Sect-5 Appendix G – Lazarus and the Rich Man

(From Chapter 16 – Is Death a Fitting Punishment?)

I often frame a topic as a question in order to approach the specific concern someone has expressed about it from multiple directions, but in the case of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), there are many questions which arise out of the traditional teaching and they cover a broad range of topics. Though I won’t take the space here to go into depth on all of them, I will at least address some core considerations.

 

The first and most glaring question about this story is whether it represents reality or whether it’s a parable. Where this becomes problematic is that most who insist it’s not a parable change the definition of a parable, claiming a parable cannot contain a proper name like Lazarus. To make such a claim in this case hints to an incomplete understanding of the message intended by Christ and recorded by the author.

Christ’s Use of Parables

Even if an author violated the formal definition of a prose, parable, or other literary construct, I’d be tempted to defer to their method and seek to understand the intent behind the variation – there’s likely a good cause. I don’t think that is the case here, so let’s begin with how and why Yeshua used parables as a method of instruction. When we do, we find a couple of startling insights.

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ (Luke 8:9-10)

 

We know who the chosen are, those given to know the secrets of the kingdom, but who are the others and why is it for them not to know? Let’s look at Mark’s account.

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that

“they may indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:10-12)

 

This was not a new indictment. Christ was quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah when thinking of those outside (Isaiah 6:9-10; Jeremiah 5:20-21). Notice how Christ ended the Parable of the Sower – And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9) Christ used this saying repeatedly, even in his Revelation to John, to indicate that God’s calling to hear and understand his words of life is only extended to some. This is especially true for the descendants of Israel and Judah, since they are the people Christ came to reveal himself to, though as a whole they rejected him (Romans 10:8,16-21). This knowledge of God and the kingdom is what will be taken from those who think they have it, but don’t bear its fruit (Mark 4:23-25; Fourth Gospel 5:37-40,44-47; 9:35-41).

 

Again we see that the speaking of parables was intended for those not yet called to follow Christ, and everything he spoke to them was in parables (Mark 4:33-34; 3:22-27). He even recites a parable directed specifically to the Chief Priests and Pharisees because of their rejection of the Son of Man (Matthew 21:23-46).

They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. (Matthew 21:41-46)

 

Matthew’s account further records why they hear and do not understand.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

‘You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’ (Matthew 13:13-15)

 

Though by their dullness and hardness of heart they stumble over the cornerstone which is Christ, God will in his own time lead them to repentance and give them a heart able to hear (Romans 11; Jeremiah 30:1-11).

The Context of Luke 16

Since it was Christ’s stated purpose to speak only to others in parables (those other than his chosen disciples), let’s look at the context of Luke 16 and see who his audience is. Just before the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, our Lord had recited another parable about the dishonest manager. Who was the audience?

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he (Christ) said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:14-15)

 

Clearly from the context, it is the Pharisees to whom he was speaking, and to them only in parables; because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. An additional consideration from the context is his indictment of the Pharisees’ love of money. A love that exceeds their love of God. In the previous parable, Christ shows that one cannot serve God and money (vs 10-13), and the Pharisees are lovers of money (vs 14-15).

• They are exalted in their own eyes and in the eyes of the world.
• But to God, what they serve is an abomination to him.[1]

 

From this, we can understand who it is in the latter parable of Luke 16 that is represented by the rich man, and why he is being contrasted against the poor and humble man Lazarus.

Consider the Contrasts

Many of Christ’s parables involve contrasts, so it is a good habit to ask what it is he is contrasting within the parable. Answering this will reveal insight that might otherwise go overlooked. It can be helpful to use a table to record the contrasts. Sometimes, they correspond individually to each other, as they do in this parable.

 

Rich Man	Poor Man
Rich man is unnamed, Clothed richly and royally. His property is gated and is fenced or walled. He feasts sumptuously each day, yet ignores the needs of the poor man.	Poor man is named, Poor and in need of clothing. He is humble & sits at the gate with no comfort for his sores. All he desires are crumbs from the rich man’s table.
What are their respective states in death?
Rich man is counted among the unrepentant and unbelievers He is distressed and finds no rest in the grave. He did not hear Moses or the prophets, and is unconvinced even if one is raised from the dead.	Poor man is counted among the faithful and repentant along side Abraham He is comforted and finds rest in the grave. His faithfulness went unrewarded in this life, but rests in the reward of the faithful in the next life.

 

I’ll leave it to the reader to work out Christ’s teaching for each of these contrasts, but I’d like to address a couple of them.

The Proud Man is Unnamed

The purple and fine linen adorned by the rich man signifies the pride and pomp of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

• John the Baptist called them a brood of vipers (Matthew 3:7)
• Christ stated that their righteousness was insufficient for the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:20)
• He warned his disciples and the people to beware of their teaching (Matthew 16:6,11-12; Matthew 23)

 

So blind were they in their own self-righteousness that they couldn’t see the messianic sign in Christ’s healing of the man who was blind from birth (Fourth Gospel 9). If they continue in this state of unbelief, they remain unnamed and are like fruitless trees which are cut down and cast into the fire.

The Humble Man is Named

The fact that this parable is unique in that one of the subjects is named doesn’t disqualify it from being a parable, but instead shows the significance of the subject. The poor man represents the humble, those whom the Chief Priests and Pharisees, in their pride and arrogance, have robbed; the poor, the down-trodden, and the widow (Isaiah 10:1-2; Ezekiel 22:6-12; Malachi 3:5). These poor and down-trodden are the very ones who are faithful and responsive to God’s power and Christ’s message of the kingdom, while the religious authorities and blind leaders are not (Fourth Gospel 9).

