Scene One of the Rich Man and Lazarus: Luke 16:19-21
““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, 21) 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 have scene one of the story. We could call this scene; “At the Gate.” The contrast between the rich man and Lazarus was extreme, yet this scene is played out every day in the world around us.
At first glance the rich man looks like a success while Lazarus was a miserable failure. The rich man enjoyed wealth, prestige, influence and power. Every day was a celebration and party. It was considered an honor to be on his guest list. He was a social influencer.
Meanwhile, just outside his guarded gate laid a poor man named Lazarus. To the many people going in and out through the rich man’s gate, Lazarus was a failure.
He was hungry, destitute, homeless, covered with sores and very sickly. He was there to comb through the garbage thrown from the rich man’s compound. His relief and companions were the stray dogs that would come by and lick his wounds. He needed medical attention but was denied.
If this was the end of the story, we would call the rich man a winner and Lazarus a looser. But as we shall discover in the unfolding story, appearance and reality can be very different!
Daily Bible Commentary
By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
