Parable of Rich Man & Lazarus
Parables • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Parables
Parables
Does anyone remember what we talked about last week?
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard.
Summarize that story for us.
There was a master who went out and hired workers. Some were hired at the beginning of the day and promised a denarius for their work. Others were hired 3 hours later, and the more 3 hours later and so on. A group was hired at the 11th hour, at the end of the day. At the end of the day, they were all paid one denarius.
We are all paid the same reward if we are in Christ—eternal life. Salvation comes at different times in different life circumstances for all of us and yet at the end its the same.
Death is the great equalizer, no matter how much money you have or access to technology or intelligence or influence—death comes for all of us and we cannot stop it.
This morning we are going to jump into another parable and it has to do with death.
Last week we covered how all the laborers were paid what was fair: they were promised something and they recieved. It may not of been equal based on how much work they did but it was fair.
What we didn’t cover due to time was how we don’t actually want what is fair. What is “fair” is that the God of the universe destroy us and/or send us to hell forever. We have transgressed, offended, violated a Holy God and the punishment is death. “Fair” would be death for our sin.
But thats not the case because of his grace for the redeemed.
Turn to Luke 16.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
We see in this parable essentially two contrasting stories going on at the same time. And actually we are going to break it down in a series of twos (they are alliterative but I didn’t come up with these, Thabiti Anyabwile did)
Two People
We see two people here in this story. Who are the two people?
The rich man & a poor man (named Lazarus)
Let’s look at the rich man first.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
Sumptuously—any guesses what that means? extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent
He was dressed in purple because it was extremely rare and should great wealth.
Who are some super super rich people today?
According to Forbes yesterday, here are the top 10 in the US:
10. Michael Bloomberg $104.7 B
9. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) $121.0 B
8. Bill Gates (Microsoft) $129.7 B
7. Sergey Brin (Google) $130.6 B
6. Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) $135.8 B
5. Larry Page (Google) $136.3 B
4. Larry Ellison (Oracle) $163.2 B
3. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) $181.4 B
2. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) $186.3 B
Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX) $222.6 B
Jeff Bezos is extremely rich heres a glimpse of just how rich he is:
He owns a home in Washington that he bought for $10 million that is 20,600 sq ft with a 8,300 sq ft guest house which both sit on Lake Washington and includes 310 feet of private shoreline & a boathouse.
He didn’t like the neighbors so he bought that home which was listed for $53 million and includes a 24,000 sq ft house.
He then bought a home in Manhattan for $8 with a view of the city.
He has a 30,000 acre ranch in Texas
He bought a $25 miilion home in Beverly Hills that includes a 7 bedroom, 7 bath 12,000 sq ft house, a green house, lighted tennis court, swilling pool, fountains and 6 car garage. Again he didn’t like the neighbors so he bought the house next door for $13 million.
He bought 3 houses in Washington DC and 5 more properties in NYC for $119 million
Last year he bought a place in Hawaii for $78 million.
Finally he bought two homes in Florida between Tom Brady & Ivanka Trump for $147 million.
In total Bezos currently owns over $600 million in properties. Which includes hundreds of thousands of acres, various pools, boathouses, sport facilities, helipads, private jets, cars, etc, etc.
It is obnoxious.
Now imagine a beggar was outside the gate of one of his homes and was asked for the leftovers.
That puts it into perspective for us.
Lets look at the other person, the beggar. We don’t get much detail about the beggar and actually throughout the story the beggar doesn’t say a word.
20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
This is not the same Lazarus of Bethany who was Jesus friend, but this poor man was at the gate—it says he was laid at the gate meaning he was cast out or banished and secluded to outside the gate.
And what was wrong with him?
He was covered with sores.
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
He was starving and begging for even just the scraps. And yet the only thing that showed any attention to him was the dogs who came and licked his sores. Dogs were not very respected, actually everywhere in the world not western culture still views dogs this way. When we go to Africa or Haiti dogs are like rats.
The dogs would come and lick his sores and no one paid any attention.
What happens next?
They both die.
Remember I talked about death being the great equalizer—you have the richest of the rich contrasted by the poorest of the poor in this story. And lets see what happens.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
We are going to read into this story a little bit and make some assumptions based on what is not said.
What happened to the poor man when he died? There is something told to us in the story and something not shared.
He was carried by the angles to Abraham’s side. He certainly would be in heaven or something representing heaven if he was with Abraham. He was carried to a place of honor—for the jews that would be a big deal to be seated or laid next to the patartach of their tradition, not to mention he was carried by angels.
He was not buried. There was no service. There were no mourners, there was nothing—his body was probably dragged and thrown into a field with the trash. They didn’t even have the decency to bury his body. During WW2 the US lost over 400,000 soliders. Of that over 90,000 were buried overseas where they were killed. Another 70,000 were missing or buried at sea. In the midst of a great war with thousands of deaths happening, they still took time to bury the dead partly for sanitary reasons but also for closure. They would actually also bury the dead of the enemy if they came across them. It was the least you could do.
This man didn’t even get that.
And yet contrast to the rich man. What happened when he died?
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
He was buried.
Again we will read into this—but what do you think happened when he died? He probably had a big funeral. Undoubtingly their were mourners that came from far to lament. They would have had an extravagent funeral with a fancy dinner and he would have been buried in a ornate, expensive tomb or grave.
