NW Bible Study - Lazarus and the Rich Man

(1) Bible Study Bible Quiz #24 Lazarus and the Rich Man - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr4uAZxs1H8

Transcript:
(00:01) Okay, so we are on uh Bible literacy test question number 24 and it begins with Lazarus and the rich man. Where do we find that story? Well, we're going to find that story over in Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. And what's interesting, I want to so I want to walk through this parable. you know what I've been doing through each of these which is um you know to me it's been a it's a fun project to take uh these things that uh we think we should know and answer a question about why should we know them and that's I think
(00:42) that's a great question I think we should be pondering that question a lot uh for each and every one of these and so it's been fun for me to do it to to to really step back from every subject and just look at it and ask the ask and answer the question why is is important. What do we need to know about it and why is it important? So, what I want to do with this one is we're going to read, we're over here in Luke chapter 16 for this one.
(01:06) Now, this is the story of course of Lazarus and the rich man. And it is uh wildly misunderstood in mainstream uh mainstream Christianity. And I want to I want to resolve that for us so that it's not wildly misunderstood for us. And so, let's let's read through it. And then what I think what I what I want to do is I want to go through I want to read through the content and then I want to I want to lay some foundational uh building blocks uh that are going to that we have to have in place in order to properly understand the parable. And once we lay those
(01:38) foundational blocks uh we'll be able to come back and we'll be able to walk through the parable and we'll have a better understanding of what's being said in it. So, let's go ahead and let's read uh this. We're going to pick this up now in verse 19. So, we're in chapter 16 of Luke and we're going to start in verse 19 and we'll read through verse 31.
(02:03) And of course, in my Bible, it's titled the rich man and Lazarus. There was a This is verse 19 of Luke 16. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of soores who was laid at his gate. That means at the gate of the rich man obviously desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
(02:30) Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to the to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham aar off. and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried, this is the rich man, and he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
(03:02) " But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot. Nor can those from there pass to us.
(03:25) Then he said, I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets. let them hear them. And he said, "No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.
(03:50) " But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead." So we have this parable which which it it has so many really vivid elements to it that it's easy to see how uh modern religions let's just say mainstream uh Christianity would be able to take such a story as this and only really see these vivid elements and then out of a belief that they want to believe.
(04:24) We've talked about that before as we were discussing faith. They want to believe certain things in particular that we go to heaven upon death which implies an immortal soul or that we go to hell for as some sort of a place of torment and torture for those evil wicked people who refuse to repent.
(04:43) They want to believe that. And so this provides all of the material that they would want in the Bible. It's in your Bible to justify such a belief. But we're going to learn that that's not exactly what it's talking about. First, I want to deal with the issue of death. I think we have to lay this building block in place. If we understand, you know, one of the fundamentals of Bible study is you you have to understand the truth and then interpret, you know, things that could be confusing through what you know to be true. You don't reinterpret the truth
(05:17) through something that's ambiguous or unclear. So we're dealing with something here that could be ambiguous and unclear. We'll see that we can have a proper understanding if we know for example what happens when we die. So I want to begin in looking at that subject about well what happens when we die.
(05:38) Let's begin over in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Now this whole study is not going to be on this but this is a building block of the study. So, over in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, we'll begin there. You have to get to the other side of Proverbs to get there. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 5 where Solomon writes, "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing and they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten.
(06:22) " The Hebrew word translated as know. So we just read for the living know that they will die. That word know carries the idea of perception, awareness or understanding. So Solomon as he was divinely inspired to write says that the dead have no awareness or perception or understanding. They are not thinking and feeling or observing.
(06:47) They are just gone entirely unconscious not aware of anything. over here back turn over back to Psalms 146 146 and verse4 where it says his spirit this is God's spirit his spirit departs it returns to his earth in that very day his plans perish lowercase H is He returns to his earth and in that very day his plans perish.
(07:26) Meaning when when we die, we return our physical bodies return to the earth. They they don't go to heaven. We don't go to heaven. We have no knowledge when we die. If we were in heaven, we would have knowledge. Correct? If we were even if we were in Hades, if if we were to follow the logic, then we'd also have knowledge, wouldn't we? But the scriptures tell us that we don't.
