Death and the question of the soulĭoes the parable go further and teach that the dead are conscious and receive their eternal reward upon death? Several lines of evidence point away from such a conclusion:ġ. (3) there is no chance for change after death you will receive the reward you deserve. (2) the Scriptures are a sufficient witness to lead us to repent and to follow the Bible’s ethic and (1) the rich have a responsibility to help the poor in this life The parable of the rich man and Lazarus has three clear points: If you do not use your resources to bless others, you cannot expect to receive the true riches and eternal dwellings.ĭetails in parables must be interpreted carefully. Many in Jesus’ day thought that riches were a sign of God’s favor, and poverty of His displeasure. Jesus addressed this false theologythrough this parable showing that the “reward” for the rich was opposite of what they expected. The rich man illustrates the teaching of Luke 16:9-13 – if you do not use your resources to bless others, you cannot expect to receive the true riches and a home in the eternal dwellings. Second, in the parable their roles are reversed in the hereafter, again with opposite poles invoked – heaven versus hell. The first part of the story illustrates this graphically. When we use this assumption to look at the teaching of the story, many points in the parable become clear.įirst, the rich man and Lazarus are at opposite poles in regards to financial resources. But what does it all mean? The parable teaches the use of resourcesīecause this parable is linked in Luke 16 with other teachings on the use of financial resources, it makes a great deal of sense to see it as dealing with the same issue. With these words the parable comes to a close. Abraham responds that if they did not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither would they listen if someone were to rise from the dead. But the rich man refuses to be put off and states that if someone were to rise from the dead with the message, then surely his brothers would change and avoid the torments of hell. Again Abraham refuses, making reference to the testimony of Moses and the Prophets. The rich man then pleads that Lazarus be sent back to warn his brothers. Secondly, Abraham notes that a great gulf has been fixed between them so that no one can pass from one side to the other. It is the smallest of requests for mercy – just the tip of the finger dipped in water to cool the rich man’s tongue, not the entire body.īut Abraham refuses the request on two grounds – the rich man had good things in his earthly life while Lazarus had a bad life, and now the roles are reversed with Lazarus comforted and the rich man tormented. However, the scene quickly develops into the rich man in the torments of hellfire calling on “Father Abraham” to send Lazarus with at least a drop of water to cool his burning tongue. Upon death, the poor man is carried to the bosom of Abraham where he finds repose, while the rich man is simply buried. The rich man lives sumptuously while Lazarus is covered with sores and longs to be satisfied from the things falling from the rich man’s table. The reversal of expectation will become a major theme in the story. Normally we would expect the rich man to be named and the beggar to be nameless. The first scene of the parable tells of the vastly different positions in life of two men – a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. Because names provide specificity and imply importance, it is instructive that the rich man is never named in the story. The majority of Luke 16 deals with the subject of wealth, and this parable has much to say on the topic. It is unique in that it is the only parable of Jesus that tells of events in the afterlife, and it is the only parable that includes a personal name (Lazarus). The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus appears only in Luke 16. This interpretation seems to be contrary to the general teaching of Scripture that the dead do not know anything (Eccl. The poor man is in Abraham’s bosom, i.e., in paradise and the rich man is suffering in hell while his brothers are still alive here on earth. This parable is frequently referred to as one of the biblical proof texts for the immortality of the soul. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom and the rich man also died and was buried.
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