Amy C Walters

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

On the surface, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus seems to be teaching about the evils of money and the sainthood of poverty. But when we look at the rich man’s conversation with Abraham, we see that his real issue is that he hasn’t listened to God’s Word.

In the previous blog post, we noted that on the surface, this parable appears to be about the sin of riches and the sainthood of poverty. But dig a little deeper and we see a different message.

As we noted, Abraham was rich, and yet he figures prominently in this story. Jesus also taught us to use our riches to make friends, to impact their eternity. So if it’s not about wealth, then what is it?

As the rich man is suffering in the afterlife, he first requests that Lazarus dip his finger in water and put it on his tongue. But Abraham refuses. His second request is that Lazarus return to his family and want them. “Then send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they do not also come to this place of torment.” Abraham’s response to this request is that the rich man’s family has “Moses and the prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.” 

Moses and the prophets is a reference to the Old Testament which is often summarized as the law and the prophets. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, which is also called the law. So Abraham is saying to the rich man, “Your family has the Bible as your warning as their warning. That should be enough.” 

But how does the rich man respond? He says, “No, Father Abraham. But if someone from the dead comes and warns them, then they will repent.” God’s Word is not enough. That’s what this man is saying. And this response reveals to us what’s really going on in his heart.

The problem is not that he is wealthy. But his wealth and his response to Abraham show his total disregard for God’s Word. He is not living according to what the Bible says. 

This rich man had access to Scripture. And verse after verse reveals God’s heart for his people. 

• Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” 
• Proverbs 14:21, “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.” 
• Proverbs 14:31, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” 
• Deuteronomy 15:11, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” 
• Jeremiah 22”16, “He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me, declares the Lord.”

Over and over again, we see God’s heart to help people in need. In fact, the name Lazarus means “God is help,” a reminder right in the story of God’s generosity and compassion. 

This is not a story that says wealth is bad, poverty is good. It’s a story that says, listen to God’s word, take it seriously. Believe it. Trust it. Live your life based on it. 

The rich man was saying that God’s Word was not enough. Yet interestingly, Jesus teaches that greedy people never think they have enough. They always want more. Like in the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21. The man already has barns full of crops. But when more crops were harvested, he tore down those barns and planned to build bigger ones. What he had was not enough. 

What would work better than God’s Word, the rich man argues to Abraham, is if someone comes back from the dead to warn his family. But Abraham says, “If they don’t listen to God’s written Word, they won’t be convinced even by someone rising from the dead.” As Peter Gury said, “The problem isn’t the message, it’s the audience.”

This of course foreshadows Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus would soon be crucified and rise from the dead. But even then, there were people who didn’t believe. 

Our key truth for today is that we need to listen to God’s word.

And this key truth is one we’ve encountered before in the Book of Luke. It’s found in the story of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). And the Parable of the Sower and the Soils (Luke 8:1-18). And his commendation of Mary for listening to his teaching (Luke 10:38-42). Over and over again, Jesus says, listen, listen, listen to what I am saying. 

And yet, we still struggle, don’t we? We want more. We can be like this rich man and say, “If I just had something else to convince me, if I just had a sign, that would be enough.” 

I remember once in a small group Bible study, we were talking about Moses and the burning bush. Someone in the group said, “I want a burning bush.” And my husband said, partly in jest, “You can’t handle a burning bush!” 

God has given us his Word. Are we listening?

Today as you go, I want you to ask yourself, are you obeying what you have been hearing in sermons and Bible studies? Are you listening to it and putting it into practice? Is it changing your heart, your mindset, your actions, your words?