Luke 16:16-31: “Jesus Points The Pharisees To The Law /
Teaches About The Rich Man And Lazarus In Hades”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 1-15 of chapter 16.
1.1.1. We read the story about a manager or steward over a man’s farms who was
being fired for mismanagement yet who decided before he had to leave his job to
ingratiate himself to his master’s debtors by reducing the debt of each
one.
1.1.2. We saw that Jesus began to teach principles related to being a good
steward of the wealth and possessions that the Lord has entrusted to each of
us.
1.1.3. The emphasis in Jesus’ teaching
in that study was about being a good and faithful steward of the things that
the Lord has given us.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses 16 – 31 of chapter
16.
1.2.1. Here we will see first of all that Jesus challenges the Pharisees present
on this day concerning the demands of the Law on their life.
1.2.2. We will see next that Jesus teaches the Parable Of The Rich Man And
Lazarus, two men who lived opposite lifestyles and who finally died and left
this earth however how they lived their life in this world determined their
fortunes in the next life: The poor man
ends up in Abraham’s Bosom and is at peace and in comfort. The rich man ends up in Hades and torments.
2. VS 16:16-18 - “16
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that
time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is
forcing his way into it. 17 “But it is easier for heaven and earth
to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail. 18 “Everyone
who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries
one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.” - Jesus tells those gathered
together with him about the kingdom of God having been preached and everyone
forcing their way into it, however He says that not one stroke of a letter of
the Law is going to fail
2.1.
This verse poses a few
different challenges in interpretation.
2.2.
First of all though, the
context of this teaching by Jesus is still a public place where He is teaching
His disciples lessons to prepare them for that period of time when the church
is inaugurated, and we would assume because of the application of the Parable
Of The Rich Man And Lazarus which Jesus next teaches that there are some
Pharisees present hearing Him.
2.3.
Likewise, in this context
Jesus has most recently been teaching His disciples principles about
stewardship and financial responsibility, teaching them that a person could not
serve both God and mammon (riches). At
the conclusion of that teaching we saw also that the Pharisees had begun
scoffing at Jesus because they were lovers of money and Jesus had implied that
people would be wise to store up their treasures in the things that are eternal
not temporal. In reply to their
scoffing, Jesus had just told the Pharisees that they were those who justified
themselves in the sight of men however God knew their hearts.
2.4.
It is not surprising then
that Jesus now brings up the Law of Moses and the fact that not one ‘stroke
of a letter of the Law’ is going to fail.
When people’s hearts harden against the Lord the Law of Moses should be
used to bring conviction of sin. The
Law’s job is just that, to show us where we have done wrong, to draw a line in
the sand beyond which if anyone crosses that he has rebelled against that which
is holy and righteous and thereby provoked a holy and righteous God.
2.5.
In these verses, we see that
Jesus draws a distinction between that which is old covenant and that which is
new covenant, and that distinction is based upon the interval of time of the
preaching of John the Baptist. John was
the very last of the Old Testament prophets and prepared the way for the Lord
and the new covenant and therefore was a transitional character. Jesus says that before John the Baptist ‘The Law
and the Prophets were proclaimed,’ however since the time of John ‘the gospel of the
2.6.
Jesus states that not one ‘stroke’
of the Law will ever pass away, and a ‘stroke’ or a “title” was
that smallest and most insignificant curve, dot, or punctuation mark that was
written over a Hebrew or Greek letter in Jesus’ day. The Law of Moses will last as long as this
present heaven and earth last, and it shall not be modified to match the
inclinations or desires of any people.
As long as this present heaven and earth exist the Law shall exist.
2.7.
Jesus makes the intriguing
comment here that since the gospel of the kingdom had been being preached that
‘everyone is forcing his way into it.’ This phrase has been interpreted by some
people to mean several different things and I don’t really think that most of
the various ideas merit a long discussion, so I will just say what I believe is
the most likely meaning of the phrase. I
believe that most likely the phrasing in this translation of the passage is too
strong and that it really should be something like, “everyone is being
compelled to enter into it.” The
ones doing the compelling then are those who are preaching the gospel and doing
what Jesus taught in the Parable Of The Banquet Dinner, compelling all to come
in and to dine, or share in the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ.
