Rich Man & Lazarus

Illustration: Discount Tire; Casey Crawford

The life we choose to live, is serious business. The choices that we make not only affect us for all of eternity; but they also affect those in our lives.

Most people, certainly most people in the Western world who've had any exposure to Christianity whatsoever, think they're going to Heaven; and that is largely affirmed by clergymen and religious leaders.

· 83% of Americans claim to be Christian;

Certainly, these people all think they're headed for Heaven. I'm quite sure that hell is populated mostly with people who are shocked to find themselves there.

People typically answer the question, "Are you going to Heaven?" with, "Well, I'm a good person. I'm a religious person. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I'm going to Heaven. God certainly wouldn't send me to hell."

The Rich Man and Lazarus

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.’ ”

Hell is full of religious people.

Notice with me that it is the Pharisee’s who have Jesus’ attention at this point; look at verse 14

“The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.”

The Pharisee’s and their followers are in grave danger of being thrown into the flames of Hell.

Their religion was fraudulent.

Look at who they are according to scriptures:

· v.14 They are “Lovers of Money”

· v.15 They “Justified Themselves” Their salvation was worked based. Self justification that works with men, but it detestable in the sight of God.

Because of this truth Jesus tells a story in an attempt to grab their attention.

They like the man in the story are rich, they like the man in the story demand signs.

Think of the contrast and reversal’s of this story:

· There’s a poor man and a rich man- The poor man becomes rich and the rich man becomes horribly poor.

· There’s a poor man on the outside and a rich man on the inside- Then there is a poor man on the inside and a rich man on the outside.

· There is a poor man without food and a rich man with an abundance of food- then there is a poor man that has a feast and a rich man that can’t even find a drop of water.

· There’s a poor man who has immense needs and a rich man who has no needs- then there’s a poor man who has no needs and a rich man who has great needs.

· There’s a poor man who desires everything because he has nothing, and there’s a rich man who desires nothing because he has everything. – Then there’s a poor man who desires nothing and a rich man who desires everything.

· There’s a poor man licked by dogs and a rich man surrounded by dignitaries,- then there is a poor man surrounded by dignitaries and a rich man isolated among the worst of the dogs.

· There’s poor man who suffers and a rich man who is satisfied, - then there is a rich man who suffers and a poor man who is satisfied.

· There’s a poor man humiliated and a rich man honored, then there is a rich man humiliated and a poor man honored.

· There’s a poor man who seeks help and a rich man who gives none, - then there’s a rich man who seeks help and a poor man who can’t give any.

· There’s a poor man who’s a nobody and a rich man who’s a somebody,- then there’s a poor man who’s a somebody and a rich man who’s a nobody.

· A Poor man with no dignity in life becomes dignified in death, a rich man with dignity in life becomes an absolute no one in death.

· A poor man with no hope, and a rich man with all hope,- then a poor man whose hope is realized though he had none and a rich man who had all hope and now has none.

It goes on and on, but you get the picture.

In the story Lazarus never speaks he is simply there for contrast. The story is about the Rich man and his experience in hell.

The rich man gives a personal testimony of what it is like in Hell, the only time we ever get this type of personal testimony.

We do have an actual testimony in of what it’s like in Heaven, the apostle Paul simply says, ‘I don’t know what to say.” There are simply no words.

Is this story a parable? Maybe, Maybe not…

Much of the style of the story is that of a parable. However it is uncustomary for a parable to use an actual ‘name’ of an individual.

It never comes out and says it is a parable; however most do believe that this is not an actual account but only a story designed to teach a lesson.

I do think it is a possibility in the sovereign knowledge of Jesus that is could be an actual experience, none the less the point remains the same and teaches us a great deal both about life and the afterlife.

The story breaks into 3 Parts= Life- Death- Life after Death.

1. LIFE

THE RICH MAN

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

The regular habit of this man was to dress to the max; his regular custom was to put himself on display.

Notice his appearance is a major emphasis of his life; he is obsessed with the way he is perceived by others.

Living in splendor every single day, whatever it was he wanted that day he had the resources to make sure he received it.

Luxurious, Lavish- remember the Pharisee’s are listening to this and they are saying: ‘blessed, blessed, blessed is this man.”

They are the inventors of the “Prosperity Gospel,” If you are rich God blessed you to be rich, and if you are poor God cursed you. This is the simple theology that they maintained.

If anything went wrong in your life then you sinned; “Who sinned that this man is blind.”

Remember v. 14 said they are lovers of money. They were good at parading themselves in the luxurious lifestyles.

THE POOR MAN

20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,

This is also an extreme case; poor in the Greek is Tokos means he had nothing referring to extreme poverty.

Elcomi- English ulcer comes- oozing lesions all over his body. We would say that he is gross, and unclean.

