Lazarus and the Rich Man
Have a little ditty for your today
What bliss will fill the ransomed souls,
When they in glory dwell,
To see the sinner as he rolls,
In quenchless flames of hell.
• This crisp little ditty set Christian’s feet tapping during America ‘s “Great Awakening”
• Author of which was no less than the famous hymn composer, Isaac Newton
• But Isaac Newton little ditty paled into insignificance when compared to the glowing rhetoric of the greatest of New England Puritan preachers Jonathan Edwards in his classic sermon entitled, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”
• This has been this traditional view of hell down through the ages and has been used very effectively to “scare” people into committing their lives Jesus Christ
Today we will be looking at a parable which seems at first glance to support this concept of Hell, a place burning with fire and brimstone, the Devil, complete with tail and pitchfork, and demons tormenting sinners day and night forever
• The story is found in Luke 16 and is known as Lazarus and the Rich man
• 19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
• Two extremes of society, rich and poor
• One had the best his society had to offer, while the other was so poor and feeble he was licked by dogs
• Double insult, not only the indignity of dogs licking him but it also made him unclean
Before we go any further, let’s look at the background to the story
• V.14 gives us the context and the background to the Parable. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees about their love of money
• Jesus had just told them the Parable of the Unjust Steward
• 14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.
• One of the concepts the Jews had and is still preached in many Western Churches today is the belief that wealth is a sign of God’s blessing on your life – they had their own health and wealth gospel going way back then
• But notice what Jesus says and doesn’t say, He totally sidestepped the issue of wealth and jumped straight to the true spiritual issue – the subject of justification
• What is detestable to God is when someone tries to justify themselves in the eyes of God
• So the context of the parable is not so much physical wealth, but spiritual wealth
• In fact as this parable shows, physical wealth can be a major obstacle to spiritual wealth
• Recognising how spiritually bankrupt one is, is the key to salvation, and wealth has a way of clouding ones thinking in this area
• So the real issue here is how one is truly justified!
• 22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
• No elaborate funeral, picked up, thrown on a cart and most likely thrown into the Valley of Gehenna outside Jerusalem
• The rich man also died and was buried.
• In contrast, the rich man would have had an elaborate funeral, all sorts of nice things would have been said about him, and he would have been laid to rest in a tomb close to the one owned by Joseph of Arimathaea
• So in the Jewish scheme of Heaven and Hell, the rich man was on his way to heaven
• But to his shock, wakes up in this terrible nightmare of fiery torment
• 23In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
• A complete role reversal, the one who should have been in Heaven is in hell and the one who should have been in hell is in heaven
• 24So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
• Again the roles are reversed, The rich man is now the beggar
• But notice he still regards Lazarus as someone to wait on his every need
• Another point that needs to be made is that the rich man recognises Abraham, he was a religious man
• 25"But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
• Notice to the use of the word, “son”. Its interesting in the parables of Jesus that no one is rejected without first of all being included (Ten Virgins, Parable of the Talents, Wedding Feast)
• Again a superficial understanding of this parable might indicate that the rich man ended up in hell because he was not generous enough with his money.
• But is that the real reason he is in hell?
• 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
• Now we come to the crux of the parable – this great chasm or gulf
What is this great chasm that separated the father of the Faithful from the Rich man?
• This great chasm is the gulf that exists between a Holy Righteous God and a sinful mankind
• This is the gulf that Adam and Eve experienced when they were escorted out of Eden
• The wonderful relationship of security and assurance they had with their God was shattered by their sin
• Their heaven had turned into a hell hole
• It is impossible for a sinful man to approach a Holy God
• So on the one hand, the chasm is caused by God’s holy nature, it is anathema to sin, it denies his Godness to condone sin
• Humans too cause this chasm - human nature rebels against God’s judgment of him
• And so this vast chasm developed in the relationship between God and mankind
• One of the best definitions I have heard for Heaven and Hell is this, Heaven is life with God, and Hell is life without God
• And so man was consigned to live in the hell of his own making (separated from God) and that also helps to explain the reason for suffering in this world – living without God is hell!
But we have a remarkable God. He was not going to allow sin to destroy this relationship for ever.
• So with the spilling of the blood of the animals God used to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness, He signalled His intention to redeem his children, but a heavy price would have to be paid to close this chasm
• His was a divine “no”! I am not going to allow this to happen despite what it will cost me!”
• And this is the remarkable miracle of the Incarnation
• It is into this black abyss of hell that separates man from God that Christ descended in order to redeem man
• No ordinary man can cross this chasm, but the one who is both God and man can
• It is Christ the Mediator, true God and true man who bridges this chasm of hell and placed himself in the firing line of God’s judgment and wrath on mankind…and He lovingly accepts that judgment
Two things happened at the cross
• On the one hand he dealt with man’s ultimate attack on God, by allowing them to crucify Him; and He dealt with God judgment on the inhumanity of mankind by accepting death on the cross
• And born out of these two conflicting agendas come two words that reveal the infinite guilt of mankind and the infinite love of God
• My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, and “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
• It was at that point when Jesus felt abandoned and alone on the cross and he cried those fateful words, that he too experienced the effects of that great gulf
• When the sins of the world were placed on His shoulders He was in the same position as the Rich man in Hell – he was in torment, and He too asked for a drink!
• Jesus went to the hell of the cross so we wouldn’t have to!
• No one needs to go to Hell…Christ has already been there for each and everyone of us, just as surely as He has paid for every sin that has been committed
• And precisely at that moment, the temple veil was rent and the gulf disappeared and access to God for mankind was restored
So God through Jesus Christ restored man relationship with mankind by crossing that divide – it’s a done deal, it’s a free gift
• Now here is the inconceivable part. As hard as it is to believe, it seems there will be some who like this Rich man, refuse the free gift of salvation and rely on their own selves to cross this vast chasm
• Let’s settle another issue - God does not want any of his children to perish anymore than a human parent wanted any of their children to perish
• Matt 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
• John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
• 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
• Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
• Contrary to what Isaac Newton and Jonathan Edwards say, God does not take delight in watching the wicked slow roast, He is deeply saddened when any of His children refuse his free gift
• The ultimate fate of the wicked is isolation from God (hell) because that is what they have chosen
• What that means, we can only guess at, at this time.
• What we do know is that we have a gracious God who paid a terrible price to redeem mankind and He will fight to save every last one
• But apparently there will be some who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour
• And apparently this Rich man was one such individual
• He though he had it all sown up, respected member of society, blessed financially, probably gave to all the good causes in town, but refused to get his hands dirty with the poor guy at his gate
There is only one way over this chasm
• Having the right connections with Father Abraham won’t cut it!
• Our good works will not cut it!
• Giving all our money to the poor won’t cut it!
• No, Abraham is very clear, no ordinary man can cross over from there to here
• The only way across is Jesus Christ
27"He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29"Abraham replied, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
The message of salvation has always been the same, whether it’s the time of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses and the Prophets – its always been through faith
and as mentioned earlier, no one is excluded before being included
30" ’No, father Abraham,’ he said, ’but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31"He said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
later of course, Jesus did rise from the dead and still the Jews rejected Him
They hardened their hearts and refused to acknowledge the only One who could cross that gulf for them
There is only one way to be justified
and that is recognise how spiritually poor we really are…because it is only when we acknowledge our poverty that we will reach out for the saving hand of Jesus Christ who will walk us across that divide
Lazarus recognised his spiritual poverty and was united with Christ, the Rich man did not and was left in the isolation of hell
