4/27/2024 0 Comments Bible story abraham lazarusBut I do have time for the likes of Lazarus, and now he is with me, and you have nothing.” And then comes the verse that is so often torn out of context: “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” (Luke 16:26). He tells him in essence, “All your life you loved riches and had no time for the likes of Lazarus. He cried out, “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” (verses 23-24).īut Abraham had news for the rich man. The rich man looked up and saw Abraham far off with none other than Lazarus by his side. ![]() Jesus completes the surprise by telling them that the rich man also died and was buried, but he, not the beggar, is the one who found himself being tormented in Hades. Not only are you wrong about how my Father feels about the beggar, but you are wrong about how my Father feels about you.” They believed that people like Lazarus were poor and diseased beggars because they were under God’s curse, and therefore they believed that such people go to be tormented in Hades when they die. That was exactly the opposite of what the Pharisees expected would happen to a man like Lazarus. But Jesus surprises the listeners by saying that “the angels carried him to Abraham’s side” (verse 22). First is the rich man (representing the Pharisees who love money), then the miserable beggar Lazarus (representing a class of people despised by the Pharisees), and finally, Abraham (whose bosom or lap was a Jewish symbol of comfort and peace in the afterlife). Then, beginning in verse 19, in the context of the previous four parables, Jesus told the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Then in verse 18, Jesus implied that the Jewish religious leaders have “divorced” themselves from the Law and the Prophets, which witness to him, and in so doing have rejected God. His implied message: “Because you prize the things of men, not the things of God, you are rejecting God’s urgent summons to enter his kingdom, which can be done only through me.” The Law and the Prophets stand as witnesses, Jesus told them, that the kingdom of God has arrived and that everyone is urgently piling into it (verses 16-17). What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (verse 15). Jesus then pointedly told the Pharisees, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. Its point: If you love money, as the Pharisees did, you will not love God. ![]() Jesus moves to the fourth story, the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-14). In telling these three parables, Jesus wanted the tax collectors and sinners, as well as the grumbling Pharisees and scribes who believed they had no need of repentance, to know that “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). First, Jesus told three parables, The Shepherd Who Rejoices Over Finding His Lost Sheep, The Woman Who Rejoices Over Finding Her Lost Coin, and The Father Who Rejoices Over Finding His Lost Son. Lazarus and the Rich Man is the final parable of five that Jesus told in response to a group of Pharisees and scribes who, being lovers of money and self-importance, were disgruntled over the fact that Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:1 and 16:14). The underlying revelation in this story is that, in fact, there is one who crosses chasms for the sake of sinners. ![]() Jesus told the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man for two reasons: 1) to expose and condemn the refusal of the leaders of Israel to believe in him, and 2) to reverse common assumptions about riches being a sign of God’s favor and poverty being proof of God’s disfavor. It is always bad business to base a doctrine on one verse alone, and especially on a verse in a story designed to make a different point altogether. But like all of Scripture, the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man falls within a particular context and needs to be understood in that context. Have you ever heard that God is incapable of reaching those who do not become believers before they die? It’s a cruel and destructive doctrine, and its so-called “proof” is a single verse in the parable known as Lazarus and the Rich Man. Bible prophecy: Lazarus and the Rich Man: A Tale of Unbelief
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