The Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' 27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'" Two main differences from other parables: Some make big deal about these, but do need to look at them. First, it is not stated that this is a parable, and does not have some of the common introductory elements of a parable. Second, an actual name is used in the parable, namely Lazarus. Because of these things some want to make the parable to be about what happens after one dies. For instance, some teach that this story is to show us that the righteous can watch the wicked in hell in their torture, and talk to them. Personally if that is the case, I will skip heaven and hell, because I want pain and suffering to be over with. But I am getting ahead of myself, There are definitely some parabolic qualities. There is the use of hyperbolae. We see the use of symbols. Abraham's bosom. We see the great contrast between the rich and the poor. Not that there was not that contrast, but is it presented more dramatically than it would have been seen in reality. Now let us look at the environment of the parable. This is in a series of parables. Let's go back to Luke 14 to get the feel of what was going on. Remember, Luke is the Greek, the one who was concerned with the time line of things. Jesus goes to eat at a Pharisees house on Sabbath. He healed a man there. This was probably a setup. He asks if they would help a donkey on the Sabbath. They refuse to answered. Now come the parables. First, the invitation to a wedding feast. Jesus advises those present to act in humility and let honor come to them. Then he challenges them to feed the needy, not their friends. Then the parable of the supper where the invited guests would not come, and instead the "unworthy" were invited. Next comes the parable of building the tower, which we have looked at already. In that parable the hearers were to count the cost of their plans. Next comes the trilogy of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. Then the parable of the unfaithful steward that made friends of others rather than beg. Concluding this Jesus makes the statement, you cannot serve God and money. Now we are at the beginning of our passage for today. Luke 16:14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 "The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. 17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. 18 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. So as we look at the context, why is Jesus telling this parable? He was talking to people who loved money, who made fun of truth, who justified themselves, who claimed to follow the law but made ways to avoid the hard parts of it. That is where the comment of adultery comes in. Jesus is saying that there is no shortcut around what God has set up. The progression of parables is about a relationship to the kingdom of God, in all of it's facets. It is given to those who were rejecting the calls to repentance that they had been given since the time of John the Baptist. I will go one step further. I believe that as much as being a parable, this is a prophecy to them of what they were going to be involved in a short time. I believe that is why the name Lazarus is used, because Jesus knew that he was going to resurrect Lazarus, and he knew that they would try to kill him to do away with a witness to the divinity of Jesus that they could not deny. I would just be interested to know if any of them made the connection when Lazarus was resurrected. Let's get to the parable: Luke 16:19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. This makes an interesting start. Here we have a group of rich people who are proud of their goodness and enjoying their wealth. They feel assured that their wealth is a sign of God's blessings, and they see no need to take care of the needy as God through Moses had instructed them to do. In this sequence of events, Jesus had already healed a man with infirmities. Whether or not this is at the same feast we are not told. So Jesus is sitting with these rich men, and has given parable after parable of advice and direction for these men. Jesus lays out the contrast vividly. The beggar was in dire straits. Not only was he hungry, but he was sick. The rich man may or may not have given the desired scraps. That is not the real issue. The real issue is whether or not the rich man moved to care in any significant way about the issues that the beggar, Lazarus, had. By the way, Lazarus means God has helped, or God is my helper. 22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. At first, even in death it appeared that the wealthy man had an advantage. He was buried. Lazarus was probably picked up by a cleaning crew and taken out and thrown in the dump along with dead animals and refuse. But death is an equal opportunity predator. The rich and the poor alike face their maker sooner or later. But here Jesus describes two very different options for those who die. Damnation or Glory. Abraham's bosom is the Jewish phrase refereeing to paradise. Hades leaves little to the imagination, either. There is an interesting play on words that we miss in the English here. The rich man is in torments. That is a word that is very similar to one used for one in intense suffering from disease. Compare that with Lazarus that had dogs licking his sores. 24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' Here is an example of hyperbole. The water on the tip of a finger would do little to stop the anguish of someone in the flames. But that is about the amount of interest that the rich man had shown Lazarus in his distress. Also the rich man did not ask Lazarus to do him the favor: he asked Abraham to instruct Lazarus to perform the task. This shows that the rich man still feels himself superior to the humble Lazarus, even though the difference in their rewards should have given him a clue as to who was on the moral high ground. 25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. Jesus now has Abraham speaking. He calls the rich man "son." Each one reclining around the table that day considered himself to be a son of Abraham. Interesting behavior for a guest to issue a blanket condemnation of the people who were entertaining him. Those at the table were experiencing the blessings that God had given to the world. The person who had just been healed, had experienced the down side of life. He had no doubt been presented to Jesus as a test case. I have no illusions that they brought him to Jesus so that he could be healed, but rather that he be a tool to find something against Jesus if He healed him. 26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Here we have the heart of what Jesus is getting at. All of the trappings and details of the story are for the purpose of making one point. And it is made in two ways. Once we have experienced death, it is impossible to change the results of our lives. What we do in our mortal lives affects our eternal destiny. There is no second chance after death. There is no re-evaluating, second guessing, reconsidering, mind changing, and any other phrase that you choose to use after we die. The decisions that we make in life are eternal decisions. 27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' In His Word, God has given us all that we need for salvation. Then on top of that God has given us his son. There is nothing more that can be done for the living. 31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'" Now Jesus delivers the punch line. There were soon to be two that were raised from the dead. Lazarus was the first. That is why I believe that Jesus used the name Lazarus. He wanted to make a tick in their memory when they were planning to kill Lazarus.` The second was to be Jesus himself. And they would do everything that they could to keep him in the grave. So what is the message for us? Again we have an end-time message. It is worth noting that the eventual end of the two is not about wealth or lack of it. Some rich people will be in the kingdom. Some poor people will be there. But each of us will reach our personal end-time. Most before the end of the world. The message here is very similar to that of the sheep and the goats. How we treat our fellow man is a direct reflection of how seriously we take our faith. Are the blessings that we have also blessing other people? Once we pass into death, there is no turning back. We, have in essence, sealed our own destiny. He urges us to make our choices now. And to make them for Him.