Luke 16:19–31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² 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. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ “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.’ ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ 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.’ ²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ 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.’ ”

Commentary (Preamble)
Previously the Lord Jesus Christ had given a parable by which He taught us all to make friends by unrighteous mammon, by being faithful towards God and generous with it towards all (Luke 16:9-12), warning us also that no one can serve God and mammon for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other (Luke 16:13). Now when Jesus said all these things the Pharisees who were lovers of money derided Him (Luke 16:14). And so now Jesus tells us a story of two men’s lives, one being a rich man who fared sumptuously and another being a poor beggar named Lazarus by which all that Jesus previously taught and warned about, now becomes abundantly clear.

Vs. 19-21 ¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

The Lord Jesus Christ now begins to tell a story of two men, the first mentioned is a rich man who was very finely clothed (i.e. clothed in purple and fine linen which was a sign of possessing great wealth in ancient times) who fared sumptuously every day. And so, whatever the rich man did, whether good or bad, he always prospered. And so he lived a life of great prosperity, one of ease and comfort and fullness everyday (vs. 19). Now there was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was full of sores, wo could not even walk, but was laid at the rich mans gate (vs. 20), and Lazarus being so poor and destitute simply desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table. Lazarus then could not even imagine what that rich man enjoyed everyday.  “Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.” (vs. 21) which was not a sign of being shown kindness by someone’s pet, but one of being preyed upon by dirty and smelly stray dogs.

Vs. 22-23 ²² 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. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Having described their lives on earth, Jesus now moves quickly to the end of their lives and where people go after they die. In this Jesus first describes Lazarus as being carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, which for a Jew in ancient times would’ve been equivalent to being carried and brought into the greatest of comforts in heaven (vs. 22). Now the rich man also died and was buried. Notice first that there is no mention of angels, or of Abraham (all symbolic of God), in that man’s death. Rather Jesus says of the rich man “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” ^{Vs. 23} Notice first that the rich man who during his lifetime could not be bothered to give Lazarus the scraps from his table, while he fared sumptuously every day, living and feasting to his hearts content, while he saw Lazarus lying starving at his gate. And so now the once rich man is in torments in Hades which is to say he is now suffering torments in hell in English. And so being in torments he lifts his eyes and sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, now being comforted and nurtured for all eternity.

Vs. 24 “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.’

Now when the rich man saw how Lazarus was now comforted and he being in torments in Hades now cries out, saying: ‘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.’ Notice that it is the rich man who is now appealing for mercy, something which he never showed to Lazarus when he had every opportunity and ability to do so during his lifetime. And yet though in torments he still sees Lazarus as someone completely subservient to himself, for he asks that Lazarus might be sent to him, “…that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” And so just as Lazarus was unable to alleviate his own sufferings on earth so now the same is being experienced by the rich man in hell, who could’ve very easily alleviated Lazarus sufferings if he had even cared to do so, when they were both alive on earth. As well notice that Hades/Hell involves flame as torment, any doctrines, ideas, or notions that seek to lesson that reality is not from God. For here the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that the eternal punishment found there involves flame as a torment.

Vs. 25-26 ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ 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.’

Having heard the rich man’s appeal for mercy, Abraham now reminds him that in his lifetime “…you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things…”, and so now Lazarus is comforted and the rich man is tormented (vs. 25), thus though justice sometimes seems afar off here on earth it is never forsaken in eternity! Now verse twenty-six is very interesting because it debunks any notions of “purgatory”, of being able to pass from hades/hell to heaven once there, or even to pass from heaven to hell to try to save someone there. The time then for repentance and faith is not when one is dead and has been already sentenced, the time is right now!

Vs. 27-31 ²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ 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.’ ”

Seeing there is now no more hope for himself, the rich man now appeals to Abraham that he would send Lazarus to his father’s house, “for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” ^{vs. 28} However  Abraham as the father of the Jews says to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ^{vs. 29} Thus even without the Gospel there are in the Law and the prophets an abundance of commands, exhortations, and examples to, “Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with ones God” ^{Micah 6:8} Thus they being covenant Jews, being reared under the Law and prophets, are completely without excuse (Rom. 2). However, upon hearing that, the once rich man in great desperation now strengthens his appeal saying, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ^{vs. 30} Which on the surface makes perfect sense, and yet when Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from dead neither the nation of Israel, nor its priests and leadership, repented and believed in Him (see John 11). And even more stunning and exceedingly far greater is the Lord Jesus Christ’s own Resurrection from Dead which the world and those of it remain oblivious and blinded too. And so, in verse thirty-one we see a great spiritual truth about how people’s hearts become hardened and their eyes become blinded to the Gospel, when they do not heed God’s Word and His revelation given to them through it, because as the Lord Jesus Christ states, “…If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson