Redeemed and Restored

Jesus uses this parable to convey the reversals of God’s kingdom.

The rich man is defined by the quality of his clothes and the abundance of food.

Purple is the color of royalty – difficult to create; expensive.

Fine linen – probably expensive imported Egyptian cloth.

Feasted sumptuously every day, likely until his death

The rich man justified himself before others.

(made himself look good on the outside; his honor came from himself, not others; pride)

The poor man is defined by his health and hunger, but he is given a name, Lazarus.

Covered in sore – not a leper, he was in public

He longed to eat even the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table

He remained unfed and uncared for until his death

The poor man had no choice but to humble himself before others.

Jesus was not subtle in showing how

This uncaring rich man would suffer without relief, and a great gulf eternally separating him from all consolation.

The condemned, previously rich man’s appeal to Abraham had good intentions but missed the point.

The witness of the Hebrew scriptures did not convince the rich man to change his behavior, and nor would they convince his brothers.

More than that, they would not be convinced of Lazarus’s resurrection or that of Christ.

Because their hearts were unconvinced by the witness of God, they would not act in faith.

If they would not listen to scripture, they will not listen when someone is resurrected to tell them.

Including Jesus.

Often, we think, if we just believe in God, we will prosper.

Some mistakenly say, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Consequently we may believe, people who do not prosper are being punished by God.

They might just be experiencing our unjust actions.

Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God makes his preference for the poor and hungry a central theme of divine justice.

Jesus did not come to abolish the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus affirmed the woes that will come to those who prosper but do not care for the poor.

Jesus affirmed the blessings of God that are made available to the hungry and poor.

He established those principles at the beginning of his ministry before he called his disciples.

Beyond Death, Everything Changed.

In life, the rich man had his rewards; in death, he lost everything, even eternal rest.

In life, the poor man suffered greatly; in death, he became eternal rich.

This all can be understood as the just mercy of God.

As a just God, God cannot let injustice succeed.

As a just God, God has mercy on those who cannot save themselves.

God’s mercy and loving-kindness are best exemplified and come by way of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ, the only requirement for salvation is faith.

God draws us to faith by giving us hits of his loving-kindness: mercy and grace.

We respond to this grace with repentance and faith is built through God’s ready forgiveness.

Rejection of Jesus Christ often comes from misunderstanding the true meaning of the scriptures.

Jesus taught his disciples to understand the meaning held within the Hebrew scriptures.

Luke presents Jesus as the true Messiah of the Hebrew scriptures.

The rich man’s failure to recognize and live by the true principles of the Messianic kingdom of the Hebrew scriptures

of mercy, justice, and humility resulted in his torment and separation from eternal and divine rest.

The rich man rejected the way God made for his own redemption.

If the rich man had used his wealth to help Lazarus rather than simply living in heedless opulence, he may have found his own eternal rest.

How might this rich man have been able to help many others to find God’s loving-kindness?

Later, as the church developed, many wealthy disciples gave up much to see their brothers and sisters in Christ clothed and fed.

Like Jeremiah, who redeemed his inheritance of the land, Jesus Christ redeemed us and gives us hope for the entire world.

Like Jeremiah, if we persevere in faith and hope in God, we invest in the kingdom of God and live by its principles.

Christ made the way for us to receive the grace of God so that we might exemplify the principles of the kingdom of God.

Nothing excuses us from the ministry of mercy and loving-kindness that Christ exampled for us.

Let us do all that we can, with all the God has entrusted to us, to share in the ministry of mercy and loving-kindness of Jesus Christ to all the world.

Because of this ministry, the world is transformed with divine love.