Luke 16:19-31

In our scripture today, Jesus tells the story of a man to whom everyone around him were invisible. In the first part of the parable, there is a poor man outside the gate of the Rich man’ mansion, flies buzzing around his whole body, dogs licking his sores. The scene described by Jesus is impossible to ignore. Yet, it was ignored by the rich man. In contrast, inside the gate, there is a rich man whose body is covered in velvet and linen eating in a gorgeous dining room.

In the second part of the story, we see the two men’s circumstances reversed in the afterlife. The rich man begs for relief -as Lazarus previously did for food and medical attention- because he is in a place of torment, but it is too late, nothing can be done. However, when Lazarus died, angels carried him to Abraham’s side or bosom as other translations say. 

Before this parable, Luke has already told us about the relationship between wealth and poverty. He did it through other parables: The greedy farmer is one of them, after a great harvest he wanted to simply build the biggest barns in the neighborhood and “eat, drink, and be merry” for the rest of his life. This greedy farmer is quickly faced by God who called him fool and delivered a sad news, he will die that night and his possessions will be divided among other persons. Persons he was ignoring when he made his plans. Luke also has shared the parable of the Shrewd servant who used his position to make money for himself at expenses of others.

The parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus is not unique to Jesus. Variants of it have been found in other ancient cultures. But it is unique among all Jesus’ parables because this is the only one, he told, in which the protagonist is named, his name Lazarus is the Greek form of Eleazar, which means “one whom God has helped.”

This parable -and others from Luke- tells us clearly that worldly success is not indicative of God’s favor. This parable clearly shows that no amount of wealth or security will guarantee our salvation. Now, the question is what is this parable about? What is Jesus trying to teach his audience and us.?  The purpose of this parable is to examine our relationship with our neighbors and to change, if we have to before it is too late. We often focus our interpretation of this parable on the afterlife. Jesus’ intention was not to describe Hell and heavens, but to remind us that the way we treat others will determine which direction we will take when God call us. Jesus is warning his audience, especially the religious leaders, that their treatment of others does not lead to where they think it does.

Jesus wants to warn us of the pitfalls and dangers of living a self-centered life driven by greed instead of love. In the previous chapter He has told us the parable of the Prodigal Son who was living a self-center life at his father’ expenses. The Rich man and Lazarus and The Prodigal Son parables are connected, they are part of the same warning Jesus is giving the Pharisees who are listening. The Rich man’s attitude will not go unnoticed by God; this kind of attitude has no place in the kingdom of God. The prodigal Son’s attitude will lead him to self-destruction.

There is a principle in the Bible, “we are blessed, to be a blessing.” We find this principle at the beginning of Israel’s history in Genesis 22:17-18. This is God talking to Abraham, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspringall nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Abraham will receive from God, so he could share with others. As a Jew the Rich man knew about this principle; he knew he had to share with the poor, and he did not; he did not share his blessing with Lazarus. Besides, he also knew what the Law and the prophets say about helping and caring for the poor and he did not practice it either. He did not obey.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 is an example of what the Law says, ““If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”

The prophet Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49 is an example of what the prophets said, “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” These are only two examples of many we find in the Old Testament. Jesus continues with the message of the prophets, the sharing of our blessings and the message of how we must treat others.

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25, Jesus shares the parable known as the sheep and goats, in verses 34 and 36, he says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me.” This parable is also known as the judgement of the nations. I believe it can also be called the judgement of the sharing of our blessings and relationship with those in need. Why? because Jesus is judging the people for what they did or did not do with what they received. I was hungry and thirsty, and you share your food with me; I was thirty and you share your water with me.

Those described in Matthew 25 went either to the left or to the right of the Lord or as the parable we read this morning would say to Abraham’s side or Hades. The side Jesus put them was according of what they did or did not with those who were hungry, sick, in jail, naked or strangers. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The Rich man’ treasure was with his cloth and food and his self-indulgent and that led him to ignore what the Law and the prophets say. Let him to disobeyed God. His heart was with the luxury too and that made him ignore the one who God has helped.

This parable of The Rich man and Lazarus is designed to force… us, the readers, to reflect on how we treat Lazarus-like people and on how we share the blessing we have received from God. It is also a warning to those of us who are not paying any attention to the needs of others around us. 

This parable was and is both a blow for those who are in control and hope for those who are being oppressed. And finally, this parable is an invitation to invest in life more that in things and to remember how Jesus’ relationship with people transformed lives. People like blind Bartimaeus, or little man Zacchaeus, or the woman caught in adultery. Jesus was concerned first and foremost with people and we should do the same. Where is our heart? Is it in things or in people.?