Luke 16:19-31: Rich Man and Lazarus

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 17, 2024

There was a popular book a few years ago titled Love Wins… by Rob Bell. The book made certain claims that, in the end, everyone goes to Heaven. Yet, we cannot get that from the Scriptures or from the Parable we will look at today.

Who can tell me my theme for Lent? Someone, anyone, shout it out—

The Gospel is for everyone… So, I do not have to have much money, do I? No, not at all. I do not have to be highly educated, do I? No, not at all. The Gospel is for everyone. My other theme is that we serve a Mighty Savior.

There is a professor at the seminary that I attended who gave an illustration of the wrath of God. Dr. Mulholland said that what makes me fall if I walk out of a window? The consequence of jumping out of a window is gravity makes you fall. Gravity does it. God’s wrath on sin is like gravity. God’s wrath on sin is a natural repercussion of sin. When I break God’s law, His wrath is a natural response to that violation.  The subject today is, on the one hand, a tough one. We are looking at the eternal destiny of those without Christ.

On the other hand, we have an encouraging subject as we look at the eternal destiny of those with Christ. We also will see how Jesus sympathizes with the poor man. Jesus, once again, looks after the poor and the marginalized.

From this passage, I could preach on hell. I will just do a little bit. But this passage is also saying that the Jewish lineage does not take care of your eternity. Jesus also says that your wealth does not take care of your eternity. Further, Jesus says that if people do not believe the Scriptures, they will not believe a resurrection.

I am going to teach this passage, and I wish to show you:

1. The Gospel is for everyone.
2. The reality of eternity.
3. The supremacy of Scripture.

Read with me:

Luke 16:19–31 (ESV)

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.’ ”