He also had some crippling disability; he was laid at the gate of the rich man.

Balo- Greek word for thrown or dumped- he is a beggar dumped at the Rich man’s gate; by whom we do not know; someone who had enough compassion to take him out to the large gate at the entrance to this man’s estate and dump him there.

The rich man is like the Pharisee’s consumed with unrighteous wealth, loving money, serving money and not God; therefore detestable to God.

The rich man gives the poor man no help, does he know about him? Of course he knows about him he is at his gate. He sees him every time he goes out and every time he comes in.

He has been dumped there he cannot move.

Does he know that the man has needs?

Of course he does, he can see by the man’s body how many needs he actually has but he does nothing to meet those needs.

21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.

Guests at a meal used the broken pieces of the bread to clean their hands, and then throw them under the table to be eaten by the dogs. Dogs would hang around the meals in a home.

So picture it the dogs would be fed under the table, all the while there’s a poor, crippled, starving man outside the gate; that must sting a little bit for many of us- our ‘pets’ are provided for many times better than the poor in our community.

Pharisee’s would understand this because they wouldn’t want to help someone that was being cursed by God, they would want to keep their distance from this man. After all they believed God is the one who cursed the man; therefore they will not get in the way.

So the man is left not even to eat the dirty bread that eats under the table, to make it worse the dogs are coming to lick the man’s open oozing sores.

In this day a dog was not a pet, the worst thing you could call someone in this day was a ‘dog.’

“A mongrel that roams the outskirts of town in search of garbage, they have not come to lick the wounds but to eat at his wounds which would make us regard him even less as human, an outcast cursed by God.”

The poor man is an insulting humiliation who is road kill to the rich man.

Just because we are children of God; it does not promise a life of ease- Biblically speaking a follower of Jesus always will encounter various types of persecution.

KARMA is not biblical- unintentionally we believe that if we love God and live a good life then all our problems should go away- however many times the difficulties still come and we are left asking God why.

We have seen it- many of our lives have experienced a time where we say “Whoa God this is not supposed to happen to me.”

The same is true on the other side; many people who are lost and give no glory to God seem to be extremely blessed.

Haven’t you ever looked at a lost pagan and seen them living in sin and squandering their life, yet it seems like everything they touch turns to gold.

They have money in the bank, nice cars, nice houses, and you ask yourself “I am trying to live my life for the glory of God, why are they being blessed and I am not?”

A major point of this ‘parable’ is simply the fact that this life is not the end.

You may feel like the poor man in this passage, and you just haven’t been dealt a fair hand in life; this isn’t all there is!

But an event happens that changes both of them forever.

DEATH

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,

POOR MAN

Nothing is said of a funeral or a burial for the poor man.

There wouldn’t be any if he was around Jerusalem the poor man would have been taken by the city cleaners and dumped in Gehenna, an ever burning trash dump in Jerusalem which is often the image of hell.

He would have been seen by all as cursed by God and not worthy of a funeral.

He isn’t worth a service or a memorial; he is yesterday’s trash so they will throw him out.

RICH MAN

The rich man died and was buried, in other words he had a funeral, and he was honored.

He was surrounded by people who lifted him up and respected him, while the poor man is dumped on the garbage truck.

This man was “Valuable” he was worth the time and trouble of a memorial.

It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank. It doesn’t matter how many friends you have, the truth is we are all going to die.

“It is destined to man to die.”

Pretty simple, but many people; even many Christians live like this isn’t true.

We live life like this earth is all that matters, By the way we manage our priorities, money, relationships, etc. we proclaim to the world this is all there is!

Listen for the Scripture there should be an eternal perspective in which this life is seen in the context of what it really is.

Just a vapor, in which we have the greatest commission that will effect souls for all of eternity.

but death is coming. It is said that the moment we are born we begin to die.

Life After Death

23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

Shocker~ Angels Carried Poor Man to Abrahams Side.

This is a huge Reversal which was unexpected. This is the reversal of everything they would have expected.

God sent his holy angels to gather one of His own to glory, against their theology that if you suffer in life you are cursed by God and if you are rich you are blessed by God.

Poor man was taken where Abraham was, the Jews knew one thing, Abraham was the father of Faith he is not in hell.

Poor is in rich fellowship with Abraham while the rich man is in hell.

Abraham was the hero to the “Religious,” they would say we are the “Children of Abraham.”

How can a man so poor and wretched become the guest of honor in Heaven?

Lazarus- not soul sleep he knows where he is, and he knows who he is with.

Rich Man is in hades, in the New Testament hades always appears in the dwelling of the damned.

It is a synonym of Hell.

There is no waiting place; immediately he is in hell.

Lifting up his eyes; in the immediate sensing where he was. And his encounter was being in torment.

