“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side” (Luke 16:22-23).
Most people think very little about their own death. After all, most people will live life to an old age. But then, there are some who try to deny they will ever die, which means they likely live with no accounting of how they live. Afterall, why not live by the motto: you only live once. So, just do it. Take the risk. Enjoy life. Whatever that may be. Enjoy life on the couch. Enjoy life on the links.
Today’s Gospel text pictures our mortality. We cannot deny death. God’s Word says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). You and I are going to die. That is, unless Christ returns first. Life is short as our days and months and years fly by.
So, to keep us prepared for the future, Jesus teaches us the story about a rich man and Lazarus. Jesus teaches us about the real places of heaven and hell.
Until the day of your death, or the day of Christ’s return, everyone receives their daily bread from God – Christians and heathens alike. The Lord gives us everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body for all people, as well as everything that has to do with the support and needs of our soul for us Christians. The Lord certainly blesses us daily!
In today’s text, Jesus tells of two men whom the Lord has blessed.
Now, Jesus tells us this story because of the Pharisees, who as St. Luke tells “we're lovers of money” (Luke 16:14). These Pharisees ridiculed Jesus after He told them the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, and the dishonest manager. Jesus concluded those parables saying, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).
Like the rich man in today’s story, these Pharisees loved themselves. But Jesus teaches us that the love of money and selfishness can lead a person to hell, whereas proper love and trust in God will lead to eternal life.
Now, is today’s story told by Jesus a parable, a simple story, or was it a real event? I raise this question because there are no other parables where Jesus actually names a person. And what’s also different is that the rich man is a person without a name. While the poor man has a name: Lazarus, which means “God has helped.”
Now, there is something that we do know about this story Jesus told. He told this story to warn the Pharisees and also you and me. He told this story to warn everyone: believer and unbeliever alike. He warns us against greed and loveless ease.
Jesus calls us to help and support our neighbor for any physical need. Jesus warns us to beware of the love of money – when money becomes your idol, which might turn us away from our neighbor and even from our God. And above all, Jesus’ story today teaches us to look to our God in the midst of life’s trouble, to listen to His Scriptures and their promises, and to set our hearts on the joy and comfort of His coming kingdom. So, what can we say about the two men in today’s story?
Well, there was a rich man. Jesus tells us that he “was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19). This man lived in luxury. He spent his money on what made him feel good and look good. He thought only of himself.
Then, there was another man named Lazarus. Jesus tells us that he “was covered with sores” and he “desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20, 21). Lazarus was a beggar. Lazarus was sick and crippled, and he was a pitiful sight. The rich man had more money than he could ever spend. He lived sumptuously. The poor man Lazarus only yearned for table scraps. He lived in misery.
Jesus also tells us that there was no act of kindness that came from this rich man toward this poor beggar. This rich man may have been monetarily rich, but he was certainly “not rich toward God”(Luke 12:21). He does not make himself clean by giving to the poor (Luke 11:41). He won’t even give the needly his leftovers that just spoil and rot. And oddly enough, it appears that this rich man did not even use his worldly wealth to gain friends, so that when he died, he would be welcomed into the eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9). This rich man appears to have only been focused upon himself. He was hoarding up earthly treasure and clothing and food.
Now the wages of sin, which is death, will come for the worldly rich and the worldly poor alike. Death comes for all people, because all people are caught in the web of sin.
But when death comes for Lazarus and this rich man, they experience a great reversal of fortune. Jesus pronounced blessed “who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied” (Luke 6:21) and on the other hand, He said, “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry” (Luke 6:25). This beatitude and curse that Jesus speaks about are vividly illustrated by the situation in which Lazarus and this rich man find themselves in the afterlife.
Lazarus, the poor man, finds himself at the banquet table of salvation, reclining next to Father Abraham. While the rich man is desiring what Lazarus now has. He calls 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” (Luke 16:24).
The thoughts of this rich man then turn to his five brothers who still live on earth. He wants to warn them to repent of their life, so they would not face his fate in hell “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). To this, Abraham says, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). But this rich man still does not believe. He wants more than God’s inerrant Word, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. He wants his brothers scared into repentance and faith. He calls on Abraham to send Lazarus back to life, but Abraham says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
In other words, Abraham is saying, even if Lazarus did return, they will not change their ways. No miracle will change them. If the Word of God cannot convince them, neither will a resurrection from the dead.
Jesus tells this story as a warning to the Pharisees. And this story is also a warning to us. For we, too, are tempted to love the good things of this life, like wealth and honor. Of course, it is not certainly wrong to ask God for daily bread, but we are to ask with gratitude. Afterall, Jesus calls us to receive the blessings that God provides to us in this life. For all these good things, God be thanked and God be praised.
But God has nowhere promised anyone bounty or uninterrupted ease in this life. He has not promised anyone honor and recognition in this life. So, sometimes, His people are covered with sores and sickness. Sometimes His people face heartache. Sometimes His people face disappointment.
Sometimes, His people face tragedies that bring life to a screeching halt. Sometimes, God’s people must endure bad things. Sometimes, God’s people must live as beggars.
Now, God has promised us something. He has promised us lasting bounty and lasting joy that is given to us through Jesus Christ. This is the testimony of Moses and the Prophets to whom Abraham points the rich man. For us, today, we not only have Moses and the Prophets, but we also have the Gospels and Epistles. The entirety of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation convey the promises of God and God does not lie (Titus 1:2).
So, whoever turns aside from these divine promises in Christ to set his heart instead on earthly pleasures and riches is certainly a fool.
But whether, we are rich or we are poor, each of us will die and each of us will stand in the judgement as a beggar before God. The good news is that in Jesus Christ, we see that God makes beggars rich. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus set aside all of His unimaginable wealth as the Son of God lowered Himself to take on our human flesh. He was born in our flesh and then took on the form of a beggar. He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58).
Jesus hung naked on the cross. Men cast lots for His clothing. He was covered in wounds, but not even the dogs licked His sores. He was mocked by scoffers. They laughed at His misery. He was rejected by all. But He did this all for us. He did this to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He suffered, died, rose and ascended for you.
Certainly, none of us are worthy to ask for or even inherit anything before God, not even the rich man, not even Lazarus, not you, and not me. But there is one who is worthy. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” (Revelation 5:12)
Jesus alone is worthy, and He shares this inheritance with all poor sinful beggars who look up to Him in faith. So, when you lack and worry, when you fear and weep, look up, turn your eyes to heaven. All that is Christ’s is yours. He has purchased for you the everlasting kingdom with His holy and precious blood. So, keep praying and keep waiting. For in Christ, you are as rich as Lazarus. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +
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