Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. During his lifetime the rich man saw the poor man suffering, yet he turned a blind eye and didn't lift a finger to help him. In our passage today he pictured a familiar scenario from everyday life in which two very different people have died, one of them is a very poor man, whereas the other is extremely rich. As a gifted teacher Christ captured people's attention by telling simple stories. Let's look at a parable in Luke 16 that Jesus used to teach a vital lesson about death. (We will revisit this in our conclusion.) Sadly, however, few people realize that Satan is the murderer from the beginning and he exploits our fear of death, using it to hold us in bondage all our lives. In fact, the Bible plainly states that God sent his Son into our world as a human so that he could “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15) To say that humans fear death is a no-brainer, whether they admit it or not. The bottom line is: Fear of death, especially the second death, hell, is normal as we all know from personal experience. Obviously no one in their right mind wants to die although here in Canada euthanasia is now permitted. The simple truth is, fear of death is the elephant in the room, having strongly impacted lockdown policies and restrictions across Canada and throughout the world. ![]() In fact, a certain preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes said “A wise person thinks a lot about death.” (7:4, NLT) Indeed, the topic of death has been very much on people's minds since the COVID pandemic struck. However, the Bible has a lot to say about both. When the rich man suggests Lazarus be sent back from the dead, Abraham does not say that he won’t go back, but that if he does go back those who will not hear the Law and the prophets will not take heed of Lazarus’s rising either.There is one topic that many people, even Christians don't like to talk about – death and even more so, hell. If it is a parable, it is the only parable where that happens.Ī few last points. Nothing in the text says it is a parable, and it is different from other parables in that Jesus names one of the characters-Lazarus. Note that some argue this isn’t a parable at all but a historical account. They went to hell if unrighteous (the Catechism of the Catholic Church, following the historic Christian interpretation, cites the rich man as an example of one who has died in mortal sin ) or to Abraham’s bosom if righteous (today the state of the righteous dead is even more glorious since the gates of heaven have been opened and the righteous, after purification if needed, now go to be with God (CCC 1026). If there were rich men and beggars in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day, then, when they died, they went to hell or Abraham’s bosom in Jesus’ day. ![]() To press the issue more sharply, point out that the second half of the parable (where the two are dead) reflects human experience as much as the first half (where the two are alive) reflects human experience.
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