2.7.1. In Matt. 11:12-13 there is a similar teaching by Jesus to this one
recorded by Luke however it really should stand on its own, “12 “From the
days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and
violent men take it by force. 13 “For all the prophets and the Law
prophesied until John.”
2.8.
Then, in relation to the good
news being preached and people being compelled to come to salvation in Christ,
Jesus states the fact that not one ‘stroke,’ or “title,” of a letter of
the Law shall pass away. I ask the
question of why if Jesus is declaring that the preaching of the gospel is
bringing people to salvation should He then be insisting upon the permanence of
the Law of Moses? Is Jesus advocating a
salvation that is based upon faith in Him plus works of the Law?
2.8.1. I say, “No, God forbid it!”
Salvation comes by “faith apart from the works of the Law,”
Romans 3:28.
2.8.2. The Law will
never go away though because it has a purpose, however the purpose of the Law
is to reveal people’s sinfulness to them in hopes of showing them their need of
a savior. In 1 Timothy 1:6-10, Paul instructs
Timothy about the fact that the Law has a purpose but its purpose is for use in
the life of anyone who chooses to be lawless and rebellious against the Lord, “6
For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless
discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do
not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make
confident assertions. 8 But we know that the Law is good, if one
uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a
righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly
and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or
mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and
kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound
teaching.”
2.8.3. Jesus appears to remind the Pharisees who had been scoffing at Him and
His teaching on stewardship, and the ones for whom Jesus said that they were
always justifying themselves in the sight of God and yet the Lord knew their
hearts, that not one of the smallest commandments of the Law is going to
dissipate and thus every time that they break God’s law they are revealing the
fact that they are sinful and in need of a savior for they cannot maintain a
righteous standing before the Lord based upon their works. Those of the Pharisees might come to believe
in Jesus however if they are to truly receive salvation they must come in
genuine brokenness and repentance realizing their need of a Savior in Jesus.
2.9.
Having stated perhaps for
the sake of the Pharisees with Him on this occasion that not one stroke of the
Law shall pass away, Jesus now invokes the Law by stating, ‘Everyone
who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one
who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.’ The Pharisees didn’t really
consider it wrong to divorce and remarry for any reason, however Jesus is now
revealing just how wrong this practice was.
There are several aspects in which we ought to consider in interpreting
this passage:
2.9.1. Jesus is saying in a nutshell that divorce leads to remarrying, and
remarrying is the committing of adultery.
2.9.2. This passage should not be
looked at in isolation but rather it should be looked at in conjunction with the
rest of what the scriptures teach concerning divorce and remarriage,
particularly the New Testament.
2.9.2.1. Though the
Lord commanded Moses that the people could divorce if they obtained a writ of
divorce, divorce was never part of God’s plan for mankind: Mark 10:3-9, “3 And He answered
and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses
permitted a man to write a
certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your
hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 “But from the
beginning of creation, God made
them male and female. 7 “For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, 8 and the two shall become one flesh; so
they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 “What therefore God has
joined together, let no man separate.””
2.9.2.2. Divorce is
permitted in the case in which your spouse has committed “fornication,”
which is any sex outside of monogamous marriage: Matthew 5:32, “32 But I say to
you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of
unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman
commits adultery;” Matthew 19:9, ”9
“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality,
and marries another woman commits adultery.””
2.9.2.3. Paul taught
that if you are a believer and your unbelieving spouse chooses to leave you
that you are no longer bound to them in marriage and that you can therefore
remarry, as long as you do so with a believer:
“1 Corinthians 7:12-15, “12 But to the rest I say, not the
Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to
live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has an
unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her
husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through
his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband;
for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 Yet
if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not
under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.”
