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."  Abraham's bosom means heaven, my study Bible tells us.  It notes 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).   Jesus tells us that the rich man . . . was buried.  In patristic literature this image is seen as illustrating the state of his merciless soul, buried by the pleasures of the flesh.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom as teaching that this man was already buried in life by "couches, rugs, furnishings, sweet oils, perfumes, large quantities of wine, varieties of food, and flatterers."  That the rich man remains unnamed indicates that he is ultimately forgotten, my study Bible says (see Psalm 9:6).  

"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.' "  This rich man's appeal to Abraham as a spiritual father is not rejected, my study Bible notes, Rather, it says, Abraham accepts this role.  He calls the rich man son and shows himself to be compassionate even towards the most wretched of people.  The great gulf isn't a geographical divide, but rather it's the complete separation between virtue and wickedness, a separation that cannot be overcome after death.  Also, my study Bible asks us to note that torments have not changed the rich man's heart, as he still sees Lazarus as a servant who exists for the sake of his own comfort.  Moreover, Christ's account in this story is a revelation of the communion of the saints, for here a man who is not even a believer calls out from Hades and speaks 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 patristic sources see this parable being set after the final judgment, citing the punishment and reward received by the two men respectively.  But others see the parable as being set at a time after death, but before the second coming of Christ.  This is evidenced by the man interceding on behalf of his brothers who are still living.  The torment the rich man experiences would be then only a foretaste of his final state.  From that 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; Matthew 2:18; 2 Maccabees 15:12-16).  However, my study Bible notes also that the intercessions of a wicked man are heard, but avail nothing (contrast James 5:16).  

Clearly, in the context of all of our recent readings, Jesus is telling this parable -- particularly to the Pharisees, whom we were told in Saturday's reading were "lovers of money" -- to illustrate that what we share of our worldly goods with the poor becomes treasure in the heavens (Luke 12:33), or more particularly it allows us to "make friends" for ourselves who "may receive us into an everlasting home" (see Friday's reading).  But the communication between the parties involved, especially after they have passed from life in our world, is really what is intriguing me today.  Christ illustrates His point about the importance of life beyond this world -- and how much we take it into consideration -- by making it clear that life doesn't end when we think it does, but we go on in another state, and what we do or do not do in this world has something to do with where we wind up, and what that life will be like for us.  In a very secular-oriented world, we're not conditioned to think about that very much.  Once upon a time, it was common practice to consider the end of our lives, that we will all pass from this world.  But a modern mindset does not want to admit of disability, deterioration, infirmity, or death, as if we can find ways to avert these things.   But Jesus' repeated emphasis on charity emphasizes the importance of what our lives will be after we pass from our worldly lives.  Perhaps all of us would be better off if this were the message we take to heart, and begin to consider that life isn't simply over when we pass from this world, but rather continues with new circumstances and under new conditions, which depend upon how we've lived our lives as well.   Christ's emphasis on compassion here stresses that those of us who fail to practice compassion will not be able to realize or receive God's compassion extended to us -- another way to understand the practice of mercy.  "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).  Perhaps Christ's repeated stress on charity can also be understood in terms of the practice of forgiveness.  As we've discussed in the past couple of readings and commentary, Jesus' teachings on forgiveness are linked to debt, as in the Lord's Prayer, in which we consider forgiveness as a kind of wiping away a debt, considering it paid.  He teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" and after giving the prayer, adds, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (see Matthew 6:12-15).  The communion of saints shown in the communication after the rich man's death gives us a sense also of that life that continues under new conditions and circumstances, a sense in which the rich man's place is diminished so that he is now one of less importance and very limited agency, and in which Lazarus has become of higher stature.  This is a picture of the weight or substance that Christ has pronounced on both of them, how God sees these two people, also a consequence of their lives.  The final pronouncement of Abraham is very important, because what that does is give us a type of end to mercy, an understanding that it is, in some sense, limited, for God has exhausted the efforts possible to reach the unrepentant:  "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."  At some point, a closed mind creates that limit, in which one is no longer reachable, and this we must also take to heart.  It's interesting that the rich man at least pleads for his brothers, teaching us that he does care for someone.  But it emphasizes Christ's point about the practice of mercy:  "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Matthew 5:46).  Even the rich man's concern for the brothers of his earthly father's house doesn't weigh much in the outcome of his life in this place of his torment.   Let us weigh these matters carefully, and consider how our orientation to our own lives and what we count as important play out according to these teachings.  