When a president dies, and you typically only see this about once a decade, there have only been 4 since 1973. Another one is coming soon. Anyways, do you know what happens when they die?
There is a state funeral. The US Army has contious artierally fire from sunrise to sunset on the day it is announced. The flags are lowered to half-staff. The USPS suspends mail service for the national day of morning.
Bush had a special private service in Houston before being flown to DC where in laid in state at the US Capitol for three days and the public could come give condelences. He then was transferred to the National Cathedral where all living presidents & first ladies as well as vice-presidents attended. Prince Charles & the Chancellor of Germany attended as well.
He was flown back to Texas for a private service, loaded on a train across Texas and laid to rest at Texas A&M with the biggest flyover in US History, 21 fighter jets in the missing man formation.
This big huge spectcal to honor the former President.
The rich man might of received something similar comparably to the times.
And yet both of them are dead.
They are in Two Places
The poor man we know is in heaven or something representing heaven, what about the rich man?
Where was he?
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
He was in Hades and in torment. After all of that, after a funeral and fancy burial he is in Hades.
The poor man with no burial and no one that cared was carried off by angels.
Next we have the Two Petitions.
Both come from the rich man.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
What does he ask for?
Have Lazarus dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I need just a hint of relief. Help me please.
Have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to help.
How the tables have turned—he wanted nothing to do with Lazarus—he didn’t want to help and wouldn’t even give him the scraps from his food and yet now he needs his help.
Let’s look at the response.
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
You had all the things you wanted. You have a lifetime of good things, Lazarus had a lifetime of bad things. He now is comforted and you are in anguish.
This does not mean that if you have nice things now you will be punished in the next life. As Mike reminds us what Shannon shared with us its not about what you have but what you do with what you have.
The rich man’s problem is what he did with his things. He kept it all to himself, he was so selfish he wouldn’t even help the person at his gate.
We are reminded that when we see others in need we are to help.
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
You should help those that you can. The problem isn’t the things you have but rather that you didn’t help someone you saw in need.
Telling someone I hope you get what you need or get something to eat or have clothes to wear while throwing your leftovers away and hoarding all these clothes that don’t fit in your closets actually reveals our hearts.
The rich man wasn’t even told he had to give everything up but rather you had this nice things and did nothing with them. You had your reward, its over for you.
The rich man might of been very religious. He might of been respected in the community for the things he did or even the religious traditions he kept.
I need 2 readers quickly:
21 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
I don’t want your ceremonies and empty praise—I want obedience is what God is saying. I don’t want your offerings and rams and oil, I want you to be kind, love others, walk humbly with your God.
The rich man was centered in his riches and may of checked all the boxes but ignored the need at his very gate.
The second petition is for his family
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
Go and warn them, I want them to be saved.
Lastly we see the two problems.
First. There is no changing of things are we die. The account is final and settled.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
What is a chasm?
A deep cleft, a gorge, a revene. A giant gap between something.
There is no bridge that can be built to connect these two.
We sing a song about this. Have you ever thought about the lyrics?
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
It goes on:
Then through the darkness your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written, Jesus Christ, my living hope.
In life we have hope—how? The song tells us:
The God of ages, stepped down from glory, to wear my sin and bear my shame, the cross has spoken, I am forgiven, the king of kings calls me His own.
Then came the morning that sealed the promise, your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion, declared the grave has no claim on me.
We can be made right with God, the chasm can be bridged by the cross.
However after death, the judgement has been given, the results are final. There is a chasm between heaven and hell that cannot be covered.
I keep saying that these might represent heaven and hell or hades here because I don’t think you will be able to see one from the other but maybe I’m wrong.
But the problem is the chasm is fixed and none can go from one to the other.
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This is not eternal either way if you can change sides halfway through.
The second problem that is flushed out is that those that don’t believe in God’s word also won’t believe in God’s miracles.
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
They have Moses, they have the Prophets, they have the truth.
No, no cries the rich man—if someone comes from the dead and warns them, they will listen.
If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
No miracle will convince them.
This sort of thinking has infected our minds. If they would just get a sign. If God was just show them something so they would believe. If God would just do a miracle or reveal himself to them then they would believe.
Those things can happen. God can use life circumstances for those things to happen. But going back to what is fair—don’t think that because none of those things have happened that your loved ones, your family, your friends are not on the hook for their sin.
God has revealed himself to us—all of us.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
God has revealed himself in the created order to all around us. More so than that in our circles the word of God has clearly been preached and taught—they know the truth.
This parable reminds us of the end. On this life there are injustices and problems. Things may not go how we think they should or what we think is fair. But at the end of it all, everything is stripped back. What we have done for the sake of the gospel will be revealed.
Our bank accounts nor our church attendance will be measured in the end. Our ailments and defencies will not be marked against us.
When you came across those in need, when you were encountered with someone struggling or needing food or needing a friend, what did you do? How did you respond?
Not to discourage you if you failed to help or missed an opportunity. This story was not based on a singular event. But rather the rich man probably passed by the poor man hundreds of times. And he did nothing. He couldn’t even give him his scraps.
Is there someone in your life you could encourage? Someone you could write a card to? Send them a text? Give them a hug? How many times have you walked by?