The Rich Man and Lazarus

19^th Sunday after Pentecost (Ordinary Time/UM Kingdomtide), Year C

September 29, 2013

Luke 16:19-31

Introduction

In my World Literature class, we are now discussing The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The Comedia tells of Dante’s adventures through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It is said to be an allegory of the Christian soul to God. In Inferno, the soul discovers the true nature of sin as it witnesses how the various sins are punished in Hell. (For example, in the Third Circle of Hell, the gluttonous are punished by being made to lie down in “a vile slush” that is constantly added to by a “foul icy rain”.) In Purgatorio, the soul is “purified” from the root causes of sin. (In the First Terrace, souls are purged from Pride are forced to walk around bent with a huge weight on their backs, making them see examples of Humility on the floor). Finally, in Paradiso, the soul ascends to the very presence of God himself.

The Divine Comedy presents the view of the Roman Catholic Church—and of the world—during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. For example, Paradiso presents a geocentric view of the universe where the Earth is in the center of the Solar System, and not the Sun.

Discussion of The Divine Comedy is provoking a lot of questions in class. While Philippine Christian University is a Protestant school, a majority of the students are Roman Catholic. There are discussions between the differences in beliefs between Roman Catholics and Protestants. For example, Roman Catholics believe in Limbo (the First Circle of Hell in Inferno) and Purgatory; meanwhile many Protestants believe that when a person dies, his/her soul goes directly to Heaven or Hell.

The final authority for Christians, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, is the Holy Scriptures. It seems providential that we are discussing The Divine Comedy when the Gospel for Sunday is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). What does Jesus say about life after death?

Excursus: Is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus a parable? There are those who say that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is only a parable. And if it is only a parable, then it's not literally true. Parables are not just stories with a moral lesson, like fables for example. A parable is a figure of speech, therefore with symbolic meaning. For example, Jesus often introduces parables with “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 13).

John Wesley argues that the story is history, not parable.

But is the subsequent account merely a parable, or a real history? It has been believed by many, and roundly asserted, to be a mere parable, because of one or two circumstances therein, which are not easy to be accounted for. In particular, it is hard to conceive, how a person in hell could hold conversation with one in paradise. But, admitting we cannot account for this, will it overbalance an express assertion of our Lord: “There was,” says our Lord, “a certain rich man.” — Was there not? Did such a man never exist? “And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus.”--Was there, or was there not? Is it not bold enough, positively to deny what our blessed Lord positively affirms? Therefore, we cannot reasonably doubt, but the whole narration, with all its circumstances, is exactly true. And Theophylact (one of the ancient commentators on the Scriptures) observes upon the text, that, “according to the tradition of the Jews, Lazarus lived at Jerusalem.” (Sermon 112, The Rich Man and Lazarus)

The “parable” is unique because of all the parables Jesus makes use of a historical person, i.e., Abraham. And if we follow John Wesley’s argument, Lazarus himself (not the one he resurrected, John 11) was a historical person!

I. A picture of life (Luke 16:19-21)

There are two pictures of life: the picture of luxury and the picture of poverty. The rich man “was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.”  This reveals that the rich man was very successful in business so he can afford to live in luxury. Meanwhile, there is also a beggar “who was laid at the gate” and had nothing to eat: “and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” He even has nothing to bind his skin ulcers: only “the dogs came and licked his sores”.

It should be pointed out here that there is nothing evil in being rich and there is nothing virtuous in being poor per se. But John Wesley warns,

And it is no more sinful to be rich than to be poor. But it is dangerous beyond expression. Therefore, I remind all of you that are of this number, that have the conveniences of life, and something over that ye walk upon slippery ground. Ye continually tread on snares and deaths. Ye are every moment on the verge of hell! “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for you to enter in the kingdom of heaven.” (Sermon 112)

II. A picture of death (Luke 16:22)

The great equalizer been the rich and the poor and the wicked and the virtuous is death. Mark Twain famously said that no one can escape death and taxes. But while there are many who have managed to cheat with their taxes, no one can ever escape death.

The beggar died “and was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom”. We are told how his body was disposed: He might have been eaten by the dogs (for example, Queen Jezebel, cf. I Kings 21:23-24; II Kings 9:30-37). The rich man also died; doubtless with pomp and buried in rich man’s tomb: “Doubtless with pomp enough, though we do not read of his lying in state; that stupid, senseless pageantry, that shocking insult on a poor, putrefying carcass, was reserved for our enlightened age!” (Notes on Luke XVI:22).

