The Rich Man and Lazarus
Part 2
 

Luke 16:19-31

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

   (NOTE: The words "fared sumptuously every day" need to be more accurately translated to avoid the idea of feasting or banqueting which is not in the Greek. It has been better rendered as follows: "who every day lived in pleasure and luxury," Fenton; "lived sumptuously every day," Moffitt; "making merry day by day, brilliantly," Rotherham; "living luxuriously and in a magnificent style every day," Wuest. The word beggar in verse 20 should be "poor man"; the word "hell" in verse 23 should be "hades'; and "Son" in verse 25 should be "Child.")

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid a his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted and thou art tormented.

26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

God's Word is a rock-indeed a precious stone that will stand any amount of scrutiny. It is a lamp unto our feet, and it is not extinguished by examination. It welcomes investigation It calls upon men to think upon it. If men will cease taking themselves so seriously and accept God's statement that "we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth" (2 Cor. 13:8), they will not be so fearful of the task of plunging into the study of the Word of God. It may be deep, but if need be, I prefer to drown in it rather than to be battered to death by the waves of human ignorance, error, superstition, and opinion. Those who meditate upon the Word of God day and night are called blessed.

Inasmuch as the story of the rich man and Lazarus is, by most Christians, allowed to negate the entire Old Testament revelation as to man's destiny, this passage demands the most minute examination and prolonged meditation. It is dishonest to build upon this passage if this is not done. Many who permit this portion of God's Word to dominate and control the interpretation of the remainder of Scripture seem at times to show an amazing unfamiliarity with just what is said in it.

All who honestly examine this passage will find that innumerable questions, problems, and difficulties arise as a result. These demand full consideration before we can rest assured that we have discovered the true interpretation of this portion of the Word of God.

In this story we have the written record of the spoken words of the Lord Jesus. There can be no doubt concerning this. The translation, with a few exceptions, is acceptable; therefore, if we use only the King James Version we can rest assured that we have before us what our Lord said.

Our task then is to discover what the Lord meant by the things He said, just what His purposes were in relating this story. These words express His thoughts on this occasion, and from them we must discover what He was thinking.

Most men feel that this is an exceedingly simple task, for they hold this story to be the simple, straight-forward, matter-of-fact history of actual events that took place before the birth of Jesus, and which He witnessed before His incarnation. They insist that this story is literal history, reported by the Lord for the purpose of revealing the conditions that exist beyond death.

Yet, those who take this position will never go through with it. They dare not follow their position out to all its conclusions and accept all its consequences. They will not carry their idea of "historic reality" into every detail. There is always a lapse into the figurative or assumptive. Their position breaks down when they face the actual reality of the poor man being carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. They know not what to do with the statements which indicate that the rich man had eyes and a tongue and that Lazarus had a finger. They cannot fit these bodily parts in with their ideas of "disembodied spirits."

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