![]() 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. In the name of the One who has compassion on us, Amen.Bible prophecy: Lazarus and the Rich Man: A Tale of Unbelief Lord, instill in us your heart of compassion, and lead us to do some good with the earthly treasures you have given us. His stony heart ignored the call to share food with the hungry and to provide shelter and clothing for people in need (Isaiah 58:7). In Jesus’ parable, the rich man’s sin was not that he was rich it was that he refused to care for a person in need. And he will bring justice to the oppressor. One of their spiritual songs speaks of God as the “Rock of my soul” in “the bosom of Abraham”- an expression referring to “Abraham’s side.” Where could those slaves find justice when their children were ripped from their arms and sold down the river, when the earthly powers-that-be were stacked against them? But the Lord saw their plight. This parable was a comfort to many slaves in the American South in the 1800s. Lazarus had had no comfort in life, but in death he received the blessings of life with God in heaven. The rich man had lived for his own pleasure and had ignored the message of Moses and the Prophets. In Jesus’ parable, the poor man Lazarus who died was carried by angels to Abraham’s side in heaven, and the rich man was sent to hell, where he was in torment. Like the prophets who brought God’s Word to the people, Jesus had sympathy for the poor and often rebuked rich people who were selfish and did nothing for the poor.
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