The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16: 19-31
This parable of our Lord, found in Luke 16, grows out of the reaction of the Pharisees to his story of the dishonest steward. The point of that was that our Lord emphasized and underscored the link between money and spirituality. He indicated that man must love God and use money, instead of using God and loving money, as these Pharisees were doing, and as many still do today. Because of this teaching they ridiculed him, as we read in Verse 14:
Luke 15 begins with some Pharisees and lawyers mingling into the crowd where Jesus has been teaching. They instantly start criticizing Him over the fact that He is known to spend time with sinners.
Jesus responds by launching into a number of parables:
The parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:4–7)
The parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10)
The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32)
The parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1–13)
When He gets to the last parable which touches on how we use our money and resources, Luke tells us that the "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus" (Luke 16:14).
It’s this tense exchange that sets the stage for Jesus' story about Lazarus and the rich man.
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores" (Luke 16:19–21).
Jesus begins by introducing us to two characters: an extremely wealthy man and a beggar named Lazarus. Interpreters have often gotten caught up in the fact that this is the only parable where Jesus names any of the central characters. Because of this, there's a tendency to attach greater significance and meaning to this parable than to others.
It's likely that Jesus named the beggar to make a specific point. First of all, He calls the man Lazarus—the Greek version of the Hebrew name Eleazar—a name which means "God supports" or "God helps." Throughout this beggar's life, he has received no care or support from anyone else. It has only been God who has supported and cared for him.
To the rich man, Lazarus is just another face in the crowd, an invisible poor person that disappears into the background of his comfortable, lavish life. But in the afterlife when all is said and done, this rich man still remains nameless, and it's Lazarus whose name is remembered.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So 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."
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. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
He answered, "Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment" (Luke 16:22–28).
Now we're introduced to the conflict in this story. But we have to be very careful—it's incredibly easy to get lost in the details. The point of this story isn't necessarily to describe particulars about the afterlife. If it were, we'd have to assume that those in heaven can watch and interact with sufferers in Hades
In a country where the common people were fortunate if they ate meat once in the week and where they toiled for six days of the week, The rich man is a figure of indolent self-indulgence. Lazarus was waiting for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. In that time there were no knives, forks or napkins. Food was eaten with the hands and, in very wealthy houses, the hands were cleansed by wiping them on hunks of bread, which were then thrown away. That was what Lazarus was waiting for. The rich man's sin: There's never any indication of any abuse or mistreatment aimed at Lazarus. Abraham merely points out that the rich man lived in comfort while Lazarus was in agony and now the roles are reversed. The rich man ignored Lazarus. He wasn't wicked to Lazarus; he was indifferent.
It's almost comical that in their new situation, the rich man ignores Lazarus to address Abraham. In fact, as far as the rich man is concerned, Lazarus is still a servant and a nobody. He wants Abraham to send Lazarus to quench his thirst. And when Abraham declines, he asks for Lazarus to be sent to warn his family.
Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them."
"No, father Abraham," he said, "but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent."
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" (Luke 16:29–31).
The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers, so they won't suffer the same fate, but Abraham refuses. He tells the rich man that they have the testimony of Moses and the Prophets to warn them.
The rich man ignores Abraham's words and points out that if someone were to come back from the dead, his brothers would pay attention. Abraham tells the man that if his brothers aren't going to listen to Moses and the prophets, they're not going to pay attention to someone who has been resurrected.
Abraham is making the point that Jews who ignore Moses and the prophets aren't going to be swayed by a miraculous messenger.
When we're looking at a parable, the first question we need to ask is, "What was Jesus saying to the original listeners?" In this case, we have to consider what the message was to the Pharisees.
On the surface, Jesus is addressing their love of money. No one knew the Law and the prophets like the Pharisees. To them, money bought influence, power, and comfort. They didn't consider it a resource that God intended them to share with those in need—even though Scripture told them otherwise.
