Jesus had been teaching regarding a person’s view of money (16:1-17) because the Pharisees equated being rich with being righteous. The more money and possessions a person had, according to the Pharisees, the more they had been favored by God. In order to further correct this erroneous thinking, Jesus told what some believe was a parable and others believe is a real life story; either way, the teaching remains the same. Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus who “laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores” (16:19-21). Both the rich man and the beggar eventually died (16:22), but Jesus said that the rich man ended up in Hades (16:23a), which is the place where the unsaved dead go before they are judged at the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). When the beggar died, Jesus said that the rich man “saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (16:23b). This meant that the beggar ended up in the presence of God following his death. Jesus’ implication that the rich man experienced eternal punishment (16:24) while the beggar enjoyed the eternal presence of God would have been scandalous to the Pharisees. The rich man apparently was able to see what was happening with Lazarus, who was in the presence of God, and he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him “…that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (16:24). Abraham quickly responded to the rich man’s arrogance saying, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (16:25-26). Jesus is teaching that hell (the place of the rich man) and heaven (the place of the beggar) are separated from each other and once a person has passed from life to death, he cannot change where he will spend eternity. Abraham emphasizes that our choices about what happens after death are made during life. The rich man chose to be selfish and ignore the needs of others in life, which ultimately led him to eternal punishment. The fact that the man was rich did not cause him to go to hell, but rather his attitude towards his money and, in reality, his failure to repent of sin (16:30b) and believe in God.
Apparently, the rich man did not understand that he could no longer make demands of the beggar so he said to Abraham, “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment” (16:27-28). Upon realizing that there was no escape from this place of death, the rich man asked for Abraham to send the beggar back to his family in order to warn them about the place of torment. The rich man believed that if someone came back from the dead (16:30), his family could avoid the same fate he had experienced. Rather than grant him his request, Abraham said to the rich man, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them…. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead” (16:29, 31). Abraham is saying that if the rich man’s family will not listen to the truth of Scripture (Moses and the prophets), they will not listen to anyone. Jesus was teaching the Pharisees that Scripture is sufficient to bring salvation to those who will repent and believe. Paul said it best when he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). At a deeper level, Jesus was saying that the Pharisees were similar to the rich man because they refused to believe that Jesus was the One promised by God, even though Scripture revealed Him as the One. The Pharisees demanded signs from Jesus to prove that He was truly God and although He had already done miraculous signs, they still did not believe; in fact, He would later bring a dead man back to life, but they would still not believe Him (John 11:45-53; 12:10-11).
Hell awaits all those who refuse to repent of sin and believe that Jesus Christ is God. No amount of money or popularity can change a person’s eternal destiny and bring God’s favor. Hope and salvation only comes to those who humble themselves before God, confess their sin, and receive the forgiveness of God provided through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
Dear God, may I never believe that I can earn Your favor through what I have or what I do, but may I always rely on the forgiveness You have freely provided for all who will believe.
