First published in SIGHT MAGAZINE, 27 June 2025
Open Book: The unspoken tragedy of Mr Solo and his many silos
When the disciples asked Jesus “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”, He replied “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not them…whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matthew 13:9-11).
Thanks to the Gospel writers, we hear the spoken words of Jesus on these sacred secrets. But the unspoken in the parables can also speak volumes, especially to ‘the people’ of the Levant – where I was born.
The parable of the rich fool epitomises the duality of the spoken messages and unspoken cultural context.
In a “crowd of many thousands”, one man demands that Jesus “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”.
Unspoken: The local Jewish crowd would have known that the firstborn son inherits “double the share” of the other sons (Deuteronomy 21:17). They may have resented that this man opportunistically expected Jesus to overrule Mosaic law publicly.
Jesus rebukes this brother and responds with a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself – what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.”
This self-centred soliloquy is spoken in the singular (my italics), like the question posed by the man in the crowd. There is no we, us or indeed God in the equation.
Unspoken: God-fearing people of the land intrinsically know that this is the language of entitlement, not blessing. They cannot take credit for an ‘abundant harvest’, just as they cannot be blamed for drought and flooding.
Jesus continues: “Then he said…” (to himself).
In the Levant languages of Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic, the word for self (nephesh/nefs) also means soul, a divine gift from God.
Unspoken: The Levant culture is family-centred. Therefore, this joyful news would call for exciting discussions with his choir: family, heirs, elders, village, partners and clients. Moreover, there is no mention of praising or consulting God about his next steps.
Instead, Mr Solo keeps singing with his possessive pronouns: “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.’”
Unspoken: after Mr Solo’s chest-beating chorus, the labourers who toil under the sun would wonder – where are the verses about increasing his workers’ wages or donating to charity?
The rich man’s coda concludes: “And I’ll say to myself – you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and be merry.”
His self-congratulatory monologue shifts into a Godless dialogue, referring to himself in the second person!
Unspoken: The Jewish crowd may have recognised that Jesus was quoting verbatim the first half of a sacred verse (Ecclesiastes 8:15): “There is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad…” They may know the second half which reminds us that life is a gift and our days are numbered: “Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”
Instead, Jesus ends the parable with more confronting words: ‘But God said to him – You fool! This very night, your life will be demanded from you.’
So much for the hedonistic retirement plan!
Unspoken: The crowd would be jolted by this reminder that all Mr Solo’s promises to his soul were all in vain.
Then Jesus drops a loaded question: “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
This provocation targets everyone: the brother in the crowd, Mr Solo, his Jewish audience, and us today.
Jesus could have aptly cited King Solomon – “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? … This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19, 26).
Unspoken: The crowd may ask who inherits the many silos of Mr Solo? Unlike the ‘prodigal son’ (Luke 15) and the brother in the crowd, this parable is void of any heirs. Under Roman ‘Escheatment’ law at the time, intestacy (dying without a will or descendants) may lead to the assets being transferred to the pagan occupying empire!
When this penny (Caesar’s denarius) drops, the crowd would gasp – this man was indeed a fool.
And the brother in the crowd would understand why Jesus prefaced the cautionary parable: ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’
Unspoken: What if you inherited as much as your brother today, but died tonight? “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16:26).