2.10.
The issue for married believers is that they are not
given permission by the Lord to divorce a spouse unless they have a scriptural backing
for doing so, and, I believe that if a person has a scriptural backing for
getting a divorce that he/she is also now free to remarry. However, just because the Lord grants us
permission to get a divorce in this case, this doesn’t mean that we “should”
divorce or that it would be best for us to divorce. We ought to be careful to follow the leading
of the Lord in this area and not take permission granted to get a divorce as
license to take the throne of our life and do our own will in our life.
2.11.
The Pharisees must have known that this teaching was
aimed towards them, for they were those who divorced and remarried with no
thought that they were sinning against their wives and guilty before the Lord.
3. VS
16:19-31 - “19 “Now
there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen,
joyously living in splendor every day. 20 “And a poor man named
Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to
be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table;
besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 “Now
the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and
the rich man also died and was buried. 23 “In Hades he lifted up his
eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24
“And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my
tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25 “But Abraham said,
‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and
likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in
agony. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great
chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be
able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 “And
he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28
for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they
will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 “But he
said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will
repent!’ 31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and
the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’
””
- Jesus tells the story of two men who
died, a poor man named Lazarus who went to Abraham’s Bosom and was being
comforted, and a rich man who went to Hades where he was being tormented
3.1.
We saw in our last study how
that Jesus has been teaching His disciples about having an eternal perspective
and storing up riches in heaven rather than on earth, and also in being a good and
faithful steward of all of the things that the Lord brings into our life. Jesus taught about the importance of
financial stewardship, and we have looked at the fact that the love of money is
the root of all sorts of money. The
following stories show how that money corrupts people and that trying to store
up riches on this earth isn’t even going to bring earthly happiness:
In 1923 a group of the world’s most successful
financiers met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in
Collectively, these tycoons controlled more wealth
than there was in the
Twenty-seven years later, let’s see what happened to
them. (1) CHARLES SCHWAB—the president of the largest independent steel
company—lived on borrowed money the last five years of his life, and died
penniless. (2) ARTHUR CUTTEN—the greatest wheat speculator—died abroad
insolvent. (3) RICHARD WHITNEY—the president of the
All of these men had learned how to make money, but
not one of them had learned how to live.
A. Naismith has written, “Where is happiness found?
John D. Rockefeller, a Christian millionaire, said, “I have made many millions,
but they have brought me no happiness. I would barter them all for the days I
sat on an office stool in
W. H. Vanderbilt said, “The care of 200 million
dollars is too great a load for any brain or back to bear. It is enough to kill
anyone. There is no pleasure in it.”
John Jacob Astor left five million, but had been
martyr to dyspepsia and melancholy. He said, “I am the most miserable man on
earth.”
Henry Ford, the automobile king, said, “Work is the
only pleasure. It is only work that keeps me alive and makes life worth living.
I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.”
Andrew Carnegie, the multi-millionaire, said,
“Millionaires seldom smile.””
3.2.
In this teaching, Jesus gives somewhat of a
culmination of His teaching about living for the things that are eternal rather
than the things that are temporal. In
this story, Jesus brings out several important concepts, including:
3.2.1. How that
what we do in this life determines what the next life shall hold for us.
3.2.2. In the
afterlife people have real and intense emotional and physical sensations. When a person dies he will go on to live,
either in comforts and joys with God’s people or in a place of torments and
great suffering awaiting judgment and being sent to the
3.2.3. People in the afterlife do not experience “soul sleep” but instead are
fully conscious and, as mentioned, even have the ability to experience great
joys if they were God’s people in this life, or great torments if they were not
God’s people in this life.
3.2.4. The fact that when people die who aren’t God’s people they go to a
place of isolation and there they will regret the mistakes of their life that
caused them to end up in that place.
There won’t be big parties in hell as many people in our day like to
believe.
3.2.5. The destination where people go who die is irreversible.
3.2.6. People who have died and gone to Hades cannot come and go as they
please nor interact with the people of this world.