1. In verses 19-22, The rich man and Lazarus are introduced:
   1. This is a parable; it is a story with a purpose. I wonder what it would look like on the big screen. Think with me. There is a certain rich man. He has lots of wealth. In fact, the literal wording says that he was eating sumptuously every day. He had it his way every day. He was wearing purple linen. It was rare to be able to afford this type of clothing, yet he could.
   2. Now, at his gate… stop right there. He had a gate. This was rare as well. He had enough wealth to have a gate around his home. I remember being in the Dominican Republic, and I saw people with gates around their homes. I saw businesses with gates. We built a gate around a church. But that gate we built to protect the place. We saw others with gates, and they were elaborate; it was displaying their great wealth. In this case, the indication is that this man had wealth, and he was displaying it.
   3. Now, at the gate, sat Lazarus, who was poor. This is the only parable where Jesus gives a character a name. Jesus may not have made up this parable. It could have been a common Jewish story at the time.
   4. Also, this is not Lazarus he would raise from the dead later. Lazarus was a common name.
   5. The Bible says that this poor beggar was lying at his gate, but the language really says that he was thrown at the gate. That is some strong verbiage.
   6. Now, imagine with me: Every day, the rich man walks right by the poor man. Every day, maybe he tries not to look because if he looks, he may feel guilty. Maybe, just maybe, he looks on purpose. He does not care. He wants to flaunt his great, great wealth. He walks right on by the poor man and does not care. He will look at him and think, “Oh well, you should work harder.” Or “Serves you right, you were born to the wrong family.”
   7. Maybe the poor man, Lazarus, made the rich man sick because of his sores. The Bible says that he had sores on him. The Bible says the dogs licked the sores. These sores would not be leprosy. They would be sores from malnutrition or something else. The dogs would not be Ol’ Shep or some “Man’s Best Friend” dog. These dogs were wild pests. I remember being in the Dominican Republic and Belize, Central America, and seeing wild dogs. The people did not like them around. They were scavengers. Jesus, including these dogs in the parable, shows how bad Lazarus’ condition was. When the dogs lick his wounds, it would make them hurt worse. Yet, you know what? Imagine the rich man; he still walks right by this poor man, Lazarus.
   8. Jesus came for this poor man in addition to the rich man. Certain people always think they have a free ticket everywhere because of something they have accomplished, their family, or their great wealth. In this parable, Jesus shows that the Gospel is for everyone. That He cares about the poor and the destitute.
   9. Once, I heard a speaker on a video. She talked about being a pastor’s wife in Austin, Texas. Her family and a few others moved onto a nice street with a nice house. Everything was good except for that house next door. That house was overgrown and unkempt. They would not cut the grass or take care of the upkeep. She said something like: “Bye, bye resale value.” But then she realized something, whether through getting to know the person or God’s conviction or both. This house belonged to an elderly widow (I believe), and her children were draining her of her finances. She could not keep up the house, and her children were not treating her right. Then she had a pastor next door, and all they thought about was how bad the house made the street look.
   10. I do not know what the pastor and her family did to help their neighbor, but that was a good example of what we, as Christians, should be doing and should not think. Instead of thinking, “How can I serve my neighbor,” we often think, “Why don’t they clean up their house?”
   11. Back to the parable.
   12. They both die. It has been said that death always evens the score. We all die. No matter how good you are or bad you are, you will die. I will die. In this case, death switches their roles. The rich man did not care about poor Lazarus in life, but God cares about Lazarus’s eternity.
   13. Avoiding Hell: Not everyone is as fortunate as Alfred Nobel who in 1888 read his own obituary in a French newspaper. One of his brothers had died, but a careless reporter had used a statement prepared for the wrong man. Alfred, principal inventor of dynamite, was disappointed with the published account. He was described as a “merchant of death” who had made a fortune from explosives and human exploitation. This haunting image caused him to reevaluate his life and revamp his will. Consequently, his money has made possible the famous Nobel Peace Prizes.^[1]
   14. The poor man dies and is carried to Abraham’s side. They would have all known that this was paradise. This was Heaven. Sometimes, we think Abraham’s Bosom is a location. It just means he went to be with Abraham. Abraham represents the Old Testament saints.
   15. The rich man dies and was buried. Notice that Lazarus was not even buried. This means that he was very low in his station in life. Everyone was to be buried.
2. In verses 23- 24 we see in Hades their roles are reversed.
   1. The rich man is in torment. He is in Hades. Hades is not hell. Hades would be called Sheol in the Old Testament. It was known as a realm of the dead. But Jesus, in this parable, indicates that there was suffering. The text says, multiple times, that he was in suffering (verses 23, 24, 25, 28).
   2. Again, I think I could pull out things about Hades and hell from this passage, but my purpose is to show that the Gospel is for everyone. This poor man was not in hades. He was in paradise. The rich man who ignored the beggar was missing something in life. He calls Abraham “Father Abraham,” meaning that he was Jewish but did not care for the poor.
   3. The Reality of Hell
   4. The rich man of Luke 16 became painfully aware of hell and its stark reality, as will every person who rejects the love of the Savior. As one old preacher expressed it, “After you’ve been in hell five seconds, you’ll believe in it!”^[2]
   5. Now, the roles are reversed. Lazarus is being comforted. The Bible says that God is comforting Him. The rich man is in torture.
   6. Notice and this goes along with my next point, the rich man wants help, but it is too late. He sees Lazarus and just wants to dip the tip of his finger in water. But it is too late. Again, the roles are reversed. Before, Lazarus needed the rich man’s help, but now, the rich man needs Lazarus’s help.
3. In verses 27-31, we see that the Scriptures are sufficient as a witness.
   1. The rich man wants someone to warn his five brothers, but no. Abraham says that the Scriptures are sufficient.
   2. Notice that the text says in verse twenty-seven that he wanted Lazarus to warn his brothers. The literal word is to “testify.” He wants someone to witness to them. Throughout Acts, that same word is used of the Apostles being a witness.
   3. The rich man thinks that they will believe if someone rises from the dead. Abraham says, no if they do not listen to the Scriptures, they will not listen, even if someone rises from the dead.

Close:

This passage says that the Law of Moses is a witness.

I have Naked juice right here. This is perfectly healthy stuff. But, you know, it may not taste very good if it is healthy. So, why don’t I add some whipped cream? Everyone likes whipped cream. You know that probably is not enough to make it taste good, so let me add something else. How about I add some chocolate chips? Hmmm, everyone likes chocolate chips. Okay, now it may taste good enough. But what else could I add? If you have any other ideas, please share them.

What did I do? I just ruined the value of this drink. Okay, God has given us His Word to be a witness. His Word is sufficient to be a witness, yet sometimes we do not trust His Word as a witness, so we want to add to it or take from it. Sometimes, we wish for a special sign, but Jesus tells the Pharisees His Word is enough.

This passage says His Word is enough, and the Gospel is for everyone. It is not about money. It is not about possessions. It is not about having a nice gate around your place. It is not about having plenty of nice food. No, it is about our faith in the Savior and our works matching that faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Do you have this faith??? Jesus came for everyone.

In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says that when we take care of those in need, we take care of Him. In James 2:14-26 the Bible teaches that our works must match our faith.

So, I hope you noticed.

1. The Gospel is for everyone.
2. The reality of eternity.
3. The supremacy of Scripture over the desire for miracles.  

Apply this to your life this week. Look to take care of those in need. Trust in the Scriptures and remember there is a real eternity. Be a witness.

Pray. 

^[1] Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p. 153). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[2] Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p. 155). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.