But Jesus is making a broader point about the nature of spiritual blindness. The rich man's brothers won't believe because they’re unwilling to believe. It doesn't matter who delivers the message. Their hearts are committed to disobedience. They have found ways of justifying their lifestyle and rebelliousness.
The main point of the story of the rich man and Lazarus is that an individual’s wealth and social standing, or the lack thereof, is not necessarily an indication of that person’s spiritual standing before God. Many of the Jews believed that the fact that they had accumulated wealth that afforded them social status and prominent positions in the religious community proved that they were under the blessing of God. They also thought, according to their logic, that those who were poor were under the curse of God.
They no doubt appealed to the promises made to Israel in the Law of Moses concerning the blessings for obedience to God’s Law and the curses of poverty because of disobedience, failing to recognize the national rather then the personal nature of those promises (see Deut. 28:1-45ff.; etc.). They were also ignoring the many warnings found in “Moses and the Prophets” that were directed towards the leaders of Israel who selfishly misused their power and wealth (see Isa. 56:10-12; Ezek. 34:1-4ff.; Micah 3:1-4; etc.).
The rich man’s failure to help Lazarus, a fellow Israelite, revealed that he had a wicked heart, a non-repentant heart. By refusing to provide for the poor beggar sitting at his gate, the rich man was rebelling against God who, through Moses, had given Israel specific instructions on how those with resources were to treat their poor fellow countrymen (see Deut. 15:7-11). They were to open their hands wide in providing for the poor and needy in their land. This man showed that he did not love the Lord God of Israel with all of his heart, soul, and might as commanded by the Law (Deut. 6:4-5; cf. Mark 12:28-30). The evidence of this was that he did not love his neighbor, who in this case was Lazarus (Lev. 19:18; cf. Matt. 22:34-40). Although he thought he could force his way into God’s Kingdom, his heart attitude, which was demonstrated by his actions, proved him to be unworthy to enter.
When he asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers about what awaited them beyond death’s door if they did not repent, “Abraham saith unto Him, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). If, like the rich man, his brothers would not heed the warnings found in God’s Word, from Moses and the Prophets, neither would they believe someone who had been raised from the dead.
The Lord Jesus’ purpose in telling this story was to warn the self-righteous money-loving Pharisees about the consequences of trusting in the traditions of man and worldly riches rather than in the Word of God (cf. Mark 7:5-13; Luke 12:16-21). He also made it clear that people cannot be convinced of the truth through miracles such as someone being raised from the dead, if they are to be not convicted of the truth through the agency of God’s Word (cf. Rom. 10:17).
Those who foolishly reject the message of salvation through the cross will die without hope, while those who accept the gospel as true and place their faith in Christ are reconciled to God and receive the gift of eternal life. “In the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21). There is no one greater than “our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13-14); there is no greater message than that of “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Cor. 2:1-5); There is no greater calling than to “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” (Rom. 16:25-27).
Jesus directed the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to the Pharisees, who thought that they would get into heaven because they were good men. They were the religious leaders. They were at the synagogue every time the doors opened. They studied the Law and the Prophets and could quote lengthy sections of it. They participated in all of the annual feasts and holy days of the Jewish faith. They gave ten percent or more of their income to the temple. They called Abraham their father.
But, their religion was outward. They did what they did to impress others. But God was not impressed because their hearts were full of pride and hypocrisy (16:15). They would have protested that they kept the Law, but they were not concerned about inner, heart righteousness before God. They were living the good life, assuming that they would go to heaven. But their love of money had blinded them to God’s perspective. They were in for a rude awakening if they did not repent and take heed to the true message of the Law and the Prophets before they died.
As far as I know, the rich man in the parable did not use the mammon of unrighteousness to make friends for himself so that when it failed, they would receive him into eternal dwellings (16:9). He failed to lay up treasures in heaven, even though the opportunity to do so literally lay at his doorstep every day. Even having Abraham as his father (16:24, 27, 30) wouldn’t help him on judgment day, because he had neglected the true message of Moses and the Prophets. His faith was mere profession that did not result in obedience.
