Tearing Down Tragedy
By Anthony Casperson
6-21-25

In a number of tragic tales, we witness the protagonist seek after something with unwavering zeal. Usually some combination of money, romance, and power. But the object sought after can also be one of a number of things aren’t bad in and of themselves. It’s this drive to achieve their heart’s desire that makes up most of the story.

But what causes the tale to be tragic is the price that the protagonist eventually pays for it. They’re small sacrifices at first. Then, something a little more difficult to give up. But the person figures that their goal in life will give them something so much better. Something more. The sacrifices are worth it.

At least, that’s the way they see it.

For the audience, it’s often easier to see that those exponentially worsening sacrifices will lead to a major problem. We see the disappointment in the eyes of the protagonist’s child. We hear the anger of their spouse who just wants things to go back the way they had been. And in the more heavily-handed stories, we watch the demonic instigator rubbing their hands in joy at the quickly arriving downfall.

Then, the main character finally achieves what it was they wanted for so long. And they turn to share the celebration with their family and friends, only to realize that those people and relationships had been sacrificed a long time ago. They’re alone. And the whole journey wasn’t one of gaining some great thing, but one of losing everything else.

With that knowledge realized, the protagonist looks back at their achievement or object, only to witness it as the lesser thing that the audience has realized it is for over half the story. Its glimmer isn’t as bright. Its importance less so. And its cost far too great for such an ordinary thing.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to have goals. And wanting something that can make our lives better is a worthy aspiration. But we have to ask is that thing we desire the best goal to have? Is there something more worthwhile? Do we already have access to something else that is so much better in the long run?

We don’t always see it that way, blind as a tragic protagonist in our efforts. And so, we pursue and struggle and fight, all to add one more inch to the boundaries of our dying kingdom. Until we realize that it’s all dust slipping through our fingers.

For the followers of Jesus, there is one pursuit that is greater than all others. One we can know with faithful certainty is worth any sacrifice. (And it won’t greedily grasp at everything in our lives.) That is the Kingdom of God.

We talked a bit about the revealed mysteries of the kingdom over the past few weeks, shown to us in the parables of Jesus. And last week we saw that those who are citizens of the kingdom should be willing to give everything to God, including all that he calls us to give that is for the betterment of others.

But this week, we witness the tragedy of what happens when we fail to put the Kingdom of God first in our lives.

The parable for this week is about a rich fool, found in Luke 12:16-21, but I believe that the wider context actually helps us understand it much better. So, we’ll include all of verses 13-34.

In the chapter as a whole, we see Jesus has been teaching many important and weighty pieces of truth. He’s warned the crowds to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees—those tiny hypocrisies that spread to the entire loaf. As well, he spoke of the fact that he will acknowledge before the Father any who acknowledge him before humanity. And Jesus had just told his audience the importance of not grieving the Holy Spirit.

Then, right in the middle of this amazing teaching, we get to verse 13. A man speaks up, and Jesus stops teaching amazing truth to listen to this guy. What is it he wants to ask about? Is it for clarification on any of the previous material? Could he possibly want more of the mystery of the kingdom to be revealed?

No. The man has a complaint that he wants Jesus to hear. A complaint about this guy’s brother not dividing their inheritance properly.

Jesus has been proclaiming amazing truth about the kingdom. And this guy wants to bring up a civil court case? To someone who would never be recognized by any human court to be able to preside over this case? (Sure, Jesus has ultimate authority as God the Son, but the Jewish court system would never admit that.)

Part of me would want to look at this guy and say, “Now’s not the time for questions like that. Come back later, when he’s not busy teaching such amazing things.” (Yes, I have been in far too many classes where a fellow student’s question totally derails the teacher. And I’ve had to fight within myself to not let my eye-rolling sigh be heard by anyone.)

But Jesus takes the interruption seriously. Sure, he questions why the guy would come to him with such an issue. There were provisions in the Law about what to do with inheritances. And courts could decide if a younger brother thought that his older brother had cheated him—as is probably this guy’s problem. But Jesus does take the time to teach, both this guy and us.

And masterful teacher that he is, Jesus wraps the serious response in with his teaching on the Kingdom of God.

He tells a story about a rich man who had a full field that was getting ready to provide a plentiful harvest. So much grain that his old storehouses wouldn’t cut it. Therefore, he tore down those barns with the intent of building up bigger. And he could relax in his efforts for years to come. The easy life after so much hard work.

