Lk 12.33 The first half of this verse has no parallel in Mt. As in vi. 29, 30, we have a rule given, not that it may be kept literally, but that it may illustrate a principle. So far as attachment to our possessions is concerned, we must be ready to part with them (1Cor. vii.30). Our fondness for them is not our justification for keeping them. But there is no Ebionism here, no condemnation of possessions as sinful. As Bede points out, Christians are not commanded to retain nothing for their own use (for Christ Himself had a purse out of which He gave alms), but to take care that fear of poverty does not interfere with benevolence. Almsgiving is not to be a mere giving of what you can spare. Nor is it merely for the sake of the receiver. It is also for the good of the giver, that his heart may be freed from covetousness. The attempt to keep the letter of the rule here given (Acts ii. 44, 45) had disastrous effects on the Church of Jerusalem, which speedily became a Church of paupers, constantly in need of alms (Rom. xv. 25, 26; 1 Cor.xvi. 3; 2 Cor. viii. 4, ix. 1).
- from page 329, Critical & Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel of Luke