{"id":417,"date":"2025-04-16T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy-cam.tempurl.host\/gospeladventure\/?p=417&2025"},"modified":"2025-04-15T02:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:08:14","slug":"the-stubborn-trap-luke-16-19-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-stubborn-trap-luke-16-19-31\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stubborn Trap: Luke 16:19-31"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Luke 16:19-31 (NIrV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cOnce there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day.  <sup>20\u00a0<\/sup>A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores.  <sup>21\u00a0<\/sup>Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man\u2019s table.<\/p> <p><sup>22\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThe time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham\u2019s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  <sup>23\u00a0<\/sup>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.  <sup>24\u00a0<\/sup>So the rich man called out, \u2018Father 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.\u2019<\/p> <p><sup>25\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cBut Abraham replied, \u2018Son, 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.  <sup>26\u00a0<\/sup>Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can\u2019t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.\u2019<\/p> <p><sup>27\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThe rich man answered, \u2018Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family.  <sup>28\u00a0<\/sup>I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.\u2019<\/p> <p><sup>29\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAbraham replied, \u2018They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.\u2019<\/p> <p><sup>30\u00a0<\/sup>\u201c\u2018No, father Abraham,\u2019 he said. \u2018But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.\u2019<\/p> <p><sup>31\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAbraham said to him, \u2018They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke 16:19-31&amp;version=nirv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Luke 16:19-31<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>There are a few of Jesus\u2019 teachings that are debated over. Well, probably most of them are argued over to some degree or another, but there are a few that people wonder if Jesus was sharing about an actual event that happened, or whether He was creating a story to use as a parable or an illustration.<\/p>\r\n<p>One such story is that of the Good Samaritan that is found in Luke 10:25-37, but this journal entry\u2019s passage is not on the Good Samaritan, but on another highly debated illustration: The Rich Man and Lazarus.<\/p>\r\n<p>Since this illustration has no real clear introduction, we don\u2019t have a good context for when\/where it was shared. It is possible that it was shared to the disciples and the Pharisees who were standing around listening during the earlier verses in chapter 16, but both this passage and verse 18, the one immediately before this illustration, don\u2019t have a clear transition to help frame what Jesus wants to teach. Verse 18, which talks about divorce and adultery can be linked to Matthew 5:32, where it does have context, but everything about the illustration of the Rich Man and Lazarus has no clear context.<\/p>\r\n<p>This has lead to debate over what Jesus was teaching about. Is this a parable about the afterlife, or a challenge to be more caring\/loving in the present life? Is this Jesus\u2019 description of hell, or simply drawing from the broad, dualistic culture of the time and using it as just a setting to help people see the truth in a new way? Is this Jesus turning a popular Pharisee proverb on its head, and for the readers of the time, it would need no context, or is He creating a new illustration to support a broader point? <\/p>\r\n<p>Without any context, we are left to look at the details and internal themes to uncover what Jesus is saying. When reading this parable, we should look for words, phrases, ideas, and themes that stand out and use these things to help us discover what Jesus was trying to tell us.<\/p>\r\n<p>As I read through this passage, and as the illustration-storyline reaches its climax, we read the following verse, <strong>\u201cThey do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.\u201d<\/strong> (Verse 31)<\/p>\r\n<p>The rich man is trying to do something to warn his brothers who are still alive to turn from their selfish, sinful lives, and we read the bleak reality that not even a dead person coming back to life is enough to convince a stubborn person to change their ways.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>The big truth I see Jesus teaching me in just this one verse is to be open to the ways God speaks to us through His Word.<\/strong> It is as though God is telling me to never discount anything in any portion of the Bible as being insignificant. <strong>The Bible shares the story of God \u2013 His-Story &#8212; and God\u2019s story is one filled with opportunities for redemption.<\/strong> <\/p>\r\n<p><strong>The truth I see Jesus teaching me is to never fall into the trap of thinking that I have reached the place where there is nothing more God can teach me. If that happens, I will have closed off all ways for God to reach me.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--417\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '417');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are a few of Jesus\u2019 teachings that are debated over. Well, probably most of them are argued over to some degree or another, but there are a few that people wonder if Jesus was sharing about an actual event that happened, or whether He was creating a story to use as a parable or [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Stubborn Trap: Luke 16:19-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-stubborn-trap-luke-16-19-31\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Stubborn Trap: Luke 16:19-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are a few of Jesus\u2019 teachings that are debated over. 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