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"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "
- Luke 16:19-31
In Saturday's reading, we read that Jesus continued to teach His disciples, just after He taught the parable of the Unjust Steward: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." The contrast between the two in this story is clear and vivid. We get a picture of the rich man; he doesn't just live well: he's clothed in purple (an extremely expensive and rare dye, affordable usually to nobility, the recipe for the finest of which remained a jealously guarded secret for centuries) and fine linen, and "fared sumptuously" not just often but every day. It's interesting to contrast this picture of wealth and extravagance with the extravagance in an earlier reading in this series of Jesus' discourses, the Prodigal Son. The beggar Lazarus is as destitute and poorly off, as frightening a spectacle as the rich man is extravagant and sumptuous: not only is he full of sores, dining off crumbs, but is tended to by dogs in the street -- a sad image for us today, and worse in a culture that saw dogs in a very negative light.
" So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." My study bible says that Abraham's bosom means heaven.
"And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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.' " This parable is a kind of testimony to the communion of saints, and it's interesting that even in this wide gulf between Hades where the rich man is tormented by a flame, and Abraham in heaven, there is a kind of communication. But the rich man doesn't appeal to God; the conversation is between he and Abraham, his holy ancestor.
"But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' " My study bible says, "A great gulf between Lazarus and the rich man signifies there is no possibility of transfer between heaven and hell after death. It should also be noted that neither poverty nor riches, in themselves, gain Lazarus and the rich man their irreversible places. The rich man goes to hell because of his hardness of heart; Lazarus to heaven because of his humble faith."
"Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'" Moses and the prophets, says my study bible, "are the Old Testament Scriptures which testify to God."
Let's remember that Jesus is speaking to the leadership, the Pharisees, who, Luke tells us, were lovers of money. Jesus has been criticized for dining with sinners, and in response told the parable of the Prodigal Son. He then taught His disciples the parable of the Unjust Steward, before teaching in Saturday's reading, "You cannot serve God and mammon." For this teaching, He was derided by the Pharisees. He replied to them that "what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." But in today's parable, Jesus is showing the consistency of Old Testament Scripture with His own teachings, and the more powerful and emphatic message He brings for God's law. Although John was the last of the prophets, and Christ reveals the Kingdom, He's acting in the lineage of the Scriptures the Pharisees know, yet they will not believe Him either, though He return from the dead. We see the message directed at the leadership, but of course it's also directed to us. We are also informed in Scripture, and by One who rose from the dead. So we have our choice, as well. For the Pharisees, He's telling them very clearly as He's said elsewhere, they can't rely on their ancestor, on their lineage. Choice for each of us is a very specific thing. The very hairs on our heads are numbered. What looks "good" to us isn't what looks good by the standards of the Kingdom. Moreover, our own practice of mercy acts as a sort of conditional leverage for our spiritual position. Can we see beyond what we taste, see, feel, touch and know apart from what's in our hearts? Is there more to life than this, that also unites us with others in relation to the world around ourselves? This is the question Jesus asks, that the Pharisees are called to, that all the Scripture points to, and that He Himself asks each of us, even as He is the One risen from the dead to ask it of us. Let us remember that wealth and poverty and suffering come in all kinds of forms, as does mercy.