(07:49) that God's spirit is taken from us. It departs from us and our bodies die. Our bodies decay. The word spirit is the word you expect. It's the Hebrew word ruach which can mean breath or wind or spirit depending on the context. And so when God takes away the ruach, the life ends. The person's plans perish. It means to vanish.
(08:17) his plans perish. We read that, right? That's the very last part of verse four. In that very day, his plans perish. Now, what that means is to vanish or be destroyed. So, the consciousness of man does not transfer someplace else. It ceases. It stops. It doesn't go anywhere. This is consistent with the account in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7.
(08:40) I'll turn over here quickly. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. where it says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." Now, the man is not alive yet. So, his body is being put together until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. It does not say that man was given a soul.
(09:10) It says man became a nephesh, the Hebrew word translated living being or soul. This same word is used for animals uh back in verse 21. Let's notice that very quickly here of chapter 1 and verse 21. So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves with which the waters abounded according to their kind and every wing bird according to its kind.
(09:37) And God saw that it was good. Every living thing. And verse 24 says, "Then God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beasts of the earth, each according to its kind." And it was so. There's no mortal or immortal essence within human beings any more than there's an immortal essence to the animals that God had created.
(10:03) The idea that there is such a thing as an immortal soul is actually an idea that comes from Greek philosophy. It's not in the Bible. You can search high and low and you will never find it being described that way. The most you have is passages that we just read which I would say to the unlearned scholars, those who really don't dive very deeply looks like it says one thing but it doesn't really say what they want it to say. Okay.
(10:32) Now let's turn over to John chap 11 and we'll read verses 11-14 New Testament here. John 11 verses 11 to 14. Here's what Christ has to say. He says, "These things he said." This is Christ. And after that he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." when his disciples said,"Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well.
(11:07) " However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. So Jesus removes any confusion when he says, "Well, what is death?" And Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead." So Jesus says that sleep and death are the same thing. It's a metaphor. Sleep is a metaphor for death, not some sort of suspended consciousness.
(11:36) Uh the we just read the dead have no knowledge. They have no awareness. They have no understanding. They are as Christ says asleep. Lazarus. Now this is not the same Lazarus. This is the person Lazarus. Christ uses the name Lazarus which is an English translation uh of a Greek word. But this case, this this particular Lazarus is not the Lazarus being referred to in the parable.
(12:03) This is an actual man who died who Jesus Christ resurrected. But Lazarus had no experiences when he was in the grave. He was not watching from heaven. He didn't have any memorance of anything that happened while he was dead because he was unconscious. Didn't know anything. This same kind of language appears repeatedly throughout scripture.
(12:25) Let's look over here quickly here at Daniel 12. Daniel 12 and verse 2 where it says Daniel 12:2, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth." This is those who have passed away, those who are dead.
(12:58) They are in the earth or a part of the earth. You know, today we do something called cremation, which is essentially the quick route to getting somebody into their dirt form in the form of ashes. Job chapter 14. Job chapter 14, right before the book of Psalms. Job chapter 14 verses 10-2 where Job says, "But man dies and is laid away.
(13:40) Indeed, he breathes his last." And where is he? Great question. This is the question of what happens when we die. As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise till the heavens are no more. They will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.
(14:02) Until that event happens, until the heavens are no more when Jesus Christ returns. This is obviously a reference to those end time events which are described in ways that are like till the heavens are no longer. So this pattern then is clear. Death is not the beginning of a conscious afterlife. It's the suspension of life.
(14:27) It's not meant to mean some place of torment. It simply means the grave. That's what the word hell in Luke 16:23 means. It's the word, the Greek word Hades. It does not mean, you know, a place of fiery torment and excruciation and all of that. It literally does just mean the grave. And of course, that corresponds to the Hebrew word, which is shol, which is found throughout the Old Testament.
(14:54) They's Greek lexicon confirms that Hades is quote the common receptacle of the dead, the grave. Robertson's word picture states, "Hades here is not Gehenna, but the unseen uh but the unseen world, the abode of all the departed, meaning the grave. It's where everyone dies." You know, in the old days, that's pretty much where what they did is they buried everybody.
