Rich Man & Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
Introduction
This area of scripture is consistently under debate, both in interpretation and form. For the most part, the “form” is guilty of the differences in interpretation. What is meant by “form” is, that there are two very divided manners in which this passage is generally taken.
1) Many feel this is a literal story of an event that had already occurred, (literal/historical form). 2) There are also, many who feel this is a parable of a prophetic event, and/or instructional parable, (parabolic/symbolic form).
This discourse began, (
Luke 14:1-17:10), by Jesus after He’d arrived to eat at the house of one of the chief Pharisees, with other Pharisees and lawyers were present, (Luke 14:3). After questioning them directly on matters of law, they remained silent. Jesus responded to their silence with a parable, (
Luke 14:7-11).
In this parable he hints at elements of “the rich man and Lazarus”, there is a meal in which we aren’t to exalt ourselves, by going before the master in the house’s highest room. Instead we are to “shame” ourselves and begin in the lowest room. He then follows that parable with a relative statement that also hints strongly of the story of the “rich man and Lazarus”. Here is what he said;
“ Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:” (
Luke 14:12-13)
Immediately after Jesus repeats himself, in parable form,
Luke 14:16-24.
Why is Jesus speaking to them in parable?
"And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. …All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them" (
Mat 13:10-11,34).
When speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, as He was in
Luke 15 &16, He never spoke the mysteries of His kingdom to them except in parables. The words of Luke 15:3 set the precedence, "He spake this parable to them...”, they established what Jesus said thereafter would be in parable.
Please note, that He was speaking to those who murmured against Him, (
Luke 15:2) and they continued to listen and scoff at him, (
Luke 16:14). After their eavesdropping was made plain He began speaking directly to them again, (
Luke 16:15). The first indication that He changed His focus was in
Luke 17:1. At that point it seems He spoke only to His disciples.
Chapter 16 of Luke is about stewardship, yet some seem locked in to the idea that this passage(
v.19-31) holds literal clues to the state of the dead and/or heaven and hell.
If one were to take every Biblical parable literally, we would find plenty of items that would be difficult to explain in literal terms. Such as in
Jdg. 9:7-15, Jotham spoke in a parable that was completely imaginary, about talking trees and brambles.
Also, in
Eze. 23:1-4, he records the Parable of Two Sisters, in which proper names are used in parabolic symbolism. As you can see, it would not be sensible to give literal equivalents to symbolic terms used in a fictitious parable.
Jesus was never recorded using the phrases “a certain man”, (Greek = tis anthros), or “a certain rich man”, (Greek = tis plousios anthros), except in parable. Even though not one author ever recorded him using either phrase outside of parables some still maintain that
Luke 16:19 is the exception. Even more compelling is, the only 3 times “a certain rich man” was used, was by Jesus, and all 3 only recorded by Luke.
The Parable
Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer in splendour every day.
Remember, He’s speaking to the Pharisee’s and this “rich man” is portrayed wearing clothing of the High Priest of the Israelite people(
Exo. 28:5).
Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Here we see the beggar down with the dogs, waiting for crumbs to fall from the rich man’s table. These same symbolic terms have been used by Christ before, which helps reveal the identity of the beggar, the crumbs, and the rich man.
Matt. 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.
Here we see that the Gentile lady is being symbolized as the “dogs”, the “crumbs of bread” as the gospel message, and the “masters“ as the Israelites/Jews.
Remember, the bread is the word, and Christ is the “bread”, (
John 6:35). Christ came to minister to the Israelites, (
Mat. 15:24, 1Cor. 9:20), yet this Gentile woman was asking Christ to share himself. Like the beggar, she was desiring “crumbs” from the “masters” table.
The Israelites were spiritually rich, (
Luke 6:24-25, Rom. 11:12), for they had the one true message of God, and they had been commissioned to take the Word to the Gentiles, (
Isa. 49:6).
Isa. 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, FOR A LIGHT OF THE GENTILES;
But, they didn’t spread the message, they hoarded it instead. Remember, the focus of
Luke 16 is stewardship. They failed to be good stewards with the Word that God had entrusted to them. They considered Gentiles to be lower than them. “Dogs” and “unclean” were terms used when speaking of them, (
Act 10:28, Mark 7:27-28, Matt. 15:26,27).
Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
“It came to pass”(
v.22) indicates the passing of time and that this scene has been taken to a future conclusion as the result of their poor stewardship.
When does the Bible tell us angels will collect dead people? The Bible indicates that the angels gather the righteous dead at Christ's second coming.
Mat.24:31 And he shall send HIS ANGELS with a great sound of a trumpet, and they SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mark 13:27 And then shall he send HIS ANGELS, and SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Here’s where we see 4 items found together in only two places in the Bible, one of which we just saw in
v.22 & 23.