3.3.
Jesus referred to this place
called here “Abraham’s Bosom” in his dialog with one of the two thieves on the
cross, only He called the place “Paradise”
: Luke 23:43, “43 And He
said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””
3.4.
When Jesus died upon the cross, the New Testament
tells us that He went down into Hades and that He released those who were God’s
people in Abraham’s Bosom to go to be with the Lord in heaven:
3.4.1.
Ephesians 4:8-10, “8 Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now
this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also
had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended
is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might
fill all things.)”
3.4.2.
John 20:17, “17 Jesus said to her, “Stop
clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My
brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God
and your God.’ ””
3.5.
Since that crucifixion day
that Jesus’ released God’s people who were in Abraham’s Bosom so that they
could ascend up to heaven and be with God, it is the case now that when
believers die they go directly into the presence of Jesus: 2 Cor. 5:1-8, “1 For we
know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building
from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For
in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is
from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found
naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened,
not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be
swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very
thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So
we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and
to be present with the Lord.”
3.6.
There are also many ironies
in this story, including:
3.6.1. This is the only parable of Jesus in which a person’s name is given,
and it is not the name of the rich man (who surely was famous in his time) but
rather that of the poor man, ‘Lazarus.’
Lazarus’ name means, “Whom God helps.”
3.6.2. The station of the rich man and Lazarus are diametrically reversed
after death. The rich man is in want and
being tormented, however Lazarus the poor man in this life is filled with joy
and is being comforted.
3.7.
We are introduced first of
all to the rich man, and from the description of his life here we see that he
truly lived an extravagant lifestyle, for it says that he lived in a mansion
and, ‘habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously
living in splendor every day.’
3.7.1. Remember
3.7.2. Purple fabric was coveted and expensive and worn by the rich and
royalty.
3.8.
The rich man, though he remains
nameless, lived thinking only about himself and pleasing himself. He gave no thought to the poor and
unfortunate in society to whom by using
his wealth he could have ministered greatly.
He was not a good and faithful steward of the things God had given to
him.
3.9.
The Old Testament includes
numerous passages which teach that how that we as people are supposed to treat
the poor, including:
3.9.1. Deuteronomy
14:28-29, “28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out
all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your
town. 29 “The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among
you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come
and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord
your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”
3.9.2. Isaiah
3:14-15, “14 The Lord
enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, “It is you who
have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses. 15 “What
do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?” Declares
the Lord God of hosts.”
3.10.
This rich man was at least a “practical atheist” for
he acted as if he did not even believe there is a God. Warren Wiersbe quotes C.S. Lewis as once
being told about a gravestone inscription that had the following wording, “Here
lies an atheist—all dressed and no place to go.” Lewis quietly replied, “I bet he wishes that
were so!””
3.11.
In contrast to the life of the
rich man, Lazarus was a poor man and evidently crippled and couldn’t get
around, for it says that he ‘was laid’ at the gate, or door, of the rich
man’s house. Lazarus’ paralysis had
evidently led to him developing sores all over his body and made him unable to
escape dogs who were coming and licking his sores, the dog’s licking him had
probably caused his sores to become infected.
3.12.
Lazarus who was starving
longed to even be able to eat the crumbs that might fall off of the rich man’s
table, however the rich man totally ignored the needs of Lazarus and acted as
if the man didn’t exist at all.
Interestingly, the rich man let Lazarus lay at his door. Perhaps he felt that allowing this was his
contribution to this poor man for at least the man could beg when visitors came
and went from the rich man’s house.
3.13.
Jesus reveals to us here
that there was a place where people went when they died, it was Hades. Hades was separated into two different
compartments, one of comfort for God’s people in this life, called here
Abraham’s Bosom, and one of torments for those who were not God’s people in
this life who are awaiting judgment and being sent to eternal hell, the Lake of
Fire discussed in Revelation chapters 20-21.
3.14.