III. A picture of life after death (Luke 16:23-31)

A. Abraham’s bosom and Hades (v. 23). What is Abraham’s bosom? It is a name that the Jews give to Paradise. Talmud says mentions a certain rabbi now “sitting in Abraham’s bosom”:

"Rabbi [Judah] saith to Levi, Represent the Persians to me by some similitude. He saith, They are like to the host of the house of David. Represent to me the Iberians. They are like to the angels of destruction. Represent to me the Ismaelites. They are like the devils of the stinking pit. Represent to me the disciples of the wise, that are in Babylon. they are like to ministering angels. When R. [Judah] died, he said, Hoemnia is in Babylon, and consists of Ammonites wholly. Mesgaria is in Babylon, and wholly consists of spurious people. Birkah is in Babylon, where two men interchange their wives. Birtha Sataia is in Babylon, and at this day they depart from God. Acra of Agma is in Babylon. Ada Bar Ahava is there. This day he sits in Abraham's bosom. This day is Rabh Judah born in Babylon. (Kiddushin 72b, emphasis supplied)

Abraham’s bosom is not the same as Heaven. John Wesley refutes the idea that after death, souls immediately go to heaven:

So the Jews commonly termed what our blessed Lord styles paradise; the place “where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest;” the receptacle of holy souls, from death to the resurrection. It is, indeed, very generally supposed, that the souls of good men, as soon as they are discharged from the body, go directly to heaven; but this opinion has not the least foundation in the oracles of God: On the contrary, our Lord says to Mary, after the resurrection, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” in heaven. But he had been in paradise, according to his promise to the penitent thief: “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Hence, it is plain, that paradise is not heaven. It is indeed (if we may be allowed the expression) the antechamber of heaven, where the souls of the righteous remain till, after the general judgment, they are received into glory. (Sermon 112)

 Therefore, Abraham’s bosom or Paradise, is merely an “ante-room” to Heaven.

Meanwhile, the rich man went to Hell (Hades in the original Greek). Hades is not Purgatory, a place for the “purging” of sins before the soul can finally enter Heaven (as in Purgatorio in The Divine Comedy). John Wesley says that there are those who believe that the souls that are in torment “in order…to atone for the sins committed while in the body, as well as to purify the soul from all its inherent sin.” He makes a comparison the Roman idea of the “purging” of sin after death as mentioned in the Aeneid by Virgil: 

“Ev’n when those bodies are to death resign’d,

Some old inherent spots are left behind;

A sullying tincture of corporeal stains

Deep in the substance of the soul remains.

Thus are her splendours dimm’d, and crusted o’er

With those dark vices that she knew before.

For this the souls a various penance pay,

To purge the taint of former crimes away.

Some in the sweeping breezes are refined,

And hung on high to whiten in the wind:

Some cleanse their stains beneath the gushing streams,

And some rise glorious from the searching flames.”

 --Here souls are “purified” wind, water, and flame. But Wesley says, “Tormented, observe, not purified. Vain hope, that fire can purify a spirit! As well might you expect water to cleanse the soul, as fire. God forbid that you or I should make the trial!” (Sermon 112).

B. Comfort and torment (vv. 23- 25). Some believe that after death, the soul will “sleep” in the dust, citing verses like I Thessalonians 4:13 where the expression “fallen asleep” is used as a euphemism for death. Our souls will not be unconscious after death. In our text, Abraham says, that Lazarus is now being comforted while the rich man is now being tormented (v. 25)—the exact opposite of what they had in life!

We are not told in the text what Lazarus is now experiencing. But other parts of the Bible portray the place of the righteous as a banquet with the patriarchs of the Jewish Scriptures: “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).

But what the rich man is going through is describe in detail: He can see Abraham and Lazarus “afar off” and he can feel the torment of the flames, so much that he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus “to dip the tip of his finger in water” and cool his tongue because he is being tormented in flame.

Death is not an escape from punishment, but it is punishment not just for a time, but for eternity!

C. The great gulf (vv. 26-31).

1. Some people believe that there is still a chance for people to go to Paradise after death. But Abraham told the rich man that his request is impossible because “there is a great gulph [Wesley’s spelling] fixed” so that no one from either side can cross over to another (v. 26). In the doctrine of Purgatory, souls are being “purged” from sin before they can enter Paradise. But if there is a place of purification of sin, it’s in this life, not in the afterlife! (In The Divine Comedy, Purgatory is portrayed as a mountain on Earth.) The Bible says,

We then, as fellow-labourers, do also exhort you, not to receive the grace of God in vain, (For he saith, O have heard thee in an acceptable time, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

2. Some people also believe that it is possible for spirits to return from the dead. Having been denied his request of Lazarus crossing over to give him a drop of water, the rich man now pleads to Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers who are still living. Doubtless that his brothers are also living in the same way that he did, and the rich man knows that they are also headed for the place of torment. But once more, Abraham denies his request. The living, he says, already have the Bible (called the books of “Moses and the prophets” here) with them. If they do not listen to the Word of God, neither they will listen even to someone who comes back from the dead (vv. 29-31).

Conclusion

In life, there are those of us who live with the good things in life; while there are those of us who live with the evil things in life. Our condition is life is only temporary, because one day death shall come to each and every one of us. In death, some of us who lived in with the good things in life will tormented, and some of those who lived with the evil things in life will be comforted. Once we die, our destiny is fixed. No amount of prayer can save us once we are put in torment. The time to change our final destination is not after we die but now, while we are still living.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, may not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)