Family Issues in Jesus' Sayings - Luke 12:13-15, Etcetera

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”  Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Lk 12:13ff NIV)

This passage also appears in Gospel of Thomas (saying 72), but without the warning to 'guard against greed.'  Instead, GTh has Jesus ask his disciples, "Amen, am I a divider?"  Also, GTh doesn't have prepositional phrase, "between (or "over") you," in Jesus' original response in Luke.  Additional witness of GTh to this interchange increases likelihood of its standing in the life of Jesus.  DeConick includes logion 72 in the "kernel" portion of GTh, which she dates "prior to" 50 A.D.(1)  Since this dialog is unparalleled in other NT gospels, it may have come to Luke via word of mouth.  Together, the two gospels point to early oral tradition as the medium which brought this encounter to them.  Luke 12:15, admonition contra avarice, may be supported as authentic teaching of Jesus of Nazareth on the basis of coherence with Mark 7:22 (greed or covetousness defiles) and similarity to Q saying at Matthew 6:25//Luke 12:22-23 ("life [psyche] is more than food").(2)

The interjection imploring Jesus to oversee a bequest mentions a "brother" (GTh "brothers"), which brings a family matter to the attention of Jesus.  It is not uncommon for disputes to arise concerning inheritances among surviving family members.  Laws, lawyers and courts help to settle such matters.  Provision for proper execution of estates is made in the Law of Moses (e.g., Num 27:8-11).  Though improper disposition of property could ruin a family and the assistance of a rabbi to counsel a family here is reasonable, Jesus deflects the request by exempting himself from such a role (i.e., "arbiter" or "divider").  Why?    

Jesus' strident refusal to become involved in an issue of fairness or justice for a family is akin to other gospel teachings on the requirements of God's kingdom.  

• A scribe came and said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.  Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air, nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Mat 8:19f) 
• Another of his disciples said to him, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said to him, follow me and leave the dead to bury their dead (Mat 8:21f)
• Said another, I will follow you Lord, yet first allow me to bid farewell to those at my home.  Then Jesus said to him, None laying hand upon plow and looking backward is fit for the kingdom of God (Lk 9:61f)

Home and the details of family life are to be set aside in Jesus' mission of  leading people to God's kingdom.  

Jesus' own family, his mother and brothers, were looking for him and sent word to Jesus to come to them.  Jesus' response - "Who are my mother and my brothers?"  "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother" (Mk 3:31-35 NIV).  Jesus' own family relations "were strained" (3) because of his dedication and focus on God.                                  

Notes

1. April DeConick, The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation (London: T & T Clark, 2007), pp. 8, 228      
2. The Jesus Seminar understood Lk 12:15, not as genuine saying of Jesus, but a "Lukan comment."  See Robert Funk and Roy Hoover, The Five Gospels (NY: Macmillan, 1993), p. 338 
3. Helen Bond, The Historical Jesus (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), p. 112.  Cf. Lk 2:41-52; Jn 7:1-9