Creating a Masterpiece:
The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, Part 3
Luke 16:19-31
Over the last three weeks, we have stood and listened as the Master story teller weaved the words of this parable into a complex painting that covers the subtle and not so subtle events of life. We have stood in amazement and watched him paint a portrait of two contrasting lives, and we have seen the vivid colors of life fade into the dull tones of death. Just as easily as Jesus blended those tones together, he recaptures our attention with the bold strokes of his poetic brush as the strokes of his words craft a beautiful, life-filled landscape of that time we call the afterlife. As we stand and gaze into the words he has spoken, we are drawn to the depth of revelation that unfolds as Jesus speaks, and we are startled by the nature of Jesus’ revelation, and we learn things we are not quite so sure we are ready to learn.
As we learn, though, we must first confess our own ignorance. We stand and look upon this teaching of Jesus, and extrapolate from its words some meaning, but the reality is the meaning is only a shadow of the reality which exists beyond the words. We speak and we view only in part because the afterlife is a place we have never been. Talking about heaven and hell is sort of like a person taking a vacation to a place he/she has never been before. Take Hawaii, for instance. I’ve never been there. I would love to go, and perhaps one day will get the opportunity. But now, I can only dream of what it will be like. I can only speak with those who have gone there before to catch just a glimpse of what my trip will be like. I can read vacation guides and travel brochures, but until I experience the reality of it, I can only know in part.
So it is with the afterlife. We can’t talk to anyone face to face who has ever been there. We can only read the information we have, and seek to understand something of what the afterlife will be like. The best information we have is in the Bible. So we must go there to learn what we can. And Jesus is the only one who has seen with eyes and heard with ears the reality of the afterlife. How easily Jesus moves between the seen and the unseen. He speaks as one who knows, as those early hearers of his put it, “He speaks as One having authority.” If we are to learn about the afterlife, it will be in the words of Jesus. So let us listen, and see if we catch the teaching of Jesus in his words concerning the afterlife as revealed in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
Read Luke 16:19-31
It would be very easy to get carried away by thoughts of heaven and hell. We could sing the words of the old gospel song How Beautiful Heaven Must Be, or we could recoil in horror at the images that stick in our minds as we envision a place of eternal torment. Each of those subjects demand sermons of their own to plumb the depths that exist in each subject. Today’s message will focus only on the realities that Jesus teaches in this episode concerning the afterlife. What are some of the facts Jesus tells us through this story? What light does Jesus throw upon the mystery that is unseen?
First, Jesus tells us very clearly and unmistakably that there is a conscious existence after death. There is no such thing as soul sleep, and there is not so much as a peaceful, painless extinction when this life shall end. No! In this story, both Lazarus and the rich man are vividly and consciously alive. Lazarus is “carried by the angels to be with Abraham” (v. 22). That is, in the Jewish mind, the paradise of God. It is the place we call heaven. And the rich man’s soul, Jesus says, “went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham” (v. 23). That place of the dead, the place of torment, is hell.
The reality of a conscious existence after death is not something peculiar to this story that Jesus tells. It is affirmed throughout the Bible. Jesus confronted of Sadduccees who challenged him concerning the resurrection. To their silly question about a woman who married seven brothers, and their wanting to know whose wife she would be in the resurrection, Jesus replied, “Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, [32] ’I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead” (Matthew 22:31b-32). Jesus did not speak of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as dead. He clearly declared the contrary. They were alive.
Another episode in Jesus’ life comes to mind. As Jesus was hanging on the cross one of the men at his side prayed to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus replied to that prayer of the dying thief with this promise: “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:44). What can that mean? It can only mean that Jesus and the dying thief were going to meet in the paradise of God that very day. They were going to be consciously alive and aware of each other.
So it was with the rich man. He looked across and he saw Lazarus. This is the second revelation Jesus makes in this story concerning the afterlife. Not only are persons alive, but there are consciously aware of being themselves. Lazarus is still Lazarus. The rich man is still the same man he was before his death. The rich man still speaks of himself in the first person. He asks Abraham to allow Lazarus to “cool my tongue,” and he says, “I am in anguish.” He speaks of his five brothers. The rich man is conscious that he is the same man on the other side of the grave that he was on this side. He is keenly aware of the relationships that he had before that time of his passing from one life into another. The rich man knew Lazarus. Think about that. He looked across and saw the poor wretch of a soul who had laid so long beside his gate. He knew Lazarus.
At death, we all lose something, but the something we lose is only physical. We will lose these physical bodies that waste away because of the stain of sin. We will lose those physical maladies that attack us and deform us, and we will lose the physical pain that disease and deformity will bring us. But that is not all we will lose. We will lose our possessions, that is for sure. Someone once said, “There are no U-Haul’s in heaven.”
But there is one thing we will not lose. We will not lose ourselves. Yesterday I was myself. Tomorrow I will be myself. As long as heaven is heaven, and as long as God is God, I will be who I am. Death will never touch me. It will touch this earthly body, and when in death’s clutches I throw away this earthly body in the sullen grave, but I will be the same.
I will be the same. What an imposing thought! Why is there such a great tendency to believe that death will work a moral change in a person? Why do we believe that we can lie down one moment a self-centered, self-righteous, sin-bound, godless person, and by merely dying, think we will awaken the next moment holy, sinless, and Christlike. We will be the same in the afterlife as we are in this life. A person unwilling to heed the call of Christ in this life will be just as unwilling to answer the call in the next life. If you feel the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse you from all your sin now, do not be so bold as to think your cleansing will come at the hands of the funeral director or the coffin. Jesus clearly teaches that as we are in this life, so shall we be in the life to come. We will be ourselves.
