Amy C Walters

The Rich Man and Lazarus | Luke 16:19-31

The Rich Man was used to getting his own way and ordering people around. So even in death while he faces punishment, he tries to have Lazarus relieve his pain. But Abraham refuses the rich man’s requests. Because his time for relief and repentance had run out.

This parable is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching on money. And it’s very important that we not stop with just a surface understanding of it. At first glance, it appears to be about being wealthy or being poor. But as with so many of Jesus’ parables, we need to dig deep to understand what’s really going on.

Let’s begin with the characters in this story. It’s interesting that the rich man is not named, even though he does most of the talking. Lazarus, the beggar, is named. Abraham is named. But the rich man is not. 

Right away, Jesus sets up their contrasting situations in life. There’s wealth and poverty, the rich man and the beggar. The rich man, of course, is covered in purple and fine linen. Purple dye was very expensive so only the wealthy could afford it. But Lazarus, instead of being covered in fine clothing, is covered in sores. 

The rich man lives in luxury, while Lazarus lives in longing. He longs to eat what falls from the rich man’s table. 

The rich man lives in security. He has a gate protecting his property. But Lazarus has no protection. He’s laid at the rich man’s gate, with no shelter so that even the wandering dogs can just lick his wounds. 

And yet, both men meet the same fate. The time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. Abraham’s side is a reference to heaven. Several of the stories we’ve studied recently in Luke describe heaven as a great feast. So Lazarus is sitting in a place of high honor, near the head of the feast table, at Abraham’s side. 

The rich man also dies and is buried. But instead of going to the feast, we’re told that he is in hell, in torment and agony. 

Now, this parable is not meant to give us a detailed description of heaven–it’s layout, geography or activities. It’s set up for Jesus to teach us some specific lessons, which we’ll cover in the next three blog posts. So don’t get hung up on the geography and the specifics of the situation here. Instead, look for the things that Jesus is trying to emphasize. 

For instance, several times Jesus mentions the agony and the torment that the rich man faces in the afterlife. The rich man tries to find some kind of relief from his agony. And at one point, he looks up, and sees Abraham at a distance and Lazarus there with him.

It’s interesting to note that the rich man recognizes Lazarus. This means that he can’t claim to not have noticed Lazarus and his suffering. Ignorance is not an available excuse.

He recognizes Lazarus even at a distance, and calls out to Abraham, “Father Abraham, have pity on me!” Isn’t it interesting that the rich man is asking for pity when he in his lifetime showed none? But he expects pity from Abraham. 

The rich man first looks for physical relief. “Could you send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in some water and cool my tongue? Because I’m in agony.” 

His second request was for some kind of relief from emotional and mental pain. He says, “Please send Lazarus to my family to warn them not to come here.” 

Isn’t it interesting that the rich man, even in the afterlife, is trying to order Lazarus around? He doesn’t even speak to Lazarus directly. He passes his message through Abraham, telling Abraham to tell Lazarus to go on these errands for him. 

What does this tell us about this man’s attitude? I think it tells us how proud he is, that he still thinks he’s in a position to order other people around. He was used to getting his own way. 

The rich man doesn’t seem to recognize the gravity of his situation. He still thinks there’s a chance for relief. 

But what is Abraham’s response to each of these requests? No. No, he’s not going to send Lazarus to dip his finger in the water for him. No, he’s not going to send Lazarus back to his family to warn them.

We’ll look more at Abraham’s response in the next couple of blog posts. But the thing to notice today is that for this rich man, a time came when it was no longer possible to make those changes. When relief wasn’t an option. When ordering people around wasn’t an option. When his wealth and status were gone. When repentance was no longer possible. 

So many people think that they have plenty of time left. That they can live life the way they want to, and then just before they die, they can deal with their sins and repent. But there does come a time when repentance is no longer an option. 

And that gives us our key truth for today: we need to repent while there is still time. Don’t assume that you will have time left. The rich man ended up in a situation where he couldn’t change things, where he was looking for relief and it was too late.

In his lifetime, the rich man had both the opportunity and the resources to do something about his situation, but he used neither. He either didn’t care or thought he could do it later. But time ran out. 

Now, something that I want to point out is that it’s easy at a surface level to think that this story is about wealth and poverty, that being wealthy means you’re going to hell, being poor means you’re going to heaven. But that’s not what Jesus is teaching through this parable. 

For one thing, Abraham is an important figure in this story. And Abraham was quite wealthy (Genesis 13:2). He had a lot of money and resources at his disposal. 

Also, remember that in the previous story, Jesus told his disciples, “Use your wealth to make friends.” So Jesus does not condemn wealth itself. In the next few posts, we’ll look at the real thing that sets the rich man and Lazarus apart. But for today, what’s important to note is that we need to repent while there is still time.