The week we will continue with another parable on wealth and money management. This week’s parable is found in Luke 16:19 – 31. This parable parallels the rich landowner parable from last week.
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
This parable central character is a rich man enjoying the most luxurious life possible. Lazarus, the other character in this story, represents the opposite side of the social ladder. He owned nothing, but Jesus honored him with a name, while the rich man remained anonymous. Lazarus was clothed with sores. He lived not in a gated mansion but on the street beside the rich man’s gate, and he depended to live on. He himself seemed to offer nourishment for the wild dogs that licked his sores. The rich man had the opportunity to do all Jesus had commanded. He could invite the sick to his banquet table. He could show his generosity in using his material resources for kingdom purposes. He could restore a lost man who was basically dead to life and join in heaven’s joy. He did not have far to search for this lost sheep. He ignored Lazarus and went about his luxurious life.
Eventually the poor Lazarus died, perhaps from his illness, or from malnutrition. The self-righteous and self-centered rich man certainly had some responsibility in his death. One day death visited the rich man. Dying is the only things the two men had in common in the story. The difference Jesus emphasized was what happened after death. Lazarus died and went with the angels to heaven. Not only was he in heaven; he was positioned right next to Abraham, the father of Jewish faith. Nothing better could happen to a Jew after death. The rich man went where his master, money, took him, to Hades. From there he could see Abraham, and what a shocking discovery. There besides Abraham, he saw Lazarus, the one he had been unable to see all those years at his gate.
What a reversal of fortunes! The rich man was tormented even more than poor Lazarus had been as the dogs licked his sores and the rich man ignored him. In desperation he called to Abraham for help. He addressed him as father, indicating that he considered himself to be of the seed of Abraham and deserving of help from Abraham and from the God of Abraham. He cried for mercy, even when mercy meant having poor, unclean, filthy Lazarus come to his rescue, although he never helped Lazarus. A fingertip of cool water would mean a lot in the horrible flaming torment he suffered.
Abraham could communicate from his eternal abode to that rich man. He continued the family terminology, acknowledging the man as a son of Abraham. The rich man needed a history lesson. In life he enjoyed all the luxuries. Lazarus, on the other hand, enjoyed no luxuries, only bad things. Now the situation was reversed. Lazarus received the comfort he had begged for all those years. But the rich man had slipped from the comfortable life to pure agony. Yes, those expecting to be first were last, and those who were expected to be last were now first, right beside Abraham.
An eternal reality needed explaining. Abraham might be able to communicate with the man in torment, but he could not come to him. A great chasm separated them. There is no description of the chasm, no location geographically, just the reality: You cannot get there from here. You are where you are going to stay, just as we are. Torment is your eternal reward just as heavenly comfort belongs to Lazarus.
Father, remember the rest of my family and yours, the rich man prayed. If the chasm prevents Lazarus from coming here, at least send him to my five poor brothers, caught up in the life of comfort and ease, just like I was. Explain the truth to them. I would do anything to spare my family from this horrible place of torment. Let Lazarus go back from the dead and warn them.
Abraham pointed him to the Pharisees’ favorite source of authority. They already had the books of Moses, the law and the prophets, which is the rest of scripture. They give them all the information they need. They need to listen to them. Such a warning implies that the rich man had the same authorities his brothers did, but they refused to listen to them. Obeying Scripture should lead them away from torment and to the eternal kingdom.
No, father Abraham, I am prime example number one, the rich man replied. They need something more than Scriptures. They need someone raised from the dead. Catch the irony of the rich man’s words. This man, who has everything the Pharisees did, wanted a greater authority than Scripture, that in which the Pharisees were proud experts. Does this indicate Jesus was right? The day of the Old Testament alone had come and gone. God has provided something new. The kingdom of God is now present in Jesus. If one does not follow Jesus, hope for eternity is gone, no matter how expert one is in ancient authorities. Jesus has come calling people to repent, for the kingdom is here. The rich man then saw that people like him may appear to be blessed and perfect. They may be religious leaders. They may appear righteous. But they still need to repent to enter the kingdom.
The final verse contains the awesome declaration of father Abraham. A person rising from the dead cannot convince such people. Obviously, he foreshadows the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus came to call sinners, not the righteous to repentance. Why? As Abraham states, those like the rich man and his brothers and the Pharisees are so convinced of their religious superiority and their righteousness before God that they will never respond to a call of repentance, even if the authority behind it is the voice of the resurrected one, Jesus. On this basis Jesus can explain that all Scripture points to him. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament taught. Yet, for the rich man and the Pharisees of the world, he is something radically new, something they will never accept, no matter how powerful a sign God uses to prove that this is his Son in whom he is well pleased.