Thus the message for us is:
Since present choices determine eternal destiny, we must repent and believe God’s Word and not be deceived by outward appearances.
A superficial reading of the story might lead you to conclude that a person who is rich and comfortable in this life goes to hell, while a person who is poor and miserable goes to heaven, to even things out. But that would contradict other Scriptures, and even in the story itself, the wealthy Abraham is in heaven. The rich man’s problem was not that he was rich, but that he did not repent of his sin of squandering his riches on himself and begin to use them as God would have him to do, to make friends for eternity.
The rich man knew that his brothers needed to do -what he had not done, namely, to repent and to be persuaded to believe the message of Moses and the Prophets (16:30-31). The apostle Paul summarized his preaching as “solemnly testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a turning of the whole person from sin to God. Saving faith is to trust the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as the penalty for our sins. A person who has truly believed in Christ as Savior will live a life of repentance and growth in godliness. The fact that this rich man never showed concern for Lazarus, even though he had to walk past him every day, is ample evidence that his faith was an empty profession. He had never repented of his selfishness.
When the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, Abraham replies that they have what they need to repent by being submissive to Moses and the Prophets. But the rich man protests, saying in effect, “That’s not enough. Moses and the Prophets will not bring them to repentance. They need something more spectacular, something miraculous, something supernatural. “Send them a man risen from the dead to preach to them and then they will repent.” The rich man protests because he knows that the brothers are unlikely to respond to scripture. His use of the word,” repent,” shows that he understands that his present sufferings are a consequence of his own failure to repent.
But Abraham insists that Scripture is a sufficient witness. If they won’t believe Scripture, they won’t believe if someone rises from the dead.
Why should God not grant this man his request to warn his brothers: If God really does not want men to go to hell, then why does he not allow the warning from an supernatural event in order that any might be kept from hell? If that is the way we feel then we have missed the point of Abraham's words. This rich man is not denied his request because God is unwilling to give as much opportunity as possible; he is denied it because it is useless, because it will not work. As Abraham points out, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.
How accurately this parable portrays our human desire for the spectacular, the dramatic, the shocking to occur! We have all felt this way at times. We ask, "Why is it so hard to believe? Why doesn't God do more? Why doesn't he open the heavens and speak to us? Why doesn't he perform miracles again, as in the days of our Lord, or send an angel to speak to us?" Many feel that if they could only see a miracle, or be spoken to by an angel, then they would believe. But we need to ask ourselves: How many who saw the miracles in our Lord's day still believed in him at the end of his life? How many stayed with him who believed because of the miracles?
We know there were very few. Only a handful of people stood around the cross. And what did men do when, shortly before this when another man named Lazarus was actually raised from the dead? What did men do? Did they believe? According to the record, they simply took counsel together to put him to death again! Even when Jesus himself returned from the dead men do not believe.
No, Abraham is right. The most convincing proof is "Moses and the prophets" - the Word of God. The rich man was in hell because he refused to heed Moses and the prophets, not because he was rich. His activities as a rich man grew out of his refusal to hear Moses and the prophets. His self-centered, self-indulgent life is a reflection of that refusal, but he is not in hell because he was rich.
Lazarus, on the other hand, is in heaven because he believed Moses and the prophets, because he believed them he made God his helper and trusted in him. He is not in heaven merely to give him compensation for what he went through on earth. There will be many a poor man in hell, as there will be rich men in heaven. No, he is there simply because he believed Moses and the prophets.
So, what our Lord is saying here is: The main thing in life is to give heed to what God has said, to heed Moses and the prophets. The point of this story is that you and I are the five brothers that are left behind. This is the whole point. You may be young, sauntering your way through life with life all ahead of you, thinking, as these five brothers undoubtedly thought, "I'll take one world at a time. I'll enjoy life now, and when the next life comes along I'll handle it then." But the point of this whole story is that then is determined by now.
