Mind Your Own Business!

Chances are he probably wasn't. It seems his purpose in being there was to wait to talk with Jesus so he could ask for his intervention. I can picture him thinking, 'C'mon, c'mon, finish this up so I can talk to you about something really important'.

So I can understand why Jesus reacted the way he did. Jesus wanted this person to realize that he wasn't there to settle everyone's disputes; otherwise he'd be spending his time putting out fires instead of teaching, preaching and healing.

But what's interesting is that another definition for arbiter is: someone with great influence over what people say, think or do. In the following verses Jesus sets out to do just that.

Luke 12:15-21, "Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

It's as if Jesus said, "you want me to arbitrate? Ok, listen up because I'm about to give you a lesson on greed." So we see although Jesus responded strongly to this man, he still chose to be an arbiter and teach a valuable and hopefully influential lesson to the brothers and anyone else who had ears to hear.

I like how Jesus handled this. Instead of taking up a lot of time listening to these guys go back and forth or simply give his ruling on the matter, he teaches a lesson about what was really important.

How often have families been ripped apart over money and greed? Siblings fighting over the inheritance and then not speaking to each other for decades. Jesus wanted these brothers to realize there was something more important than material things. Jesus didn't want to get involved in the judicial side of it, but he did want to involve himself in the spiritual side of it.

And think about this: had Jesus chose to listen to the brothers argue their case, a lot of the people there would've dispersed, not bothering to listen in because it was none of their business. Instead, everyone got to hear a lesson they could all take something away from.

Have you ever been brought into someone else's dispute? Sometimes, we may choose to listen and try to help. But then there are times when it will be better to not get involved. Or if we do, instead of listening to them go back and forth, we get beneath the surface to deal with the underlying issues and get to the heart of the matter. Doing so will give them something to think about so they can mind their own business and resolve it.