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 the place of the dead, 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 Abraham. 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!
Sometimes, when I read about an event or look into the details of a parable, I wonder what the broader context is. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus – the focus of this passage – is one place in the gospels that seem to bring more questions than answers.
For this journal entry, let’s focus not as much on the illustration, but instead focus on what we can gather from the context – and what are some ways we can view this teaching:
The first thing that jumps out at me that relates to the context is that this teaching does not start in typical parable fashion. Most parables begin with “The kingdom of God is like . . .” and then go from there, but not all parables do this. The most well known parable that does not start this way is the parable of the farmer and the four types of soil he spreads seed on (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15), and the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
This tells me that Jesus did share stories that taught truth beyond just looking at God’s kingdom, and this illustration was likely one of those.
The next thing we should look at is what the surrounding passage/teaching sounds and looks like. Are there illustrations/parables before this one, and if so do they start in typical parable fashion? And are there illustrations/parables after this one, and if so, do these ones start any differently?
Looking at the teaching included in the surrounding chapters, we have the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the prodigal son, the illustration of the unrighteous steward, and then a brief teaching on trust, greed, and the unchanging nature of God’s Law (Luke 15 and the first portion of Luke 16). After this illustration, Jesus teaches on the subject of not being a stumbling stone, on unconditional forgiveness, on increasing faith, and on being humble regarding our role in life (Luke 17:1-10), before the narrative shifts to another healing.
The surrounding verses tell me that while this passage is not tagged as describing God’s Kingdom, neither are any of these half dozen or so teaching topics.
The third thing we should look at is whether this illustration is meant to teach us something about the present world, or if it is meant to teach us something else.
It has been said (or speculated) that Jesus took a famous parable of the religious leaders and flipped the conclusion. This theory says that in the original version of this teaching, the rich man goes to Abraham while the poor man continues to be punished.
While this makes for a good explanation for some of the unique qualities of this illustration (i.e. This is one of the only, if not the only, time Jesus includes a name in a parable), looking from the broader context seems to challenge this thinking. Luke wrote his book as a letter to someone who wasn’t present for any of Jesus’ life, teaching, or miracles. The recipient of the letter could have heard or known the original parable, which might have prompted Luke to include Jesus’ opposite version, but this is speculation – especially if the letter was being sent to someone outside of the region of Israel.
What is less speculative is that Jesus used anything/everything He could to teach truth, and it would not be unlike Him to use a well known, but inaccurate, parable and change it into teaching truth – but nothing in this passage or the context suggest this or that He is teaching about anything beyond the choices we make in our current life being important after our life has ended.
In the broader context of this specific passage, Jesus is teaching us about something bigger than any of the details of any specific parable/illustration: Our lives on earth matter to God, and our choices in this life determine our destiny. Each parable/teaching hints at one or both truths, and Jesus wants to get this truth through to us in as many ways as He can.
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!
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