That is the whole issue. You are put here now to learn reality, to distinguish good and evil, and to appropriate God's method of deliverance. That is why you are here. Unless you learn these things now, there will not be any glorious life to come. Thus the main thing is Moses and the prophets, especially this last and greatest of the prophets, the One who tells us this story!
Thus, there are two and only two eternal destinies. The basis for a person’s eternal destiny is fixed by his choices in this life.
One key to understanding this parable is 16:15b, “that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” In the eyes of men, the rich man was successful and Lazarus was a loser. The rich man lived well and enjoyed the finest things in life. Lazarus was a miserable wretch, with the dogs licking his sores. But the irony is, Lazarus was eternally rich and the rich man was eternally bankrupt.
Jesus had just given a parable about wealth and taught that you cannot serve both God and money.
Luke 16 is not just about money or wealth. That is what everyone labels it. But when you really understand the chapter the key element in both the parables is personal relationships. With the parable of the dishonest steward the issue was making friends for eternity . In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the rich man should have used his money to help Lazarus. But he only used his money for his own enjoyment. It says in vs. 19 that he dressed in the latest and best fashions and spent all his money on partying and buying expensive things for himself.
Both stories are really about whether or not we love others. One of the barometers of how we love is how we spend our money. The question to ask ourselves is - Who do I love? The answer can be found by finding out how you spend your money.
But while this parable seems to be about money, it is really about values. It is possible to be wealthy and to enjoy God’s favor—Abraham , David Isaac and Job serve as examples. The question is not whether we have money, but whether we love money (see 1 Timothy 6:10)—whether we share God’s concern for the poor and vulnerable—whether we are too preoccupied with personal concerns to notice the Lazarus in our midst?
The parable makes two points.
(a) The first has to do with “the reversal of fortunes of this life in the hereafter.”
(b) The second is that “even a supernatural manifestation from the dead will not bring about repentance from those who reject the scriptures – (Moses and the Prophets)
The rich man is surely aware of Lazarus lying at his gate, but does nothing to help. He may consider himself charitable not to have forcibly removed Lazarus from his property.
The Pharisees can hardly miss that the parable is aimed at them. They regard their prosperity as God’s reward for their good conduct. Instead, the parable warns that, if they are like the rich man in life, they will be like him in death. It portrays a great reversal that challenges their theology that wealth is a sign of God’s favor and poverty a sign of God’s displeasure.
It is a terrible warning that the sin of the rich man was not that he did wrong things, but that he did nothing.
Today, there seems to be a shift away from the power of the gospel to “supernatural manifestations”
The defining characteristic of the “ supernatural manifestations” is the experience of certain physical or spiritual phenomena.
The Bible teaches that the presence of the supernatural is not necessarily the presence of God. In other words, miraculous “signs and wonders” can be counterfeited.
(a) Signs and wonders can have a deceptive force. Note carefully Deut 13:1-5.
(b) False prophets can perform signs and wonders using God’s name. For example, false prophets in the OT used Jehovah’s name (Jer 28). In the NT, we find that Jesus said that many will come to Him and say-“ We healed the sick, we cast out demons etc in your name “ and Jesus answered ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matt 7:22-23). So the question is not whether God’s name, or even Jesus name is used. But rather, which God and which Jesus (Matt 24:24, 25; cf. 2 Cor 11: 13-15). The critical test is not the display of power, even in Jesus name. Rather it is obedience to His will and fruit bearing (Matt 7:20, 23) .
(c) The frequent demands for miraculous signs and wonders at the expense of faith in Christ and His word are denounced in Scripture as the resort of an “evil and adulterous generation” (Matt 12:38-45; cf. 16:1-4; Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:16, 29).
(d) A person can see even genuine signs and wonders and still not be saved. E.g., the religious leaders in Christ’s day were convinced that Jesus actually performed miracles. But many of them did not believe in Him; they rejected Christ and crucified Him (John 11:47-57).
(e) It is far more important to know and to do God’s will than to perform miraculous signs and wonders. After the disciples returned from the mission trip and reported of how “even the demons submit to them, Jesus said to them: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)
