19 “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. 20 A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. 21 Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
22 “The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. 24 So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. 26 Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’
27 “The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father. Send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’
30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’
31 “Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Read Luke 16:19-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
The focus passage we are looking at today can be approached several (primarily two) different ways: we can approach this illustration as though it contains details to a much bigger theological discussion on the nature of death, or we can approach this illustration looking for the lesson only and leaving the details of the illustration as just the setting of a story. In this post, we will choose to approach the passage the second way, looking for truth and a lesson we can learn from this passage. We’ll leave the “details” side of the discussion for another time.
With that foundation laid, one really big lesson/truth stood out to me as I studied this passage. Summed up to a simple phrase it is this: A good life on earth does not guarantee a good “afterlife”.
In this illustration, Jesus flips an idea the Pharisees had upside down. The Pharisees believed that God’s favor rested on those who He had blessed with wealth. The wealthier one was to them, the closer they must be to God and His favor.
Jesus comes along and shares this illustration as a way of turning this idea around. What matters in the end, according to Jesus, is not what someone has earned, but instead how they treat others – specifically others who are not as well off as they are. God looks down on the world and He loves everyone, from those who are successful to those who are hurting as well.
The crowd who was listening was full of people who would have been much better off than a beggar with a disease. This illustration is less about the hurting man and more about the one who could help. The big problem we all face, both us today as well as those listening to Jesus, is that the “richer” and more successful we become, the less generous, compassionate, and approachable we are tempted to get. Our temptation, which is rooted in pride, says that because my balance sheet has a bigger black number on it, I must be better than you. This couldn’t be any further from the truth, but that doesn’t keep it from being a temptation.
It gets even worse than this, because mixed in with this temptation is a subtler temptation that wants to pull my trust away from Jesus/God and place it on my stuff, my success, and/or my wealth – basically on my own mind, ability, and track record of achievement. The Pharisees in Jesus time were falling for these two temptations, and these temptations were keeping them from being open to Jesus speaking truth in their lives.
Pride keeps people from being open to learning new things. Pride closes people’s minds to God’s truth. Pride kept the Pharisees in Jesus’ day from seeing the deeper truth that their success and status in this life was no indication of their status in the next one. Jesus kept sharing illustrations to try to wake up the religious leaders that they were headed for disaster, but they were closed to Jesus, being blinded by their pride and present circumstances.
It is a sobering thought that I can relate more with the rich man than with Lazarus. This means, at least to me, that I must learn generosity and show kindness towards everyone – especially those who are unable to “repay” me. This seems to be the biggest lesson I can take from this illustration, because “A good life on earth does not guarantee a good ‘afterlife’.”
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.