Not one but many, the word is plural. The torment is all around him. (active, continuing)

Jesus Described Hell as Darkness, Brimstone, Fire, Weeping, Wailing, gnashing of Teeth.

and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me,

The religious would understand this, he assumes Abraham to be his father and he knows from Genesis that Abraham is a model of hospitality so he begins to beg from Abraham mercy.

He requests from Abraham what he was never willing to give.

and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

This man is so ingrained to the idea that he is better than Lazarus he still believes that Lazarus is his servant.

He refused to show mercy, yet still thinks that he is to be served.

Hell is not remedial, it doesn’t fix you, it is simply punishment.

There is no repentance in hell, there is no seeking forgiveness.

Hell doesn’t fix you it confirms the wretchedness of the sinner.

He still sees himself as better than others, but metaphorically it shows the horrors of hell.

HELL IS A PLACE OF PHYSICAL TORMENT

He doesn’t say bring a bucket, he doesn’t was a hose, he wants just a ‘drip’ off the tip of his finger.

The suffering is so profound that one tiny drop of relief would mean everything… but it never comes.

Anguish- the Greek= to be in great pain!

25 But Abraham said, ‘Child,

See the compassion of Jesus “Child”

Just because someone ‘chooses’ to reject Christ, this does not mean that Christ does not still love them.

Remember that you in your lifetime received your good things,

So many blessings have been lavished upon you.

You had so much stuff, you received good things, the blessings were poured out amongst your life and yet you never even realized it.

HELL IS A PLACE OF MENTAL TORMENT

“Remember” don’t you remember all your blessings that were from God?

Don’t you remember the many chances that you received?

Don’t you remember ‘The Law and the Prophets’ who spoke to you?

Illustration: a giant TIVO-DVR that reminds you off all the chances that you were given.

As those memories fill the rich man’s mind, can you imagine the torment of realizing how big he missed it?

And for all of eternity he will look back at how lavishly God blessed him, he will look back at all the opportunities that God presented him with, and yet it is too late.

and Lazarus in like manner bad things;

It’s alarming but many times this is true of life.

You can enjoy all the blessings of God and still go to hell and be without those blessings forever.

You had your opportunity, but you missed it.

On the other hand the poor man had nothing!

but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

He is comforted because he is in holy fellowship,

What Lazarus was temporarily you are eternally; and it is never going to change.

Christians if we quit focusing on the pleasures of this life, we will find great value in the Kingdom of God.

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.’

HELL IS A SPIRITUAL TORMENT

When you are in Heaven you will never go to Hell,

When you are in Hell you will never go to Heaven.

There’s no do over, FOREVER separated from the love of God and all that is good. We have no idea what that is like!

This is something we cannot comprehend; everything we experience has a starting point and an ending point. Yet, for all of eternity to be spent in anguish realizing you will never experience anything ‘good’ again.

How awful that must feel.

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.’

Realizing that his fate is fixed, his compassion turns to his loved ones.

Oh he longs that those that he loves do not join in his suffering.

He knows that his brothers are lost as he is, He is in hell and they are coming that way.

Again, however he seems to think that Lazarus is at his call.

My brothers don’t have enough information on hell; listen if I knew what I know now I would not come here!

It’s amazing how evangelical someone becomes once they see the realities of hell.

If in my mind I could get a grasp of it; I am truly convinced my life would change.

The rich man says ‘this is AWEFUL!’ ‘Please we can’t let anyone else come to this place!’ Send someone to tell them, to beg them, to persuade them!!’

29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

What’s there problem? They didn’t listen to the Word?

This is what the religious would not do, “You hear but do not understand.”

Moses and Prophets- Old Testament- They should have known better.

The nature of the Creator and Judge, Ample information about their sinfulness and need for repentance, News of salvation through grace alone through faith alone.

They would have known God offers forgiveness from judgment and wrath and condemnation. Alien righteousness is imputed to those who put their faith in Him.

They would have known that substitution is the way that God deals with sin.

They would have known there was coming a messiah who would crush the head of satan who would provide redemption for his people who would be the suffering substitute who would then establish his throne and bring the promises to Israel of the world.

They would have known that they had to repent and believe, they had to reject all other Gods and come to the true living God.

Had they truly listened to Moses and the Prophets they would have known it was Jesus.

30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Scriptures not enough, they had Moses and the prophets, I had Moses and the Prophets and I am in hell.

They knew Lazarus; if he comes back they will believe him.

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.’ ”

Foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection; yet they still did not believe.

Interestingly Jesus raised a man from the dead named Lazarus and the rulers knew it and it was what motivated them in part to execute Jesus.

Look at you will see that Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and immediately v. 46 “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do for this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this everyone will believe in Him…So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.”

They saw what happened but they still didn’t believe!