But that is such a harsh reality, you say. How can a good, loving God send anyone to hell? The question is based on error and inconsistency of the highest order. We never make the statement, “How could a good judge sentence a mass murderer to death for his crimes?” We don’t say that because the judge is not responsible for the man being sentenced to death, his actions are. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 11:22,
Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe to those who disobeyed, but kind to you as you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.
We make our own destiny. God never sends anyone to hell. The way we live our lives here really does make all the difference in the world.
Jesus teaches a third reality concerning the afterlife in this story. Not only do we have a conscious existence, and self awareness, but in the afterlife, everyone possesses memory. Lazarus remembered the rich man, and the rich man remembered Lazarus. The rich man remembered the life he used to lead. He remembered his selfishness and his sin. He remembered the lost opportunities. He remembered his five brothers still alive, and what’s more, he remembered that they were in the same state that he was before his death.
Memory will be a powerful thing in the life to come. The power of memory will intensify the joys of heaven. We will celebrate and share with the saints of all ages as we worship eternally with the one true God. We will reunite with loved ones who have gone before us, and share a new relationship with them made incredibly real by the presence of Jesus. Oh, yes! Memory will intensify the joys of heaven. But for all the power memory yields in the glory of heaven, it will equally yield its power in the torment of hell as a person remembers what might have been, what could have been, and what should have been. And that person remembers the lost opportunity of life and salvation for all eternity.
Finally, Jesus teaches the reality that all people will not have the same destiny in the afterlife. Jesus plainly teaches that there is going to be a separation between that which is good and that which is bad, between the Christ-like and the Christ-less. Again, we are tempted to recoil at the thought that such could be the case, and we are proded by our thoughts to think Jesus’ simple words must mean something different. But Jesus’ words were simple words, and we must take them first at face value before we begin to look for underlying messages, and the simple matter is that Jesus says that Lazarus was carried away to be with Abraham while the rich man was taken to hell.
The rich man was in hell. But what is hell? Well, Jesus uses the word “torment” in this passage four times. So we know that hell is torment. It might be instructive to understand another interesting contrast here Jesus makes. Remember Lazarus was a beggar. The common practice of the first century ancient near east was for dead beggars to be carted away to the garbage dump. But Jesus basically says it was the rich man who ended up in the garbage dump. The garbage dump for Jerusalem was called the Valley of Hinnom. There, fires burned continuously to consume the rubbish of the community, and maggots worked feverishly in the filth. When the wind blew in just the right direction, the awfulness of the valley was quite evident. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus used the Valley of Hinnom as a description for hell eleven times in the New Testament? What is more striking is that the Valley of Hinnom prior to the time of Jesus was a place of pagan sacrifice. It was the place where people made the sacrifice of their children to the pagan gods Molech and Baal. Yes, they burned their children on the altars of these pagan gods. Jesus said, in essence, if you want a picture of hell, take a look at the valley of Hinnom. Everything unfit for heaven will end up in the garbage heap of eternity.
The rich man and Lazarus were separated. But God did not separate them. They separated themselves. They made different choices in life, and that led to different consequences in the afterlife. They were separated as far from one another as right is separated from wrong, and that separation continued beyond the grave.
Let me remind you though, that Lazarus was not granted passage into heaven because he was a poor, unfortunate beggar who was friendless and pitiful in one life. He was carried away to heaven because that in spite of all these calamities, he chose God. Remember, Lazarus literally means “God is my help.” God was the choice Lazarus made, and it was the right choice. The right choice made for right character, and right character made for the glorious destiny of his spirit.
I also remind you that the rich man was not consigned to hell simply because he was rich. He wasn’t condemned because he had fine clothes or plenty of food. The rich man made the wrong choice. Even in the afterlife, his choice was clear. Listen: Luke 16:24, "The rich man shouted, ’Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.’” He still viewed Lazarus as someone who could be used. Send him to cool my tongue. Or how about this, “send him to my brothers.” The rich man just didn’t figure it out. His sin was that he chose to live for himself. He led a selfish life, and his own selfishness separated him from the paradise of God. In this life he chose himself over God.
The most pitiful thing about the whole story is that it did not have to be so. The rich man made his choice even though he had Moses and the prophets to lead him to God. He knew better. He had the opportunity to trust God, and he chose not to. He asked that Lazarus be sent to his brothers, but Abraham simply said, “They have what you had, and that is enough.” Someone rising from the dead will make no difference in their choices.
We so often flatter ourselves to think that we would change our lives if there was proof positive of the life to come. If I could just have some proof that it is real, then I would believe. If I could just talk to someone who has been there. The reality is people are not lead to faith or repentance by ghosts, goblins, ouija boards or séances. People are led to salvation by believing the trusting God in Jesus Christ. That is the only choice that matters. That is the choice that puts God ahead of ourselves, and every subsequent decision of life proceeds from that choice. The choices we make in this life really do matter. Not only for this life, but for the life to come.
As we stand and gaze at the great landscape the master has crafted the realities almost overwhelm us: Our eternal existence will be a conscious one. We will always be ourselves. We will always remember. We will spend eternity in a place of paradise or a place of pain. Does it sound foolish? Remember, it was Jesus who spoke the words, and he spoke as never one spoke before. Does it sound heartless? Well it is the hearlessness of Infinite Love. But also remember, no one has to make the wrong choice. Every person can be saved. That is God’s desire. It all depends on making the right choice.
One day, when Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, one senator angrily told another to go “straight to hell.” The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer, and Coolidge looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate and wittily replied. “I’ve looked through the rule book,” he said, “You don’t have to go.” [Crossroads. Issue 7, p. 16] You really don’t have to go.
