disguised it as DRIVE, HUSLTLE, THRIRT, ENTERPRISE, AND SUCCESS.

            Master, speak to my bother, that he divide the inheritance with me. My friend, who made me judge over you?  Seek justice if you must and power to you! But don’t be so big a fool as to want anything so badly that you lose your soul to get it.

Prayer

Lord, teach us a proper use of wealth, neither worshiping nor despising the good gifts of your creation.

Temper our greed with a strong sense of responsibility for those whose lot is grim almost to despair.

Give us the mind of Christ, for we are his, and would make His will our own. Amen.