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ETERNAL REVERSAL OF FORTUNE There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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. 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 (Luke 16:19-25).
The parable of the beggar and the rich man identifies the beggar as a righteous man. He gains entrance into heaven, called here the bosom of Abraham. There is no doubt where the rich man resides: hell. It is a place of full consciousness and memory. It is a place of fiery torment. "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" (Luke 16:24).
This is the Bible's most detailed passage on hell. Those who defend the idea of soul-sleep or unconsciousness after bodily death have serious problems with this text. They quote from Ecclesiastes. But the New Testament has authority over the Old Testament. Jesus' interpretations and insights have greater authority than Old Testament speculation, which was based on incomplete information. Jesus made it as clear as can be that the rich man was in pain, had memory of the past, and was able to communicate with Abraham.
Defenders of soul-sleep usually dismiss this passage as an example of literary hyperbole. How the image of being in flames serves as hyperbole for a condition of unconsciousness is never made clear. The reference to torment is consistent with Jesus' parable of the over-indebted servant who is cast into prison by the creditor. "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matt. 18:34-35). An appeal to a literary technique does not solve their main problem: dismissing also the final place of torment after the bodily resurrection of all men. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14-15) Hell is temporary. After the resurrection, things will get much worse for covenant-breakers. There will be eternal bodies that will suffer in flames.
The rich man is not named, but he has become known down through the ages as Dives (DEEvuz), the Latin word for wealthy. The adjective "rich" that is found in Latin translations is "dives."(1) His way of earthly life had been sumptuous. The way of life for Lazarus had been the opposite. There has been a reversal of fortune. The rich man asks Abraham for some minimal token of physical comfort, to be supplied by the former beggar, who presumably must temporarily experience the pain of hell's environment on behalf of the rich man. This is not what he receives. He receives a theological lecture instead.
Luke's Gospel has an obvious bias against rich people. Matthew's Gospel contains many of the same parables, but it offers a less narrowly focused critique of covenant-breakers. Matthew's Gospel does not record this parable.
The rich man and the poor man exchange lifestyles when death intervenes. Similar exchanges in history are a repeated theme in Luke.(2) In this parable, he who had enjoyed creature comforts in history experiences creature discomforts in eternity. "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" (v. 25). There is no initial indication of any covenantal distinction between the two men, other than their respective places of residence: a matter of covenantal sanctions.
A Matter of Faith Later in the parable, its distinguishing feature is revealed: faith. The rich man initially asks for mercy for himself. He wants Lazarus to supply mercy. Impossible, says Abraham. "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" (v. 26).
Next, the rich man appears to become magnanimous. "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment (vv. 27-28). If I cannot be comforted, he pleads, then at least warn my brothers. This request is a self-justifying attempt to deceive Abraham. If the rich man's five brothers deserve to hear from a resurrected dead man, then so had he. No comparable warning had come to him. So, why was he being unjustly tormented? Abraham sees through the deception. "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them" (v. 29). In short, they have exactly what the rich man had: authoritative witnesses, the writings of Moses and the prophets. The rich man had chosen in history not to pay sufficient attention to these witnesses.
On the contrary, the rich man is implicitly saying, this testimony was not sufficiently persuasive. It was not his fault that he did not understand the message; it was the fault of God, who did not supply him with sufficiently persuasive evidence. "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent" (v. 30). His brothers should have what he never had: a messenger from the grave. Abraham sees through the deception. "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (v. 31). Jesus here alluded to His own death and resurrection, which would not persuade Israel to repent.
The distinction between Lazarus and the rich man was belief vs. disbelief. Lazarus had both understood and believed Moses and the prophets. The rich man had not. Jesus was making the point that His opponents were in the same blind condition that had afflicted the rich man. Even Jesus' disciples were myopic in this regard. After His resurrection, He spoke harshly to the pair of disciples who had, unrecognizing, accompanied Him on the road to Emmaus. "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:25-27).
Riches and Covenantal Blindness Jesus' use of comparative wealth as the visible mark of the two rival covenants indicates the close correspondence between great wealth and covenant-breaking. This correspondence is not one to one, as He told the disciples (Luke 18:27). Nevertheless, it is close enough for making reliable judgments. "For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:25).
Great tangible wealth fosters a man's sense of autonomy. Moses had warned Israel: "And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day" (Deut. 8:17-18). Tangible wealth also creates a sense of security. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit" (Prov. 18:11). It leads men to discount eternity too steeply. "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" (Luke 12:20).
Riches are a great snare because of their deceitfulness (Matt. 13:22). They fool men into elevating the temporal over the eternal. This error affects everything that rich people think and do. They can no longer think straight. Eventually, they can no longer speak straight (orthodoxy).
Conclusion The parable of the beggar and the rich man testified against the Pharisees. This parable followed the parable of the unjust steward, which also testified against them. "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him" (v. 14). Israel's theologians had been taken in by the deceitfulness of riches. Jesus warned His listeners not to make the same mistake.
Hell is real. Avoid it. The way to avoid it is to take seriously Moses and the prophets. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead as a confirming testimony, but if a person refuses to believe Moses and the prophets, he will not believe the testimony regarding Christ's resurrection.(3)
Footnotes:
1. Simon Kistemaker, The Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1980), p, 237n.
2. See Chapters 1, 9.
3. This is the great evil of the academic discipline known as higher criticism. It undermines men's faith in Moses and the prophets. It therefore undermines men's faith in Christ's resurrection.
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