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 

 

In yesterday's reading, 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.  And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."  In today's reading, Jesus gives a new parable, that of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  My study Bible explains here that Abraham's bosom means heaven.   It says that Abraham is mentioned among all the righteous because, in stark contrast to the rich man, Abraham showed hospitality to strangers (Genesis 18:1-8).  That the rich man . . . was buried is seen in patristic commentary as illustrating the state of his merciless soul, buried by the pleasures of the flesh.  My study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments that this rich man was already buried in life by "couches, furnishings, sweet oils, perfumes, large quantities of wine, varieties of food, and flatterers."  Note also that the one we know only as the "rich man" remains unnamed -- indicating that he is ultimately forgotten (see Psalm 9:6).  

 

 "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.' "  My study Bible comments that the rich man's appeal to Abraham as a spiritual father is not rejected.  Instead, we should note that Abraham accepts this role.  He calls the rich man son and shows himself to be compassionate even towards the most wretched of men.  The great gulf, my study Bible explains, is not a geographical divide, but the complete separation between virtue and wickedness, a separation that cannot be overcome after death.   It asks us to note that torments have not changed the rich man's heart:  he still sees Lazarus as a servant existing for the sake of his own comfort.  Finally, this parable by Christ reveals the communion of the saints, in that a man, not even a believer, calls out from Hades and converses with Saint 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.'  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 comments that some Fathers see this parable being set after the final judgment, citing the punishment and reward being received by the two men respectively.  Others see this parable as set at a time after death but before the second coming of Christ, as is shown by the man interceding on behalf of his brothers who are still living.  The torment he is experiencing, my study Bible notes, would be but a foretaste of his final state.  From this perspective, we learn that the souls of the departed have awareness of and concern for the state of those still alive on earth (see Luke 9:30-31; 2 Maccabees 15:12-16; Matthew 2:18), but also that the intercessions of a wicked man are heard, but avail nothing (contrast James 5:16).  Regarding this final verse, my study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom:  "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, my study Bible adds, the rebellious were not persuaded even when people did rise from the dead (Matthew 28:11-15; John 12:9-11).  

If we read the parable not as delineating for us a physical place, but rather a spiritual location, one in which we find ourselves as a result of disregarding the essential importance of faith, we might see more clearly what hell and torments are all about.  If this is the state of the soul; that is, the state of our life once life in this world is behind us, then what we're reading about is the soul in conditions which are more closely experiencing the energies of God.  The fiery torment of hell, in this light, is the closer proximity to the same fire of the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), out of which the Lord spoke to Moses, or the pillar of fire that illumined the way in the darkness for Israel (Exodus 13:20-22).  By resisting and rejecting God -- which is expressed in this parable quite clearly in its final verses -- we alienate ourselves to this energy, and so experience it as torment.  Seen in this way, the parable also speaks to us of the powerful force and spiritual tool that is repentance:  the desire to change one's mind, and orient the soul in a new direction.  The parable illustrates for us, then, that repentance is a way to place ourselves more closely in alignment with those energies of God, of the Holy Spirit at work in the world, and so to experience God's grace as that in which we participate and are welcome, not as chafing torment.  Repentance, in this sense, offer us a compatibility with the things of God, as opposed to alienation.  When we're afraid of change, afraid to repent, we are really afraid of setting aside our old values and goals, and finding instead the ones which God would give us.  Jesus speaks often throughout the Gospels of the hold that sin and "mammon" can have upon us.  "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" He says, whereas, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" ( see John 8:31-34).  In this parable, Jesus gives us the spiritual truth in a picture of the soul and its relationship -- or broken relationship -- with God.  It is a kind of warning to us about the preciousness of the time that we have in this world, for as we read between the lines, so to speak, we see that in a place where time ceases to have the meaning it does in our worldly life, repentance becomes even more difficult and our spiritual distance from God a more impenetrable gulf.  In addition to these intriguing topics that the parable brings to us, we should not forget that Jesus gives the parable in the context of His recent teachings, and especially yesterday's reading (above), in which He taught that one cannot serve God and mammon.  What we (and my study Bible) observe about this rich man's behavior toward Lazarus is that it still embodies a type of "transactional" way of thinking -- and one in which Lazarus is viewed as a type of commodity, a servant to use.   The wealthy man does not really repent; he does not come to see Lazarus as a person to whom he's done harm in his neglect.  Instead he seeks to use Lazarus as an instrument to send a warning to his brothers.  The final answer here is clear, that there have been many servants sent into the world to warn and to teach.  The repeated calls of the prophets have already been sent out into the world.  And now the One who speaks will be raised from the dead, the Suffering Servant who will go to the Cross in a saving message for the whole world -- and this will be enough.  Let us pay attention and trust His word.