(15:21) So, what does the the scriptures say happens after death? Well, we don't go to heaven. Our our soul does not exist in an immortal state. it. God takes back his spirit from us, that which makes us human, the intellect that we have and so forth. But our bodies, everything about us dies. Back in John chapter 5.
(15:51) Again, I just want to lay this building block before you. John 5:es 28- 29. John 5:28 says, 'Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who've done good to the resurrection of life and those who've done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.
(16:18) And so what happens after death? Well, you die. You go into the ground or evaporate essentially. Your your physical body becomes nothing. And so here what we read is is that all those then who have died who are in the grave Hades, the same work from Luke 16 will hear his voice and come forth. So there's a resurrection that comes after death at the return of Jesus Christ.
(16:46) That's the reality of our future. Not some sort of a transition after death into a heaven or a hell, but there's a time to come when the voice of the son of man is going to awaken those who sleep in the dust of the earth. And of course, some to life and some to judgment. We know that those are laid out in three essential resurrection time periods.
(17:07) I went through that previously in a different message. So, you're welcome to go search the uh YouTube channel to find the message that deals with the three resurrections. Now Paul the Apostle echoes this over in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Let's turn over here. 1 Thessalonians 4 16 and 17 where Paul says for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel.
(17:35) So this isn't a quiet event or some sort of a rapture that secretly happens. Christ is going to come. He's going to descend with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead, the dead in Christ will rise first. This is the first resurrection that Paul is describing. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, those who have been dead in Christ.
(18:02) We will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. So this is the first resurrection and of course that aligns beautifully with what Paul told Timothy over here in uh 1 Timothy 16 15 and 16. Notice though that what we just read is that the dead do not uh the dead rise.
(18:28) They don't descend. So if we were in heaven already because we got to heaven somehow when we died, then when Christ returns, who is those who are rising? So again, that's the point, isn't it? We rise when we are resurrected from the earth to meet our Lord as opposed to descending with him when he comes.
(18:53) That's a very important fundamental understanding because the dead are waiting in the grave, not in heaven. Now what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6 15 and 16, Paul says in verse 15, he says, "Which he will manifest in his own time, he who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords, who alone has immortality.
(19:24) " Christ is the only being God ever created, only physical being who had immortality. And of course, he was the only human being who has ever been resurrected. And he now sits at the right hand of God. And he did that as the first of the first fruits. And then in the first resurrection, which is to come at his return, the rest of the first fruits will also then be resurrected to serve with him and reign and rule for a thousand years and beyond.
(19:51) over in 1 Corinth uh 1 Corinthians chapter uh 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53. Paul also says for this corruptible our bodies are corruptible. They can decay. They can become hurt. They can become wounded. They definitely deteriorate over time. For this corruptible body must put on incorruption. become incorruptible.
(20:21) Will physical things will never be incorruptible. And this mortal, I am mortal, you are mortal, must put on immortality. So we don't have immortality inherent to us. We have to be given immortality by God when Christ returns. So if the belief that people go to heaven or hell immediately at death, if that stands to be true, then that stands in direct contradiction to the plain teaching of the scriptures because death is asleep.
(20:50) According to the scriptures, the soul is not inherently immortal according to the scripture. It is in the grave according to the scripture when we die, a place of unconscious rest, not of reward or torment. And of course that truth has to govern how we interpret Christ's parable. We know that death is not us going to receive a reward in heaven or a punishment in hell.
(21:18) That is not what happens when we die. So if we firmly have that down, we know that that's what that's about. Then that means that this the symbolic elements of Luke chapter 16 are not literal. They cannot be literal. You can't take that and say that's the truth and then all the rest of the scripture talking about let uh death being a kind of sleep that those are somehow not true then the Bible is a lie.
(21:47) So you can't take something that's unknown and say that's the truth while the rest of the Bible is a lie. Okay. So we have to understand two things if we're going to understand this parable. We have to understand who Christ was speaking to and how he was speaking to them. Both of these are essential to interpreting this message, this passage, this parable correctly.
(22:08) So we're going to begin with the method. Jesus Christ delivered this teaching that we read in Luke chapter 16 in the form of a parable. Now a parable is a figurative story. It is designed to teach a deeper truth using familiar imagery or contrasts. The Greek word for parable means to set alongside.
