The Rich Man and Lazarus: Luke 16:19-31
““19) Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20) And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.” Luke 16:19-21
We now come to the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Everything Jesus had been teaching in the previous 18 verses in chapter 16 set the stage for this story.
This story is unique to the Gospel of Luke. It does not appear in the other gospel narratives. Over half of the content of the Gospel of Luke is original to this book.
Notice, I call this a story and not a parable. By naming Lazarus in the story, Jesus parted from the usual practice of a parable. Characters are never named in a parable.
Like a good theatrical play, the story can be broken into three scenes:
Scene #1: At the Gate. Vs 19-20
Scene # 2: At the Grave. Vs 21-22
Scene #3: At the Gulf. Vs 23-31
In this story, Jesus describes a 100% Looser. The twist in the story is that the big looser is not Lazarus; the 100% Looser is the rich man.
Over the next three sections, I want to slow down and examine each scene in the story. There is so much to learn from story.
This story presents the clearest teaching on the subject of life after death presented anyplace in the Bible. It underlines the fact that eternal destiny is fixed for all eternity at the moment of physical death.
There is no purgatory or second to change destiny after physical death! Eternal destiny is determined in this life. The Bible is consistent, after death comes eternal judgement. (Hebrews 9:27-28, 2 Corinthians 5:10)
Daily Bible Commentary
By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