But, God had other plans. The man’s life would be taken from him that very night. And all of that great wealth would slip through his hands and be given to another. God even calls the man a fool, because of this misguided perspective on his wealth. This word for fool doesn’t mean a stupid person like we would imagine. Rather, it’s someone who willfully ignores the wisdom of God. One who has heard the word of God, but refused to let it take root in his heart, as we’ve seen in previous parables.

Then, in verse 21, we see Jesus say that any who lays up treasure for themselves rather than the kingdom is likewise a fool.

Many teachers and preachers will look at this parable and say that it means we should make sure to not prioritize earthly wealth. Because we can’t take it with us. And know that our short lives can end at any moment.

This perspective on the passage isn’t wrong. That point can be made. But I believe that there’s more to it than that. Especially if we realize that the tragic context matters.

I say “tragic” context, because much like the tales from our introduction, there’s a pursuit of a goal that greedily demands sacrifices. Notice two things about Jesus’ words.

First, in verse 15, Jesus warns against covetousness. Why would he make this warning right before telling the story of the rich fool? The character doesn’t seem to be covetous? He happily accepts a full field that fully belongs to him.

Rather, it is the man who asked Jesus about his inheritance that is covetous. Likely of his brother’s share of their father’s wealth. Whether it comes down to the method of giving the firstborn a double portion of the inheritance, or something else, the guy’s complaint about it shows that there’s some coveting going on in his heart. A covetousness that he tries to pass off as unfair practice of his brother. “It’s not my problem. No, it’s my greedy brother that needs to be told off.”

Thus, there has to be some aspect of Jesus’ point to this complaining brother found in the following story.

This leads us to the second thing to notice about Jesus’ words. In verse 18, the parable’s protagonist decides that he’ll tear down his barns before building up new ones. Why is that detail in there? What difference does it make that he’s begun tearing down the barns in order to ready the space for larger ones, instead of just using what he’s got and then building another?

Maybe, it’s because this detail of tearing down something good could be the point of connection between parable and context.

I believe that Jesus’ words emphasize the tearing down of the brotherly relationship that the man asking about his inheritance is in the process of doing. The sacrifice of a good sibling relationship in the pursuit of the inheritance he covets. A fool who doesn’t listen to God about the importance of human relationships, especially when compared to money.

It’s tragic because the man is putting the abundance of possessions above the better pursuit of right relationship.

And as we saw in last week’s parable, we can tell that when a person has a less-than-godly relationship with their neighbor/brother/fellow human being that they also have a barrier in their relationship with God.

This is when Jesus transitions back to his teaching of the kingdom. To the pursuit of the best thing: the Kingdom of God.

He calls us to not let our anxieties about this world steal away our soul. (Verse 22’s word for “life” when it says not to be “anxious about your life” is the same word as “soul” in verses 19-20. And the same is true of “life” in verse 23. Thus, it shows a purposeful transition back to the topic of the kingdom. The two sections are related, no matter what section header may or may not be in your translation of the text.)

The reason for the teaching against allowing anxieties to fester in our soul is because there’s so much more that God wants to give us. He wants to provide for us, just as he does the birds of the air and the beautiful plants. There’s nothing we can do to make God give us more than he already desires to graciously give.

Therefore, our heart’s greatest desire should never be for the temporary objects of this planet. Never for the money—nor for the romance or power—that tempts human beings. Rather, we should set the Kingdom of God as the primary goal for all that we do.

It’s not that money or food or clothing are bad things to have. Otherwise, God wouldn’t want to give them to us. Rather, they are not to be the primary focus of our lives. Not the driving factor when we decide what is worth sacrificing to obtain our goal. Because they’re nothing more than temporary possessions that will pass on to another, whether when we share it with others, or when we die.

Rather, we find a greater possession in the heavenly realm, when we pursue the Kingdom of God. When we set our hearts to seek the things of eternity.

Instead of wrecking our lives, instead of sacrificing everything for the sake of a tragic tale, let’s seek God and his kingdom. Put them first in our lives. Make the primary thing we consider in our choices of life be how we can further his kingdom with the things that we have. And sacrifice what he asks us to sacrifice, knowing that God wants to add unto us all these things.

When we pursue the kingdom, it will never end in tragedy.