(22:35) It is a comparison or an analogy used to explain a spiritual principle. And Christ used this technique repeatedly. So they're not literal accounts. Parables are not literal accounts. It's really important to understand that they don't reveal doctrinal details about metaphysical topics like the condition of the dead or the nature of judgment.
(23:01) Rather, they are symbolic lessons. Their meaning lies beneath the surface and they must be interpreted in light of plain scriptural teaching. Christ himself explained the use of parables. Now, let's notice this over here in Matthew 13. In Matthew chap 13 and verse 10. And the disciples came to him and said to him had he had been speaking in parables.
(23:25) And so they come to him and they say why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them, that is the disciples because it has been given to you the disciples of of Christ. It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it has not been given. And so Christ tells us plainly then I use this form of teaching for those to whom it is not given to understand the truth right now.
(23:52) That's what and why that that is the method that Christ used to teach. And so now over in verse 15 or excuse me Luke chapter 15. Let's go over to Luke chapter 15. Let's notice verses 1 and two. Luke chapter 15. Let's notice who's in this audience. Who who were these people? And we'll notice in verse uh in chapter 15 of Luke verses 1 and 2, he says, "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So this is
(24:46) this is who Christ in general was talking to. So these two verses set the context for a series of parables. Jesus had drawn the attention of those on the margins of society which we just read, tax collectors and sinners. And of course this it is these people that the religious class, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees dismissed as unclean or unworthy.
(25:15) And so the Pharisees and scribes objected to these people and Christ paying attention to them. Their response was not neutral. It was resentful and self-righteous. So in reply, Jesus told parables that highlighted God's joy over repentance and restoration. Notice the first three parables that Christ gives here is the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the parable of the lost son, which you will remember is what we call the prodigal son.
(25:50) But in each case, what's being expressed in the parable is the joy that God has over recovering those things which have been lost. It's the restoration of relationships or things which which have value to God. And so this is the first three parables that Christ gives to this audience which now we see is mixed of these sinners and the Pharisees and the scribes.
(26:18) Luke 16 is a continuation of Christ preaching lessons, teaching through this method of a story. And so he gives here warnings about the misuse of wealth of faithlessness with spiritual responsibility and misplaced trust in outward identity. All of that is the beginning of you that I should say that all those are the parables that lead up to the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
(26:54) Notice verses 14 and 15 here in Luke 16:14 says, "Now the Pharisees who were lovers of money also heard all these things and they derided him and he said to them, you are those who justify yourselves before men. But God knows your hearts, for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." This is the moment that is the crescendo of what happens right before Christ gives the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
(27:29) So we see he's using a method which is the story or a parable. We see who he's talking to. Now here he's specifically addressing the Pharisees who were lovers of money who had been hearing all these words and who had been deriding him. He's talking to those who'd received the law, who held religious authority, and who rejected his message.
(27:53) They exalted themselves outwardly, but inwardly were self-righteous and unrepentant. So, on the heels of that, Jesus tells a story, a parable. He's going to drive home that truth, but the story is not meant to be read literally. It is a figurative teaching laid alongside a reality. So I have reality. I have the story to illustrate a point.
(28:24) And these this this story is crafted to reveal the contrast between the appearance and the reality and between the privilege and accountability. As with the parables that came before, this one is aimed at exposing the condition of those who thought they had no need to repent. So let's walk through the elements of the story to clearly see what each symbol means, what Jesus was was teaching and what he was warning against.
(28:56) So what do these symbols really mean? Christ told this story as a parable or as as I said as a story which means that each element within the story carries spiritual meaning. And so we have to carefully read through to see he's not haphazardly pulling together elements at random. Every element of the story Christ crafts is well thought out and each detail has spiritual meaning.
(29:22) They're not intended to be literal things but figurative. So let's begin at the at the beginning in verse 19 of Luke 16. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. So the the rich man's not just wealthy. Notice how Christ dresses him in purple, which is the color of royalty.
(29:50) It's obviously expensive and it draws a very strong connection to the priests with its fine linen. And of course that's used in the garments of the temple priests. So his life is one of ease. It's one of indulgence. It's one of privilege. It's one we'd probably, you know, to some to to some degree we might be jealous of of with them.
