Lazarus and the rich man - a story of unbelief
Have you ever heard that those who die as infidels can no longer be reached by God? It is a cruel and destructive doctrine, the proof of which is a single verse in the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. Like all biblical passages, this parable also stands in a specific context and can only be understood correctly in this context. It is always bad to base a doctrine on a single verse - even more so if it is in a story whose core message is completely different. Jesus related the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus for two reasons: first, to denounce the refusal of the faith leaders of Israel to believe in him, and, secondly, to refute the widespread assumption that wealth is a sign of God's goodwill, while poverty is proof of his disgrace.
The parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus is the last in a series of five others that Jesus told to a group of Pharisees and scribes who – being greedy and self-satisfied – had taken offense at the fact that Jesus also cared for sinners and shared a meal with them.Lk 15,1 and 16:14). Before that, he had already told the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. With these, Jesus wanted to make it clear to the tax collectors and sinners, as well as to the resentful Pharisees and scribes who thought they had no reason to repent, that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who begins a new life than over ninety-nine others who do not need to (Lk 15,7 Good news bible). But that is not all.
Money versus god
With the parable of the dishonest manager, Jesus comes to the fourth story. (Lk 16,1-14)Their main point is: If you love money like the Pharisees, you will not love God. Addressing the Pharisees directly, Jesus said: “You are the ones who justify yourselves before others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly valued by people is an abomination to God” (v. 15).
The Law and the Prophets testify—so Jesus says—that the Kingdom of God has arrived and everyone is forcing their way in (verses 16-17). His message is this: Because you value so highly what is popular with people and not what pleases God, you reject his urgent call—and thus the chance—to find entry into his Kingdom through Jesus. Verse 18 expresses—in a figurative sense—that the Jewish religious leaders had turned away from the Law and the Prophets who pointed to Jesus, and thus also from God (cf. Jer 3,6). In verse 19, integrated into the previous four parables, the story of the rich man and poor Lazarus begins, as Jesus told them.
A story of unbelief
There are three main characters in the story: the rich man (who stands for the greedy Pharisees), the poor beggar Lazarus (reflecting that social class that was despised by the Pharisees) and finally Abraham (whose bosom in the Jewish world means consolation and Symbolized peace in the hereafter).
The story tells of the beggar's death. But Jesus surprises his audience with the words: ... he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom (v. 22). That was exactly the opposite of what the Pharisees would have assumed in a man like Lazarus, namely that such people as this were poor and sick precisely because they had been condemned by God and consequently nothing other than the torments after their death hell to expect. But Jesus teaches them better. Your point of view is just exactly wrong. They knew nothing of his father's kingdom and were wrong not only with regard to God's assessment of the beggar, but also with regard to his judgment of them.
Then Jesus brings the surprise: When the rich man died and was buried, he - and not the beggar - would have been exposed to the torments of hell. So he looked up and saw Abraham sitting in the distance with Lazarus himself at his side. And he said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in the water and cool my tongue; because I suffer torment in these flames (vv. 23 - 24).
But Abraham essentially told the rich man this: All your life you have loved riches and have had no time for people like Lazarus. But I have time for people like him, and now he is with me, and you have nothing. – Then follows the verse that is so often taken out of context: And moreover, between us and you there is a great chasm, so that no one who wants to cross from here to you can cross there, nor can anyone from there cross over to us. (Lk 16,26).
Here and there
Ever wondered why anyone would want to switch from here to here? Obviously, why would someone want to move from there to us, but to take the opposite path, does not make sense - or does it? Abraham turned to the rich man, addressing him with his son; then he said that not even those who wanted to come to him could do so because of the great gap. The revelation underlying this story is that there is indeed one who has overcome this gap for the sake of the sinner.
The bridge over the gap
God gave his Son for all sinners, not only for those like Lazarus, but also for those like the rich man. (Joh 3,16-17)The rich man mentioned in the parable, who symbolically represented the Pharisees and scribes who condemned Jesus, rejected the Son of God. He sought what had always been the goal of his ambition: personal comfort at the expense of others.
Jesus concluded this story with the rich man's plea that someone might warn his brothers, lest the same thing happen to them as happened to him. Abraham, however, answered him: “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen” (v. 29). Jesus had also previously pointed out (see vv. 16-17) that the Law and the Prophets bore witness to him—a testimony that he and his brothers, however, had not accepted (cf. Joh 5,45-47 and Lk 24,44-47).
"No, Father Abraham," replied the rich man, "if one of the dead went to them, they would repent." (Lk 16,30)To which Abraham replied: If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead (v. 31).
And they were not convinced: The Pharisees, scribes, and high priests who had conspired to have Jesus crucified came to Pilate even after his death and asked him what the lie of the resurrection was all about. (Mt 27,62-66), and they persecuted, hunted down, and killed those who professed their faith.
Jesus did not tell this parable to show us heaven and hell as clearly as possible. Rather, he turned against the religious leaders of that time who closed themselves to faith and against hard-hearted and selfish rich people at all times. To make this clear, he used the usual Jewish language images to represent the hereafter (with recourse to hell reserved for the wicked and the being of the righteous in Abraham's bosom). With this parable, he did not take a position on the expressiveness or accuracy of Jewish symbolism regarding the hereafter, but simply used that visual language to illustrate his history.
His main focus was certainly not on satisfying our burning curiosity about what heaven and hell might be like. Rather, his aim is that God's mystery be revealed to us (Röm 16,25; Eph 1,9 etc.), the secret of earlier times (Eph 3,4-5): that God, in him, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the almighty Father, has reconciled the world to himself from the beginning (2. Kor 5,19).
Therefore, if we are preoccupied with the possible details of the hereafter, this can only lead us further away from that very knowledge which was closed to the rich man in that story: We should and may believe in the one who returned from the dead.
by J. Michael Feazell
