Luke 16:19-31
There are a
number of things we can glean from the story of Lazarus and the rich man, as
well as a number of things we might get wrong unless we view this story in
light of the rest of what the Bible teaches.
One thing we could come to the wrong conclusion about is what gets a
person to heaven. From this story, taken
alone, one might think that poor people go to heaven and rich men go to
hell. We could surmise that this story
teaches that one who suffers hunger, disease, and hardship during this life
will go to heaven because of that suffering.
And, of course the reverse of that would also be seen as true; that the
rich will necessarily suffer condemnation for having lived a life of luxury. We
might even find other scripture passages that at first glance might seem
support that mistaken view. After all,
didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven”? Didn’t he also say, “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.”?
If that were what those verses were teaching,
it should be cause for great alarm for every one of us living in the United
States today, because compared to much of the rest of the world, and especially
compared to most people throughout history, we are rich and live a life of
luxury! But, when we consider the rest of God’s word,
it is plain that the point of this story of Lazarus and the rich man has
nothing to do with what caused their eternal destination, but we’ll come back
to that.
One thing we
can safely take from this passage about the Lazarus and the rich man is that
riches in this life is not necessarily a sign of God’s special favor on a
person, nor is sickness and poverty a sign of God’s judgment.
We have
enough examples from scripture to show this to be obviously true. In fact, we might simply consider a portion
of Matthew 5:45. Your Father which is in heaven “… maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.”
Another
thing we might rightly glean from this story of Lazarus and the rich man is the
horrific circumstances of hell. Here it’s
portrayed as being in flames, suffering such that even a drop of water on his
tongue would provide some relief.
Suffice to say that Jesus tells us that it would be better to remove
your right eye or your right hand than to enter this place of torment. Perhaps even more alarming is the
impossibility of improving on that situation.
As our text says, “a great gulf is fixed” between heaven and hell, which
it is not possible to cross.
The next
thing that might strike us from this story is that the rich man, once he
realizes that his fate is fixed, seems to suddenly become evangelistic. Obviously, the rich man regrets being cast
into a place of torment, and one might even be tempted to think of it as a form
of repentance, but in reading a number of the saints of the last several
centuries, they seem to agree that his motive was less than purely charitable. John Bunyan, John Gill, and John Wesley all
point out that the presence of the rich man’s brothers with him in hell would
add to his own torment.
Regret is not the same thing as repentance and I think
it is likely that the fires of hell did not change the rich man very much; his
primary care was for his own comfort, just as it had been while he was alive
and living in luxury while Lazarus laid hungry and suffering by his gate.
But what of
this plea that Lazarus would rise from the dead to warn the rich man’s brothers
to repent? He is told that they have
Moses and the prophets to warn them.
Moses and the prophets, … that is God’s word, the Old Testament
scripture. The rich man’s brothers had
the Old Testament, so they were without excuse.
We have not only Moses and the prophets, but also the New
Testament. If the rich man’s brothers
were without excuse, then we are doubly so!
“But no,”
the rich man says, “if one went to them from the dead, they would repent!” The answer, from verse 31, is wonderfully
profound. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
Think about
that for a moment. What if one rose from
the dead?
That bring
us to the day we celebrate this weekend.
Easter. Resurrection Sunday. One did rise from the dead. Yet many, in fact most, will not be
persuaded.
On Good
Friday two thousand years ago Jesus Christ, the unique Son of God, fully God
and fully man, after living a completely pure and sinless life, was whipped and
beaten nearly to death and then went to die in our place on the cross of
Calvary. The righteous wrath of God was
poured out upon Jesus so that we might receive mercy. At the same time God’s perfect and holy justice
was upheld because our sins received the proper punishment. Then the dead body of Jesus was buried in a
tomb, but three days later he rose from the dead. The only question is, are you persuaded?
Let’s finish
with this. Remember earlier I said that
the point of the story of Lazarus and the rich man has nothing to do with what
caused their eternal destination, but we’d come back to that? Well, now we’re back. Lazarus, despite his poverty, clearly must
have had one thing that the rich man lacked.
That thing
is faith. In the book of Hebrews chapter
11 we read of the faith of the Old Testament saints of God. Some were rich, some were powerful, some were
leaders of armies, … but some were like Lazarus.
The Bible
tells us some were tortured, some mocked and beaten, some imprisoned, and
worse. Some were ill clothed, destitute,
mistreated and afflicted, but what marks all of these mentioned in the book of
Hebrews, whether rich or poor, is faith.
Poor health
is an affliction. Disabilities are an
affliction. Old age is an
affliction. Whether rich, young, and
healthy, or poor, old, and sick; none of these things have any bearing on
whether our destination is one of being comforted along with Lazarus or
tormented with the rich man. Those
eternal matters are determined by faith.
If you already have that faith, I pray that it would be
strengthened. If not, won’t you trust in
Jesus, that his suffering paid for your sins, and that his burial and
resurrection proved it? Won’t you be
persuaded by the fact that he rose from the dead?