(30:14) This is what they had how they had set themselves up. And so the audience hearing this would have immediately recognized the image. Jesus was describing someone of status and spiritual authority. someone who had access to the law, the temple, and the leadership of the people. The rich man represents those in the religious establishment, particularly the Pharisees, who were entrusted with the word of God, but used their possession or their position for self-promotion and not service.
(30:44) So, we see the elements. Now, we have a rich man in a story. He represents the Pharisees. Now we meet the second figure, verses 20 and 21. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his, that is the rich man's gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
(31:08) Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar, in contrast, is broken. He's sick and completely dependent on others. his name. He's given a name Lazarus. It's the Greek form of the Hebrew word Eleazar, which means God is my help. God is my help. That's what the word Lazarus means. And that name, of course, is not by accident.
(31:39) Christ intentionally gives this other figure this name. This tells us how Christ views the other figure not as worthless but as someone whose only hope is God. So Lazarus again an element of the story represents the spiritually poor. The reality those who were not respected not esteemed not welcomed by the religious elite but who were humble and dependent on God's mercy.
(32:08) These were the people responding to Christ's message, the tax collectors, the sinners, the outcasts who had been excluded by those in power. Then in the story, the story both men die. Verse 22, so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. This is not a literal event.
(32:36) This is a story. So the figures here the rich man and Lazarus representing the Pharisees and the spiritually weak. We come to a key phrase now where they are taken. It says it says that Lazarus was taken to Abraham's bosom. Now this is not a literal place. This is a kind of Jewish expression which describes closeness and favor and inclusion in the covenant promises made to Abraham.
(33:07) I it means to uh be numbered among the faithful being part of God's family. This is a way in which that's being described by Christ. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia confirms this quote. Let me quote here. It says, "To be in Abraham's bosom is to be in a position of honor and blessedness, comparable to reclining next to Abraham at a banquet in the afterlife.
(33:36) " a metaphor for participation in the promises given to Abraham. The fact that Lazarus is brought into that position is the beginning of what we would call in this story the reversal. Remember, it's a story and it begins with the rich man living the life of luxury and the poor man being absolutely miserable.
(33:58) So, the rich man lives one way, the poor man lives another way. This is the Pharisees and the spiritually broken. And now the reversal is that in the afterlife we we're going to see that the there's a reversal where the one who had not been honored becomes the one honored and the one who had honored themselves do not receive honor.
(34:24) So the rich man finds himself someplace else not in this bosom of Abraham. Notice verse 23. And being in torments in Hades, that is the grave, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham a far off and Lazarus in his bosom. The very one that he despised in the story is over in the bosom. He's in the preferred place in the graces of God in the kingdom of God. Okay.
(34:55) So again, we're reading a parable this story. So Hades means the grave. It's the equivalent of shol in the Old Testament. It's not a place of conscious torment nor a fiery hell. Therefore, we know this is a story because in truth, had there been two people like this, they would both be that had both died. They would simply be in the grave.
(35:13) Again, it's a story. All right. Now, so why does he use Hades in the story? Because again, it's not a frivolous use. Hades is a symbol. It pictures being shut out of being removed from God's favor, being excluded from the promises that had been before them. But the focus of the parable is not on where each man is.
(35:39) It's on what happens next. Notice verse 24. Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, this is the rich man. have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. What's interesting here is Christ's in Christ's story, even in this very moment, the rich man does not speak to Lazarus.
(36:06) He wouldn't deem Lazarus worthy of being spoken to any more than the Pharisees think that it's okay to be talking to all of these dregs of society. So here the rich man speaks about Lazarus and he sees him still as someone to be used for his own comfort. He's asking Abraham to send Lazarus to me that Lazarus might dip his finger in the water and refresh me. He shows no repentance.
(36:36) no humility, only concern for his own suffering. This is not a literal request for water. Obviously, it is symbolic. It's symbolic of desperation. The flame represents anguish, not a literal physical fire, but the realization of what has been lost. Let's look here and see verses 25 and 26. But Abraham said to him, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things.