1. Angels taking someone to a good place.
2. Abraham is also in the good place.
3. Someone being tormented in a bad place.
4. The person in the bad place is able to see Abraham.
Notice carefully below, that again it is Luke who records the same imagery.
Luke 13:28 There shall be WEEPING AND GNASHING of teeth, when ye shall SEE ABRAHAM, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall SIT DOWN IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
This comes from the Parable of the Strait Gate, (also see
Mat. 7:13,14). And, as one can plainly tell this is referring to the elect being gathered by the angels from the four corners of the earth, (
Mat.24:31, Mark 13:27), at the coming of Christ.
The torment that will occur to the wicked, at the coming of Christ, is said to cause a weeping and gnashing of teeth according to the parable found in
Luke 13. These 4 items found together in only these two places; is one of the strongest indications that this is not a literal story, but yet a future prophetic event, specifically the second coming.
Those being tormented “see Abraham”(
Isa. 52:10), while they are thrust out! The twist is; we now see the beggar, (Gentiles) in the bosom of Abraham. The father of Israel takes the Gentiles into his bosom and the rich man, (Jew’s/Israelite‘s), dies and is in torment.
Christ couldn’t haven’t been much clearer, salvation didn’t belong only to the Jews, and they had been poor stewards with the commission God had bestowed upon them.
Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Luke 16:24 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.
Notice he is asking “Father Abraham”, showing that he is still placing assurance of salvation in their bloodline, instead of God. This can be also seen in
John 8:37-42, where they told Christ that Abraham was their Father. They have placed Abraham in substitution of God as proof of their salvation.
Now, when judgment is finalized and the torments of this bad steward have begun, he is asking for a drop of water. Ironically similar to the Gentiles hoping for just a crumb from the masters table.
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
After all the spiritual and physical gifts and prosperity God had lavished on them for centuries, they were greedy with the divine word of God. They simply, reaped what they sowed (
Job 4:8), which is the heart of the message found in this parable. Those who try to keep salvation for themselves, will lose it.
Mat. 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.
The great gulf is a source of much discussion, we see that it separates those who are tormented, and those who are comforted. I‘ve shown above that this is imagery is consistent with a portrait of the second coming, (
Luke 13:28-30). If this is true than we should be able to find the equivalent of this gulf in other passages which speak of the second coming.
Remember the virgins with no oil in their lamps, (
Mat. 25:1-13), the door was shut and they were left outside pleading to get in, the Lord told them he didn’t know them. Sound familiar. Fixed gulf/shut door separating the good from the bad. The bad guys pleading for help, the good guys denying help. Same story told with different images
Also the same image in
Mat. 25:31-46. Christ comes with His angels and gathers everyone, then he separates the sheep from the goats. He creates a divide/gulf/door between the good guys and bad guys. Again, tormented bad guys plead for their fate, the good guys deny them. Same images over and over,
In
Mat. 8:11-12 very similar imagery again. The bad guys get separated by being placed in the outer darkness and they are tormented. It also says that many will come from the east and west, remember the passages that said the angels will gather the elect from the corners of the earth, same reference. Then it says those that are gathered sit down with Abraham. Lastly, who are the ones separated and tormented? None other than the Children of the kingdom, the Jews/Israelites.
Like I said, once you realize that the imagery is a portrait of the second coming, suddenly the images don’t appear unique. Instead you realize this parable is actually are repetitive images that we’ve been shown a hundred times.
Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
Here again, we see the rich man(Jews) praying to father Abraham, this of course is forbidden by the second commandment(
Exo. 20:33) and condemned by Christ to the Pharisees, (
John 8). Remember, it is the Pharisees to whom He is speaking this parable.
Luke 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
The rich man is asking for five of his brethren to be warned, not to come to this place of torments. Abraham has informed the rich man what his fate is and what the consequences for his actions are, (
v.25,26). We see that he now wants Lazarus to be sent back, to “testify” to those five brethren. But, it is to late, the “great gulf” has been ”fixed”, their probation is long over.
The “five brethren” may be referring to the five full blooded brothers of Judah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Zebulun, (
Gen. 29:32-30:20). This would make sense because we’ve already seen evidence that the Jews/Israelites are being symbolized by the “rich man” .
Luke 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
This brilliant parable has many terms and concepts intertwined to express a moral truth, which is the principal behind a Biblical parable. It was a stern warning and rebuke to the Jewish nation, regarding their poor stewardship and the consequences for their iniquities.
It was also a prophetic glimpse at the resurrection of Lazarus which was the sealing of Christ’s fate, which they still refused to believe, (
John 11:46-53, Luke 16:31). Most importantly for those reading it today, it is a reminder for the commissioned individual not to be “highminded”, or we might just find ourselves “cut off”, and “thrust out” of the kingdom of God as well.
