12:13 Evidently the person who made this request viewed Jesus as an ethical authority ("teacher,"Gr. didaskale, cf. 7:40) that his brother would respect. His request appears to have been strictly materialistic with no spiritual overtones. The man voiced a legitimate concern. The request provided the setting for the teaching that followed.
12:14 By asking this question, Jesus forced the man to consider who Jesus was. This was the fundamental issue for this man. He had appealed to Jesus as a judge. Jesus asked if he realized what He was doing. Really God had appointed Jesus as this man's judge as well as everyone else's judge. Hopefully the man faced the question of Jesus' authority over him and became abeliever, but this was not Luke's concern in recording this incident.
By answering as He did, Jesus was also refusing to pass judgment on the situation the man had presented to Him. He was competent to deal with it, but He refused to do so because He wanted to deal with another issue, namely the man's materialism.
12:15 Jesus warned the man and the crowd, including His disciples, against every form of greed. Greed is wrong because it exalts possessions to a place of importance that is greater than the place they occupy. Quality of life is not proportionate to one's possessions. There is more to life than that. Even an abundance of possessions does not bring fullness of life. The man had implied that his life would be better if he had more possessions. Jesus said that was not necessarily so. People should seek God rather than riches because God does bring fulfillment into life (cf. Col. 3:5).