(37:11) But now he is comforted and you are tormented." And besides all this between us and between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. The great gulf is not a feature of the afterlife. It is the final and irreversible separation that comes after judgment.
(37:41) Once God has rendered his verdict, the outcomes are fixed. Those who are going to be spirit beings for all eternity are given their reward. And those who are not receive their eternal punishment, which is not eternal torment. So when that decision is is rendered by God, it's final. That's why God is so meticulous and so careful before he gets there to have given everyone the fairest of all possible opportunities to do the right thing, to make the right choice.
(38:19) So the point here is simple. The rich man had his opportunity. He had knowledge. He had position. And he had privilege. But he did not respond to what God had given him. So now his fate in the story is sealed. There's a gulf between them that is not crossable. And then of course comes one final request. Verses 27 and 28. Then he, that is the rich man, said, "I beg you, therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." Now, that's a
(38:54) very interesting way that he phrases that. So, notice that he wants Lazarus once again to be sent as a messenger, but not for repentance. Once again, his concern is not about that. It's about avoiding consequences. Notice how he said that. That lest they also come to this place of torment. That's the consequences of the way that I lived.
(39:22) He wants them to avoid the consequence, not come to repentance. The rich man's brothers already have access to the truth. They have the scriptures. They're not lacking information. But what they do lack is faith and humility. And so we arrive at the final line, verse 31. Well, let's read verse uh yeah, verse 30 and 31.
(39:51) We'll read both of these. He says, "And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But Abraham said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded the one rise from the dead." Who's the one that will rise from the dead? Here Christ adds the final element which is even though Christ himself before the very Pharisees who are the rich man in the story, Christ will ascend from the grave and they will not accept him.
(40:25) This is what his point was. You already have Moses and if you won't hear Moses in the prophets, even though I come back from the grave, you won't even respond to that. And that of course is the point of the entire parable. Christ is addressing those who had the law and the prophets, the religious class of the day, and he's warning them, if you're not going to believe the word of God now, not even in the resurrection, well, not even my resurrection will change your mind.
(40:55) So, this is a prophecy because Jesus would rise from the dead and still those same leaders would reject him. So, this imagery in this parable is very deliberate by Christ. But not a single element is literal except for his resurrection. It It's a story that teaches through contrast, through reversal, and through warning.
(41:20) And now that we've seen what these symbols mean, we have to ask, well, what's the message for us? Well, we're not the Pharisees in this story. Because we're not while we have God's truth, we're not the arrogant. We didn't set ourselves up. None of us sought these positions the way they did. God calls us.
(41:41) No one can come to me unless the father draws him. So, we've been called. And so, we're not blind to God's plan. We're not hardened against his son. But that doesn't mean that this parable does not speak to us because it obviously does. This is not just a parable about rejection. It's a parable about accountability, about what we do when God entrusts us with his truth.
(42:02) And we above many have been entrusted over back. Let's just turn back to Luke 12. Luke 12 and verse 48. Luke 12:48. He says, "But he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. and to whom much has been committed of him, they will ask the more.
(42:41) This principle frames our place in the story. We've been given the word of God. We understand the Sabbath. We understand the holy days. We understand the resurrections. We understand that we don't have an immortal soul. We understand God's plan for all of mankind. But that knowledge by itself, that's not really the objective. It's the beginning of something much more important.
(43:02) It's the beginning of transformation. What we're supposed to be doing with that knowledge is learning and growing and becoming like Jesus Christ. Over in Romans chapter 2 and verse 13, Romans chapter 2 and verse verse 13, the Apostle Paul says to us our responsibility. Romans 2 and verse 13. For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God. So you can hear it.
(43:32) That's not enough. But the doers of the law will be justified. The Greek word for hearers is a passive listener. Someone who sits under the teaching but doesn't act on what they learn. By contrast, doers comes from another Greek word which means to be an active performer, a practitioner. So God doesn't evaluate us based on how much we hear, but on how much we live what we hear.
(44:02) And this is where the rich man failed. He had the law. He knew the scriptures. He calls Abraham father in the parable, indicating lineage and tradition and religious identity. But he didn't do what the scriptures taught. His identity did not translate into humility or even justice. Christ emphasized the same failure earlier in his ministry.