 

 

Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found

 

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  

 

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"

 

- Luke 15:1-2, 11-32 

 

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."   

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  These verses are repeated from the beginning of yesterday's reading (see above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave two parables in response to the criticism that He receives sinners and eats with them.  In today's reading, we're given the third parable He spoke, that of the Lost Son or Prodigal Son.

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want."  My study Bible comments that this request for the younger son's portion of goods (in Greek ousia/οὐσία, which literally means "essence" or "substance") indicates humankind receiving our free will and rational mind from God.  As Adam did in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile far from God.

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."  To feed swine might rightly be called living on "Jewish skid row," my study Bible notes.  This son could not sink much lower.  

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father."  We note that the text says this young man came to himself.  My study Bible notes that a person who is immersed in sin is living outside one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread which is eaten by his father's hired servants in his father's home symbolizes Christ, who is known through the Scriptures and the Eucharist.  

"But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'"  Although it was considered unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, my study Bible notes, the father did not passively stand by waiting for his son to return.  Simply from the first sign of the son's return, the older man ran to him.  My study Bible comments that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which God our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."  There are several significant symbols in the father's response to his son.  According to my study Bible, the robe signifies the righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10).  The signet ring is family identity; he is once again under the name of his father (Haggai 2:23).  Finally, the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  The phrase translated fatted calf would be more closely rendered "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally, "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  My study Bible says that this is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  It says that as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so our reconciliation to God is not by our repentance alone, but by Christ's offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" therefore becomes a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread. 

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him."   My study Bible comments that the resentful older son illustrates the hardheartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ is telling this parable.  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, God requires us to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

"So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"  The older son says, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."   According to my study Bible, the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  This attitude is contrasted with the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted:  "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   Moreover, my study Bible comments, the older son's ingratitude is also apparent in his charge to his father, "You never gave me a young goat," when the father has given him all he has ("all that I have is yours").

If we take the perspective of the older son in this parable, Jesus seems to be suggesting that the scribes and Pharisees might be resentful of Christ's loving attitude toward the tax payers and sinners.  Why should God come into the world, as Incarnate Christ, both divine and human, and seek the sinners?  What about those who have always been loyal to the covenant?  It seems that this seeks to address a kind of resentment that is possible on the part of the religious Jews who recognize Christ at least as a holy Man, and so we can read into the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes a resentment that Jesus criticizes them, and yet receives and eats with tax collectors and sinners.  But what Christ emphasizes here is that His mission into the world is one of salvation, to rescue and free the ones captive to the evil one, to seek and find the lost sheep, as illustrated in the parable He gave yesterday.  This casts a light on the reading, on the character and mission of Christ, and on the love of God which we might miss otherwise should we not examine this aspect of the parable.  What else can we call God's deep drive to save except love?  Over and over again, Jesus illustrates this deep and true impulse as the quality of His mission.  As noted in yesterday's reading, we might recall His mission across a threatening and stormy sea to save one man oppressed by a Legion of demons in a forsaken place (Luke 8:22-39).   The parable of the lost sheep in yesterday's reading is a clear indication of this -- that a shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go after one is something that any first century hearer would no doubt remark upon.  Both the parable and the incident from chapter 8 highlight the danger and risk involved in a saving mission which is counted as worthy for the sake of salvation.  In John's third chapter, when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus by night, He follows up the oft-quoted statement in John 3:16 with this important clarification:  "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (see John 3:16-17).  What does the story of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, alluded to here in today's parable through the sacrifice of the "wheat-fed calf," mean to us except that He died for us that we might be saved?  The emphasis here is not so much on our own sinfulness -- for we all sin -- as on God's saving love for us that is willing to risk everything for the sake of that love.  It tells us, more powerfully than anything else, how precious we are to God, and what Christ is willing to go through to illustrate that love for all of us.  For of His saving mission He has said Himself, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  If we take nothing else from this parable, we must understand -- as Jesus tries so vehemently and extensively in these three parables He gives to the Pharisees and scribes -- that His message is one of God's love; that He, who will go to the ends of the earth, to His death on the Cross as human being, will do whatever it takes to save.  The one thing that keeps us from this saving love is our own inability to receive it, our lack of returned faith and trust, our unwillingness to follow Him and to recognize that love.  God gives to us His all -- as Christ will give His all.  But in return, He asks us for our hearts and our trust, as Jesus prays to the Father, "that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:20-26)