{"id":418,"date":"2025-05-28T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=418&2025"},"modified":"2025-05-26T18:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T00:00:13","slug":"reality-or-parable-luke-16-19-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/reality-or-parable-luke-16-19-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality or Parable: 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>One of the most out of place illustrations Jesus ever has been said to share is the one in this passage. The illustration \u2013 since it is debated whether this is a parable or a description of something that actually happened \u2013 is not given any context, and it is unique from other teachings, stories, and parables Jesus told during other parts of His ministry. <\/p>\r\n<p>One of the big ideas some people use to say this is more teaching about an actual event, and less a illustrative parable, is that Jesus never used a name in any of His parables. If this parable was written as \u201cThe Rich Man and the Beggar\u201d, then we could see a parable in the making, but by including the name Lazarus, Jesus must be pulling a historical story into supporting His truth. This is what some people think about this passage.<\/p>\r\n<p>But what if Jesus deviated from His normal way of telling parables as a way of setting up something that was going to happen in the future: the resurrection of His close friend whose name was Lazarus. This is a good counter-argument that still allows for Jesus to be speaking in parable form \u2013 but also tying the punch line of the story to something that was going to be very real in the coming weeks\/months. <\/p>\r\n<p>However, another thought that enters my mind is about how this parable describes the one character it names: Lazarus. Verse 20 says, \u201c<strong>Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores.<\/strong>\u201d Knowing Jesus, and how He traveled around healing people, it was unlikely that the real Lazarus would have been left to beg with sores all over his body.<\/p>\r\n<p>While Jesus did delay His coming when Lazarus was sick, a close reading of the text about Lazarus\u2019 death tells us that the news arrived to Jesus too late: He waited two days and Lazarus was in the tomb for four days when Jesus had arrived. Jesus could have left Lazarus begging with sores all over his body, but what would that say about God? <\/p>\r\n<p>Jesus came to show us what God is like, and because of this, I really doubt that a close friend of Jesus would have been left sick while Jesus is actively healing everyone He comes in contact with.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, if this was simply a parable and not Lazarus\u2019 current situation, then the people hearing Jesus would have clearly understood this to be figurative. Only after Lazarus\u2019 sickness, death, and resurrection would people have then begun to put the pieces together to see an incredible truth:<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Not only is Jesus a healer and a teacher, and not only can He bring the dead back to life, but He also knows the future. Jesus tweaked with this illustration to predict a future event: resurrection. He even wrapped the theme around believing when seeing resurrection happen \u2013 foreshadowing Lazarus first, then Himself to follow. Someone like that is worth believing in, because we can then know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our eternity is safe with Him!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--418\" 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, '418');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most out of place illustrations Jesus ever has been said to share is the one in this passage. The illustration \u2013 since it is debated whether this is a parable or a description of something that actually happened \u2013 is not given any context, and it is unique from other teachings, stories, [&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-418","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 v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reality or Parable: 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\/reality-or-parable-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=\"Reality or Parable: Luke 16:19-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most out of place illustrations Jesus ever has been said to share is the one in this passage. 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