(44:27) Let's go to Matthew chapter 23 and verse three. Matthew chapter 23 and verse three where he says therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do but but do not do according to their works for they say and do not do. This is the same spiritual condition portrayed in the parable. It's not enough to possess the truth.
(44:56) It must be obeyed. It must be lived. It has to be allowed to reshape our thoughts, our priorities, and our relationships. The rich man's indifference to Lazarus represents more than a social failure. It it illustrates spiritual blindness to what the law actually requires. Micah 6 and verse 8. Micah 6 and verse 8.
(45:26) Remember that comes after Jonah. Don't. All right. Rascal. All right. Micah chapter 6 and verse 8. He has shown you, oh man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. The Pharisees knew this scripture, and so do we.
(46:05) But what does that justice look like in daily life? What does mercy mean in our congregation? Are we walking humbly with God and with each other? The the apostle James makes this more practical in James chapter 2 and verse 13. James chapter 2 and verse 13 where he says for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
(46:42) The Greek word for mercy here denotes more than a feeling. It refers to compassion expressed through action, especially towards the vulnerable. The rich man withheld this kind of mercy, not necessarily actively, but by inaction, by neglect, by seeing the need and ignoring it. Adam Clark comments about this here in James 21:13.
(47:08) Let me quote Adam Clark. He says, "He who shows no mercy in his dealings with others shall find justice without compassion from God." That's a really potent thing for me when I think about that. The words are really fantastic to really bring that to life. This is the warning Christ embeds in the parable. Not only for the Pharisees, but for anyone tempted to rest like let's say on our spiritual calling, our identity as those who are called out of this world.
(47:37) There's another layer though in the final lines of the parable, a challenge about how we regard the word of God. Luke 16:31, if you remember, said, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead." And that's obviously a very profound statement. Christ is affirming that obedience to the written word, that's the test of faith. It's not miracles.
(48:04) It's not signs. It's not supernatural experiences. It's whether we are obeying because if we are not going to respond to the scriptures, then nothing else will move us. The verb here in the Greek in this passage implies obedience. It's the same uh principle found in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse4 where it says here O Israel meaning not just to listen but to heed. Not just to listen but to heed.
(48:39) And we have Moses and the prophets. We have Christ and we have the apostles. The word has been spoken. And it's our response to that that matters. Now this message for us is not about fear. It's about faithfulness. Are we using what God has given us? Are we responding to the truth with commitment, compassion, and growth? Do we see the needs around us? Do we serve humbly? Do we hear the word? And then, do we live the word? The parable is not about what happens after death.
(49:13) It's about what must happen in life. And so, we're called by the example of this parable to act while we still can. over in Hebrews. I'm going to turn to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 7. This is a call for us to act. Hebrews 4 and verse 7 where he says again he designates a certain day saying in David today after such a long time as as it has been said today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts that's our warning as well so brethren the parl The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is not a window into the afterlife. It's a mirror held up to
(50:10) those who've received the truth of God. It was spoken in response to resistance, not from strangers or or skeptics, but from those who sat in positions of knowledge, inheritance, and authority. And yet they would not repent. Jesus told this parable not to explain what happens when we die, but to expose what happens when we fail to respond to what we've been given.
(50:35) Through symbolic contrast, he revealed the tragic end of a life built on self asssurance and the quiet vindication of one who trusted wholly in God. And he did it through a story, a parable meant not to map out the afterlife, of course, but to confront the living with the urgency of repentance. The contrast is very sharp. We are not the rich man, but we're not Lazarus necessarily, either.
(51:02) We are those who have been given Moses and the prophets, the gospels, and the letters of the apostles. We are those who have the testimony of Christ and the understanding of God's plan. And that means the question is not what we know but whether we live by what we know. The parable reminds us that God's word is enough.
(51:23) And it urges us not to wait for signs or crises but to act now while the door is still open. We don't follow God because we fear. We follow him because he gives us what is true. And that truth when received in faith must be lived in action. So let's be among those who see clearly, who act decisively, and who embrace the responsibility of knowing God's truth.
(51:51) Because when knowledge is joined with obedience, when hearing is joined with doing, then God's blessings can truly become ours. And we, just like Lazarus, will find that God is our help.