Luke 12:13

‘And one out of the crowd said to him, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” '

The passage opens with a man coming to Jesus in order to have the problem of his inheritance situation sorted out. It was commonplace in those days for such matters to be dealt with by religious teachers, and he probably thought that as a prophet Jesus' word would carry even more punch. (Or perhaps the Rabbis had refused to assist him because they recognised the falseness of his claim). But what a contrast he is with those who came asking, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life'. This man was only interested in this life. Luke may well have expected us to make the contrast which reveals that the question about eternal life was central, while that about earthly inheritance was dismissed as irrelevant.

Furthermore the man's motives were probably even more selfish. For the situation could well have been that the elder brother was striving to keep the family and its land together as one inheritance for the good of all, while this man, like the prodigal son, wanted to separate his part off so that he could do what he liked with it, or claim compensation in respect of it, so that he could have a good time regardless of how it affected the family. And he was asking Jesus to use His authority to help him in his selfish purpose. He was going totally contrary to the principles of Psalms 133.

We should note that the approach is not one of genuine arbitration. The two brothers do not appear to have come together for that purpose. It is one of a disgruntled man trying to curry the Lord's favour on his behalf, and asking Him to force his brother into a situation not of his choosing.