 

However, for the humble, there remains a promise in Christ for those who mourn in Zion. They shall be called the priests of the Lord. They and their offspring will be known among the nations (Isaiah 61:1-4,6-7,8-10). Though they know God in part, they’ve been fully known by him. And it is in that knowledge that Christ will;

• Declare their name before the Father (Revelation 3:5-6)
• Name each one of his own (Revelation 2:17)

A Chasm Between the Two

A fundamental purpose behind the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man is not to relate the conditions of the dead but to illustrate the chasm that separates the humble from the proud in the eyes of God. The humble and poor man is counted among the faithful alongside the father of the faithful. He, like all the faithful, awaits the resurrection of the dead to eternal life. The proud and rich man is counted among the unbelievers and unrepentant. They too, await a resurrection from death, but their resurrection is one of judgment (Fourth Gospel 5:28-29).[2]

 

Yeshua the Christ illustrates the chasm between the heart and the mind of the humble and that of the proud; a chasm neither party is able to bridge (Luke 16:26). The benefits one reaps in this life are not representative of those to be reaped in the next. It comes down to whom one is willing to serve; God or money.

• For the rich man, the circumstances are now reversed, and he is the beggar
• Similar to the table scraps that Lazarus desired from the rich man’s table, so is a mere dip of water to cool the tongue of the rich man amidst the fire. Neither is sufficient to revive the soul.
• The lack of esteem shown by the rich man indicates he claims it all for himself. Like the Sadducees and Pharisees whom Christ confronted; they did not hear his words, they did not hear Moses, and they did not hear the pleas of the poor.

 

It’s not that difficult to see the underlying purpose behind this parable is to communicate to the humble that which the proud are unable to perceive because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. This same theme runs through to the end of the parable, where Abraham charges the rich man, who represents the Pharisees, with the same indictment – if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead (vs 31). But to which of the resurrected dead is Christ referring?

• If concerning Christ’s own death and resurrection, this was certainly true for the Pharisees – for the greatest miracle will have no effect on those who are determined not to believe.[3]
• If concerning the upcoming resurrection of another named Lazarus (is there coincidence in the naming?), this miracle too was lost on them, and they sought to kill not only our Lord, but the resurrected Lazarus as well (Fourth Gospel 11; 12:10-11).[4]
• There is a third inference to consider regarding the impact on belief as a result of resurrection; that is their own future resurrection to judgment. There is the implication in the wording of the parable – if someone should rise from the dead, that even then, God’s power to resurrect the unbelieving will be insufficient to sway their hearts and minds. This is a most serious indictment; for them, there is only destruction in the lake of fire and no hope of resurrection from the second death. With the gift of free will and the hardheartedness of some, it seems likely there will be those who will not surrender to the obedience of faith in Christ our Lord, even after experiencing their own resurrection to mortal life and God’s righteous judgment.

 

Is the subject of faith in God and his coming kingdom of sufficient priority that the Messiah would judge those unsuitable who do not have the heart to hear his words of life? Certainly it is. It’s likewise sufficiently important to illustrate so vividly the chasm that separates the proud from the humble. This serves not only as a warning, but as awareness of the futility in man’s efforts to save himself versus God’s power to save – “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 23-26).

 

As one looks more deeply at what’s being expressed in this parable, which contrasts a humble and poor man Lazarus with a hard-hearted and self-focused rich man, we’re left observing the enormous chasm which separates them. A chasm that exists not only in the material world but, more importantly, in the immaterial world of the heart and mind. One can only wonder what, or who, can bridge this chasm between the repentant, those with ears to hear and eyes to see, and the unrepentant, who seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. The righteousness and eternal life offered in Yeshua the Christ is the only bridge which spans that gap.

 

We cannot forget that all humans are created incomplete when endowed with the image of God. Regardless of how one defines the image of God, it’s clear from scripture that some characteristics humans possess, free will, consciousness, and self-determination, can serve to lead one closer to God or to drive one away from God. For us as Christians to understand the difference between the humble and the proud, we must understand the nature of our own reconciled relationship with God. It doesn’t come by our own hand. Another parable, the parable of the Prodigal Son, illustrates clearly that it has more to do with the patience and grace of the Father than with the character flaws expressed in each of the sons. In the case of the younger son, it was only after suffering deprivation and destitution that he came to his senses and chose to return to his father. For the older son, his pride showed in his sense of self-righteousness, which blinded him to the father’s love, compassion, and faithfulness expressed toward all his children. In either extreme, it was the Father who was able to fill the gap at the right time.

 

When we look at the creative work that Yeshua the Christ is fulfilling for the Father now and in the future (1 Corinthians 15:22-26; Hebrews 9:27-28), we can see the same pouring out of God’s character in Christ in order to return the hearts of the children to the Father and to humble the hard-hearted. For some, it will require the oppression, deprivation, and destitution of life to soften their hearts sufficiently to hear with their ears and see with their eyes. For others, it will require the wrath of God and even death before their pride is broken. In any case, it is only when God extends a calling and his Holy Spirit to each one of us, and we’re willing to receive it (Romans 5:17), that we stand a chance at walking across that great chasm and finding rest in Abraham’s bosom. Praise be to God for those to whom it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God.