THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

131A MAN CONSUMED WITH WEALTHThe Parable of the Rich Man and LazarusLuke 16:19-31"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced evenif someone rises from the dead." (16:31)Characteristically, Jesus conveys spiritual truth by means of a parable. But is the story ofthe Rich Man and Lazarus a parable?IS IT REALLY A PARABLE?A parable is a story intended to convey a spiritual truth in such a way that it enableshearers to imagine the situation. The story doesn't have to be about real people or even realsituations (such as a camel passing through the eye of a needle). But to achieve its teaching goal,a parable must make a primary point and be memorable so that as the story is retold andremembered, the spiritual truth is reinforced again and again.Some question whether this story is a parable since no other parable includes any namesand the portrayal of heaven presented by the word pictures in the Book of Revelation seemsmuch different than the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. We must keep in mind that parablesdon’t have to be factual to be true. Jesus is not trying to teach His disciples the details of theafter-life in this parable. In all likelihood He is using a popular story genre to make a spiritualpoint. Therefore this story seems to qualify as a parable.Many scholars believe that Jesus is drawing upon a popular Jewish folk tale that hadroots in Egypt about a rich man and poor man whose lots after death are completely reversed.INTRODUCTIONThis parable follows on the heels of The Parable of the Unjust Steward in which Jesusspoke about wealth and taught that we cannot serve both God and money. Because the Phariseeswere lovers of money (16:14), they scoffed at Jesus for such a teaching. Therefore Jesuscondemns the wrongful love of money in the Pharisees who thought that riches weresynonymous with righteousness and tells them another parable about trusting in money. He evenbegins it the same way he began the last parable with the phrase, “There was a rich man . . .”