We last left the poor beggar winging his way to heaven, where he now resides, at Abraham's side. Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation. Abraham, a pagan, heard God's voice. He followed in faith and it was "credited to him as righteousness." He became the founder of the Jewish people, and he stands tall in the Hall of Faith.
So, a beggar, unnoticed in
life, is given an honored place with Abraham after his death. Jesus
doesn't add any more detail here--being seated next to Abraham is enough.
Jesus immediately switches to
the rich man. He dies and goes to his reward: Hell.
No sugarcoating here: a
man who lived for himself, whose money was his god, and whose life was spent in
material pursuits, finds a different set of values in the afterlife. As
Jesus explains in another passage: "But Jesus called them to Himself and
said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but
whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave…" (Matt. 20:26)
The Kingdom of God is a
reflection of God's rule, on Earth as well as in Heaven. So, if you want
to be a leader, you must lead with love. If you desire to be first, you
must allow others to go before you.
This is the Kingdom way.
This is His way.
Why? His way is an
antidote to our pride, which needs little encouragement. Our sinful
nature is all too ready to jump in, demand more and have the best of
everything.
Sounds like our rich man, huh?
So, our rich man, now
residing in hell, sees Lazarus far away, next to Abraham.
Now, the rich man calls 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."
Hmmm...interesting.
A man who could not have been bothered to relieve suffering in his lifetime, now
requests relief for his suffering.
"But Abraham
replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things,
while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in
agony."
The afterlife is
real. Judgment is real. God's ways are real. You lived, Mr.
Rich Man, as if all of this was untrue, or simply didn't apply to people like
you. Wrong.
Dead
wrong: "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and
after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to
bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without
reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." (Heb. 9:27)
Abraham also reminds Mr.
Rich Man that an uncrossable chasm separates Hell from Heaven.
Then the rich man, suddenly
realizing the finality of all this, says, “Then I beg you, father, send
Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that
they will not also come to this place of torment."
Interesting. Mr. Rich
Man didn't even notice nor care about Lazarus when he had a chance; why would
his brothers? Would they take Lazarus seriously?
Lazarus who? Oh
right. You came back from the dead, huh? Is this a new ruse to get
us to give you more money? Hell and Heaven are real? Yeah.
Yeah. We know, but we've got too much going on. Sorry, gotta go,
Mr. Lizard, or whatever your name is. My broker's on the phone...
Abraham goes
on to suggest that they have "Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to
them." Remember who has a front row seat to this parable? The
Pharisees and religious leaders. They probably perked up at this point.
You bet we have
Moses and the Prophets. We stand on that foundation with pride and
knowledge. We are educated. This puts you, Rabbi Jesus from
Nazareth, at odds with us. What are your credentials? Who appointed
you to waltz in and start teaching the masses about God? We do
that. We are qualified to do that. You, while you might be sincere, you are sincerely wrong. The people need us. Not some storyteller from
Galilee. What we do in our off-hours is none of your business. We
lead and they follow. It is as simple as that.
Jesus knew their
hearts. Jesus knew how they pursued worldly wealth and the status it
brought. How they wanted to be first in line, revered and respected, and
if they let slip a sneering look at the unwashed masses, so be it. The
masses deserved it.
So, the parable ends on a
rather pointed note. The rich man responds, "'No, father Abraham,’
he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
This must have caused the
Pharisees to startle a little bit. The murderous rage they nursed in
their hearts towards Jesus was still probably only thinking at this
point. But Jesus knew all too well where this jealous thinking would lead
them: to collude with the Roman government and seek His death.
The ironic thing here is,
despite the admirable knowledge the Pharisees possessed, they missed a
fundamental element: Moses and the Prophets spoke of Jesus. He
pointed this out to them: "Search the scriptures; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me...And ye
will not come to me, that ye might have life...Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye
trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he
wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my
words?" (John 5:39-40; 45-7).
So, they missed the boat on
seeing how the scriptures point to the Messiah, and how that very Messiah was
standing right in front of them.
But Abraham in our parable has quite the
response to the rich man: "And he said unto him, 'If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from
the dead.'"
So, turning this parable
around, could you argue that Jesus is Lazarus? He is poor, lowly, not of
high status and He lingers at the gates, waiting for those who think they have
it all to come and acknowledge Him. They don't listen to His words.
They continue to "dine" in their pride and arrogant knowledge of who
God is, and all the while, they ignore the Beggar at the gate.
This Beggar will rise from the
dead.
He will rise for the
dead. Death will lose it sting.
He will rise to the
dead. He will rise to bring eternal life to those who seek Him with heart
and soul.
But these dead, sneering
at Him while He finishes His story, are not listening.
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