The Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31

Review Pharisees didn't understand why Jesus ate with sinners Jesus told some parables  Lost sheep and coin (value of the lost, need to find)  Lost son (value of lost, need for repentance)  Lost son (value of lost, need for forgiveness)  Lost job (need to recognize own lost condition, impossibility of getting right without God)  Now we have a lost soul

Is this a parable? Some are probably already upset that I have the Rich Man and Lazarus as a parable  The thought is that this story is about actual people Abraham and Lazarus are both named No other parable names people  But a parable does not have to be fictitious In fact, a parable has to be a story that is understandable in the world  A story that could be true  A fictitious, story that could not be true on the surface is a “fable” when it teaches a moral point A parable is a story that could be true on the surface and is used to teach a spiritual point  This story is true on the surface, the only question is what spiritual point does it teach?

The parable Luke 16:19-21  A rich man with the best of everything in life  A beggar named Lazarus who had the worst of everything in life Only wished for a little of what the rich man had so he could survive Luke 16:22  Both eventually die, as all must But Lazarus immediately cared for by the angels The rich man simply buried

The parable Luke 16:23-26  The rich man finds himself in a place of torment  Desires even in miniscule amount of the comfort Lazarus now enjoys Like Lazarus once desired crumbs  Abraham points out that there is no changing of one's condition after death The rich man made his choice during his life  He would now forever receive what he deserved based on his choices

The parable Luke 16:27-31  Asks that Lazarus be sent to his 5 brothers Knows they are making the same bad choices Wants to warn them so they can make different choices  Abraham points out that the information they need is in God's word If they studied the Bible and believed and obeyed it, they wouldn't make the bad choices  Rich man knows that won't happen, but maybe seeing someone rise from the dead will get them to change  Abraham says if they won't obey God, then the addition of one being raised won't change them

The information v. the meaning The story of the rich man and Lazarus intrigues us  It tells us much about after life that we would not otherwise know That's the information (In other parables, there was information about farming, etiquette, family life, shepherding, etc) The information in each parable is true  So we can look into the story of the rich man and Lazarus for true information about the afterlife  We looked at the information in our series on Life After Death  If we stop with the information, then we will miss the meaning (Mk 4:11-12)

The meaning The main point  The time for finding the lost, repenting, and being forgiven is during this life The lost who aren't returned to God during life will be forever lost  And forever in torment is not a place you want to be  The immediacy of the need to find the lost Hence, Jesus is eating with the sinners because time is short, no time to lose

The meaning Being ready for eternity is a matter of obedience to God's word  Not to traditions, family history, money, power, fame, or anything else  The Pharisees assumed they were ready ('those who need no repentance') Jesus is telling them they really need to look again

The meaning God isn't going to do something extraordinary to make you obey  No 'irresistable grace'  God gave His word, that is enough Even if God did do something extraordinary (short of forcing belief), that alone would actually not change anyone's mind And God did do a few extraordinary things including the resurrection (one coming back from the grave), and yet most still do not believe and obey

Conclusion The Pharisees wondered why Jesus spent time with sinners Jesus used 5 parables to point out  the value of the lost,  the need to find them,  the need for them to repent,  the possibility of forgiveness for them,  the immediacy of the need What the Pharisees missed is that they too were lost and Jesus was spending time with them because they too needed to be found before it was eternally too late