Submitted by Pastor Reggie Koop, Watson Baptist Church

There are many people who do not want to talk about Heaven and Hell. But these are real places. Here we have another parable by Jesus. A question may arise here at the beginning: are we too busy with our personal concerns to notice the Lazarus in our midst? This parable has two points: the first has to do with “the reversal of fortunes of this life in the hereafter.” The second is that “even the return of a messenger from the dead will not bring about reform among the obdurate rich”.

There are many places in the Bible that tell us about Heaven and Hell. In Luke 16:19-31 we see two people who are dealing with Heaven and Hell. A rich man clothed in purple and a man named Lazarus who is covered with sores. Lazarus sat at the gate of the rich man and longed for the food scraps from the rich man’s table. How do you think Lazarus felt to be so poor while seeing such wealth being only a gate length away from the rich man’s world? Even today, wealth and poverty often co-exist in many places in our society. 

Remember the prodigal son? He longed to eat the slop that he was feeding the pigs. Here Lazarus is hungry – longing for the scraps from the rich man’s table. At banquets, people wipe grease from their hands onto a piece of bread and then throw the bread on the floor. To long for such soiled bread is the height of misery – of degradation. When was the last time you needed a bite to eat, or a warm shelter, or a tank of gas, or a kind word, and nobody gave you anything? Many of us, like the rich man in this parable, have never had such an experience. However, millions, like Lazarus, daily suffer intense want, adding to Lazarus’ misery! The only creatures that notice him are dogs who lick his sores. 

Lazarus dies but no mention is made of burial. In that culture, people considered a proper burial to be very important. Not to receive a proper burial would be the final indignity for a life filled with indignity. The rich man dies and is buried, probably with great celebration. Now we see the great reversal that we talked about before. The poor man “was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” in heaven, but the rich man was in hell. It’s kind of ironic; Lazarus once coveted the scraps from the rich man’s table. Now the rich man covets a drop of water from Lazarus’ finger. This parable is a warning. “Christ is somehow waiting for us there in poor Lazarus” (Wallace, 156). We need to ask ourselves if we are willing to see Lazarus in our midst. 

Remember, we are to be good stewards of what God has given us. We need to ask ourselves what we have done lately to provide food, clothing, shelter, and human kindness to the Lazarus in our midst.