Lazarus dies and he is ‘carried
away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.’ In this place, Lazarus is enjoying peace and
comfort with all of God’s people from all prior eras of time.
3.15.
The rich man sees Lazarus
over in Abraham’s Bosom and prospering spending time with Abraham the
Patriarch, and he finally prays. He asks
Abraham to send over Lazarus so that he might even dip the tip of his finger in
water and bring it over to sooth and satisfy his thirst.
3.15.1.
The rich man’s request for
Lazarus to bring him water is denied since there is no reversal of a person’s
eternal state after he enters it. There
is a ‘fixed chasm’ and people cannot travel between Abraham’s Bosom and
the Place Of Torments.
3.15.2.
Plus, Abraham declares to
the rich man that he is where he is now because of the choices he made on
earth. The rich man refused to minister
to the poor and helpless, thus he received all of his ‘good things’
(rewards) in his earthly life so there is no more to give to him. Lazarus received bad things in his earthly
life however now he is receiving good things (rewards for his faithfulness as
one of God’s people).
3.15.2.1. Note here that it is not that the rich man had wealth that caused him
to come to the Pace Of Torments, rather this occurred because of how he used
his wealth, upon himself. Abraham was a
wealthy man yet he went to Abraham’s Bosom so wealth doesn’t disqualify anyone
from heaven. Neither is it the poverty
of Lazarus that gets him to Abraham’s Bosom, it rather occurred because of the
choices Lazarus made to serve the Lord during his earthly life.
3.16.
Note that the rich man’s
second request is that he asks that Abraham send Lazarus to his five brothers
since the rich man knows that they are making the same mistake as himself and
now as he is filled with regrets he does not want his brothers to end up where
he is.
3.17.
Note that the rich man does
not show concern for others outside his immediate family. Being in Hades does not refine a man and
bring a change of heart. Likewise, a
person does not go to The Place Of Torments in Hades to try to somehow atone
for his sins, rather there is no way to reverse things once a person goes
there.
3.18.
The rich man now argues with
Abraham and tells him that if someone returned to his brothers from the grave
that they might believe, repent of their sins, and become one of God’s
people. However, Abraham sets the rich
man straight for he tells him that if his brothers will not listen to the Law
and the prophets of the Old Testament that they will not believe though someone
resurrect from the dead.
3.18.1.
We Christians need to realize
that in order for a person to come to have saving faith in Christ that his
faith must be based upon something higher than some sign or wonder that he has
seen. True saving faith comes as a
result of our understanding the truth of the scripture. The scriptures themselves must be preached
and believed in order for salvation to come to a person.
3.18.2.
Darrell Boch writes the
following about signs and wonders and the need for the Word of God to convict
hearts to believe in Christ, “Plummer says, “Wonders may impress a worldy
mind for the moment; but only a will
freely submitting itself to moral control can avail to change the heart.” God is only impressed with a heartfelt
change, a change of conviction that the Word is capable of generating in a
receptive heart.”
3.18.3.
Jesus Christ did indeed
raise from the dead and yet many people have the evidence for Christ’s
resurrection explained to them and yet they are still not convinced to believe
in Christ. This rich man is deluded when
he thinks that if someone would raise from the dead that rebellious and sinful
people are going to repent and believe in Christ.
4. CONCLUSIONS:
4.1.
As we consider the lessons
of this study we need to consider the outcomes of two different lives that were
lived on this earth, that of the rich man and Lazarus. How could we be so foolish to receive our
reward here in this life by living for the things in this life, just to lose
our life in the world to come? Oh, the
folly of trusting in riches.
4.2.
We Christians have a
responsibility to respond to the needs of the poor and needy people around
us. We need to realize that the Lord
expects us to take care of those who are not able to take care of
themselves.
4.3.
We need to remember that the
wealth that we receive in this life is given to us to be good and faithful
stewards, and, the Lord expects us to use our wealth to be a blessing and a
witness to others of the love of God that He has placed in our hearts.