Big Idea: Those who are preoccupied with immediate concerns are in danger of missing what ultimately matters.

Understanding the Text

The latter part of chapter 11 has been dominated by the theme of opposition to Jesus. That theme is now continued, but also it is developed to speak of the opposition that Jesus’s disciples too must expect to meet, and that will challenge them to stand up for God in a hostile environment. A collection of sayings of warning and encouragement spells out the uncomfortable choices that disciples must make. This then raises the issue of the priority of spiritual over material concerns, and the parable of the shortsighted plutocrat then leads into the theme of the tension between God and mammon, which will run through much of the rest of chapter 12 (and will be r…