Keith Sharp | Luke 16:19-31
We are studying the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus among the parables, but it is certainly unique as a parable. The Master does not provide a name for any of the characters in His other parables. And His earlier parables compare scenes familiar to His audience with eternal truths, whereas this story is one of the few biblical passages (cf. Revelation 6:9-11) that discusses the state of the dead, information unknown by experience to any living mortal. It is certainly true that the story begins with precisely the same formula, “There was a certain rich man” (verses 1,19), as the parable that immediately precedes it and with which it is connected. “The story seems to be its own message, one that uniquely comes from beyond the grave. We conclude that it is both history and a special sort of parable (cf. R.L. Whiteside, Bible Studies, Vol. 4, p. 424)” (Earnhart. 149).
Regardless whether it be considered a parable, an historical account, or a unique combination of the two, as the facts of all parables were things that could have really happened, this story is not a fable, and it teaches us important reality about life beyond the grave, facts available only from this short, remarkably compact story.
This is a story in three scenes.
Scene One: Life
In life the rich man had everything good. His daily clothing was purple and fine linen, the clothing of royalty and the extremely wealthy (Luke 16:19).
Along the coast of Tyre there was found a rare shellfish (Murex purpurarius) from which a costly purple dye was obtained, each little animal yielding about one drop of it. Woolen garments dyed with it were worn by kings and nobles, and idol images were sometimes arrayed in them. This purple robe formed the outer, and the linen the inner garment. The byssus, or fine linen of Egypt, was produced from flax which grew on the banks of the Nile. It was dazzlingly white, and worth twice its weight in gold (McGarvey. 511; cf. Esther 8:15; Proverbs 31:22).
He was “joyously living in splendor every day”(Luke 16:19; NASB). If there had been Hollywood tabloids, he would have been on the covers. There would have been a TV series called “Keeping Up with the Rich Man.”
In total contrast, there was a very poor man named “Lazarus” who had been laid at the gate of the rich man’s compound. I’ve seen scenes like this in Africa many times. His name is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” and means “whom God helps”(Thayer. 367). His life was daily misery. Along with his companions, the dogs, which licked his open sores, he just wanted to eat the scraps thrown out by the rich man.
The text doesn’t reveal whether or not the rich man helped Lazarus. Certainly the “law and the prophets” demanded that Israelites assist their impoverished brethren (Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Isaiah 58:6-7), and Abraham pointed the rich man to “Moses and the prophets” as the way his brothers could avoid eternal torment (Luke 16:29). We certainly must generously help the worthy poor (Matthew 25:31-46; James 1:27).
Scene Two: Death
Then they both died. There is no mention of Lazarus’ body even being buried. But the angels of heaven accompanied his soul to Paradise. Angels minister in behalf of the Lord’s people (Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:13-14). The Master revealed Lazarus was in “Abraham’s bosom,” a Jewish way of denoting “Paradise” (cf. Luke 23:42-43), since the Jews viewed the coming kingdom as beginning with a great feast at which Abraham, their forefather, would be the host. Lazarus was in the chief place of honor in Paradise, reclining against Abraham. All the care for the rich man in his death was on the earthly side. He was buried, no doubt a grand affair. Nothing is said of any angelic or even demonic accompaniment of his soul.
Scene Three: After Death
Immediately after their deaths their conditions are dramatically reversed. Lazarus is comforted in Paradise (Luke 23:43). The rich man is in torment in Hades (verse 23). Hades is simply the abode of the spirits of the dead, where even the spirit of Christ went at His death (Acts 2:25-31), though He was in paradise. But the realm of Hades where the soul of the rich man went is torment.
Primary Point of Story
Although we remember Lazarus the most from this story, the leading character is the rich man. He went from a life of luxury to eternal, abject misery, but we’re not told why. It is not a sin to be rich (cf. Genesis 13:2; Job 1:1-3; 42:12; 1 Timothy 6:17-19), nor is it wrong to enjoy wealth (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:12-13; 5:18). It is neither stated nor necessarily implied that the rich man neglected to help Lazarus.
What is the Master’s point? Luke sixteen begins with the Parable of the Unjust Steward. Jesus taught the proper stewardship of wealth (verses 10-13). He concluded by warning against serving mammon, material wealth (verse 13). “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him” (Luke 16:14, ESV). The Lord rebuked them with a series of short admonitions (verses 15-18). Then He taught them that riches now may end in eternal torment. This is the point of the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. A life blessed with great wealth and all the joy that accompanies it could very well lead to endless sorrow. Don’t trust money!
Unique Lessons
Because this passage is almost unique in Scripture in that it pulls back the veil to the realm of the dead, it has great lessons for us besides its primary point.
The rich man awoke in torment (verse 23). After death, the souls of both the righteous and unrighteous continue to have conscious existence.
The rich man, awaking in torment pleaded with Abraham as his father to send Lazarus to provide the tiny comfort of placing a drop of water on his tongue (verse 24). Abraham didn’t deny being the rich man’s father, but was unable to help him. The Jews’ descent from Abraham would not save them (Luke 3:8).
Abraham also pointed out the justice of their respective lots (verse 25). Whereas Lazarus suffered evil in life, but the rich man was blessed with good, now their lots were reversed. Eternal punishment is just.
Furthermore, the situation was irremediable. There is a great gulf, or chasm (NASB, ESV), between paradise and torment, and none can cross it (verse 26). At death our fate is sealed. “It was unchangeable in nature, unalterable in condition, and eternal in its establishment”(Boles. 323). There is no purgatory where sins can be burned away, so the tormented may enter paradise. Our loved ones can neither pray nor pay our way out of that endless misery.
So the rich man pleaded with Abraham, If he could not get relief, then send Lazarus back to warn his five brothers about this torment (verses 27-28). He remembered Lazarus and he remembered his father’s house and his brothers. Death does not destroy memory.
But Abraham rebuked the request. “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (verse 29). There is sufficient testimony in Scripture to lead any honest soul to faith and salvation (John 5:45-47; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
But the rich man was insistent. “And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent’”( Luke 16:30).
But Abraham was adamant. “He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead’” (Luke 16:31). Not long after this, Christ did raise another Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44). Rather than believing, the chief priests and Pharisees plotted to kill both Jesus (John 11:46-53) and Lazarus (John 12:10-11). When the Lord was raised from the dead, rather than believing, the Jewish leaders sought to silence the witnesses (Acts 4:18). The belief that miracles are needed to cause the lost to turn to the Lord is absolutely false. Never underestimate the power of divine truth. The logical, moral persuasion of the Word of God is sufficient to lead any honest soul to salvation (Romans 1:16).
Works Cited
The Bible
English Standard Version
New American Standard Bible
Boles, H. Leo, A Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke.
Earnhart, Paul, Glimpses of Eternity.
McGarvey, J.W., Fourfold Gospel
Thayer, J.H., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
