If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead

 "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

On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught, "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.  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.  Abraham is mentioned among all the righteous because he is known for having shown hospitality to strangers (Genesis 18:1-8), in contrast to the rich man and his treatment of Lazarus.  A traditional interpretation of the text that reads the rich man . . . was buried says that it illustrates the state of his soul as merciless because buried by the pleasures of the flesh.  According to St. John Chrysostom, the man was already buried in life by "couches, rugs, furnishings, sweet oils, perfumes, large quantities of wine, varieties of food, and flatterers."  We also note that the text doe snot name the rich man, an indication that he is ultimately forgotten (see Psalm 9:6).

"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.'"  It seems as if the rich man's appeal to Abraham as spiritual father is rejected, but in fact it is not so.  Abraham accepts the role of spiritual father in calling the rich man son and behaving with compassion even to this now tormented man.  My study bible says that the great gulf is not a geographical divide, but a spiritual reality.  It is the complete separation between virtue and wickedness, a separation that can't be overcome after death.  The torments haven't changed this man's heart, he still sees Lazarus as servant who exists for the sake of his own comfort.  Finally, my study bible says that Jesus' teaching reveals the communion of the saints; a man who is not even a believer calls out from Hades is can converse with St. Abraham.

"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.'"  There are some traditional interpretations of this parable that teach it is set after the final judgment, citing the punishment and reward being received by the two men.  But others see it set at a table after death but before Christ's second coming, since the man intercedes on behalf of his still-living brothers.  The torment he experiences, says my study bible, would be a foretaste of his final state.  From this perspective then, we learn that souls of the departed have awareness of and concern for the state of those still alive on earth (see 9:30-31, 2 Maccabees 15:12-16; Matthew 2:18).  Moreover it seems that, unlike those of the saints and righteous,  the intercessions of a wicked man are heard, but they avail nothing.

"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.'"  My study bible quotes St. John Chrysostom here:  "The ignorance of Scripture is a great cliff and a deep abyss.  It is impossible for anyone to be without benefit if he reads continually and with attention."  Moreover, it says, the rebellious were not persuaded even when people did rise from the dead (Matthew 28:11-15, John 12:9-11).

It's interesting to look at the parable and discern what it might tell us about the state of life after death, what heaven is truly like.  In some sense, although they are clearly separated in certain ways, the rich man and Abraham occupy the same place.  They are able to communicate with one another easily.  Each is somehow clearly able to perceive the state of the other.  One thing this may indicate to us is a teaching about hell or hellfire given us by tradition:  that the flames of hell and the fire of God's love are one and the same.  What it teaches us is about the incompatibility of a life given over to material-mindedness, forms of selfishness.  The soul, having identified itself with "mammon" (see yesterday's reading, above), feels itself burning and in torment by the energies of God.  This is a kind of incompatibility that causes suffering due to the mindset and orientation of the one who resists God's reality.  The one thing that separates Abraham and the rich man by an "unpassable gulf" is the rich man's lack of true repentance, or change of mind.  Nowhere do we hear him in a repentant tone.  He is concerned for his brothers who still live, but Lazarus he cannot see as a equally a person, one having the same spiritual stature as himself.  As my study bible points out, he still sees and treats Lazarus as a servant to do his bidding -- truly a very materialistic perspective of another human being.  What this may teach us is that indeed, we may all occupy the same space, but spiritually, as my study bible points out, there may be all the depth of distance and impassable border.  That it is the rich man's failure to repent that creates his own estrangement from heaven is compatible the recent parables Jesus has taught, and particularly that of the Great Supper (14:15-24).  What we observe in that parable is that everyone is invited to this great supper of the king, but it is those who refuse the invitation who are forever locked out.  What in fact we may surmise is something akin to Jesus' teaching, after Isaiah, that there are those who have no ears to hear and no eyes to see, in fact that such a gulf may exist between us even among the closest relationships we have in the world.  Indeed, Lazarus in the parable sat outside the gate of this man's home, was in fact his neighbor, who perhaps spoke to him regularly as beggar, and yet the divide between them which was created by the rich man's attitude become an implacable gulf in spiritual terms.  When Jesus teaches that He came to send a fire on earth, not to bring peace but a sword that would separate us even from those closest to us (12:49-53), we must think of this reality in spiritual terms, and where our orientation places us, depending on whom we serve.