Luke 16:19-31

[Lonewolf]

The Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus

Can somebody break it down for me, explain it please?

Youtube Video Link ~> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ia4BlmYjbQ

[PaulSacramento]

Here it is:
The Rich Man and Lazarus
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.’”

Now, you have to ask yourself first, when YOU read it, what does it mean to YOU?

[Lonewolf]

..Now, you have to ask yourself first, when YOU read it, what does it mean to YOU?

Well Paul, it doesn't read to me as it first did when I was young in the faith, and everywhere I read, I read according to what everyone else around me believed, that is ~> as a story of heaven and hell where the poor man goes to heaven, and the rich man goes to hell., it just doesn't read to me that way no more., it is a parable said to us in order to convey a message, but not necessarily one where those in paradise (heaven) can talk to those in hades (hell)., for how could that be so? Thus it can not be about heaven and hell, it can however be about justice, mercy, arrogance in one's heart, erroneous lineage, so on and so on., but to say that it is a simplified vision of heaven and hell, then no, that's not what pops out at me anymore., having said that, it is a parable, and parables sometimes are not that clear to someone, for although i may have eyes and ears to see and hear, in my own mundane self and heart hardening, i may not be so blessed as to see and hear the message, thus i ask from you to please explain., for i have read and listened to various interpretations, and i'm still hungry for understanding ~> on the subject.

Thank you.

[PaulSacramento]

You have realized a key thing about scripture, that it will speak to you in different ways during different times in your life.
And rightly so.
Everyone that reads that parable will get something out of it, at one point what I got was how close heaven and hell are, so close you can almost touch it BUT how WORLDS apart they are, know what I mean?
Sometimes I read that and what resonates is the end, how the rich man's relatives won't get it even if the dead speak to them.
A very valuable lesson when you think about it.
Other times it is the important lesson of take care of those that can't care for themselves.

[melanie]

I like this parable. We know of the parable when Jesus's says it harder for a rich man to go to heaven than for a camel to fit through an eye of a needle. So if we are rich, have money, it's impossible to enter into our Fathers Kingdom? We must be poor to have spiritual freedom? I think this piece of scripture reflects Jesus's words 'the last will be first and first will be last'. The man in this parable is quite obviously very rich and Lazarus extremely poor, a begger, a low-life and not a well man. To be in Abraham's bosom means that Lazarus is seated at a place of honour with Abraham at his right hand at the table in the banquet of the 'next world', no longer scrambling for crumbs that fall off the table. Jesus is talking about the Pharisees. People who know the news of The Lord. You can have wealth but your wealth cannot outshine your mercy and compassion for those less fortunate than you. It means more than to pull out your cheque book and write dollars for a missionary somewhere. It means when you walk past a person desolate, asking for money on the street that you do not walk past them with your nose in the air, looking down on them, mocking, or asking 'what have they done with their life' or 'why do they need a handout'. Does it matter? Does it really matter if they have drunk away their last government handout, or squandered what money they had at the race track? Would we embrace them anyway? Buy them lunch? Not worry about their smelly clothes and bad odour but engage and help them anyway. Treat them as our equal. Life may have dealt them some hard blows and perhaps they have dealt themselves the hardest, bringing a lot upon themselves, but are we any better in our arrogance, and superiority? God doesn't love us any more or less. Perhaps our inclination to place ourselves above another person in worldly and spiritual terms in actual fact places us much lower!
Even in the rich mans anguish he would order Lazarus through Abraham to quench him of his thirst. To be brought back to life to warn his family. I think of Jesus, He was raised from the dead, prophesied in the Old Testament but yet they would still not believe. Proof isn't needed but instead a good heart, a kind heart. A heart that reflects Jesus.
Edit: I think that the rich man is speaking to Abraham from hades is for the sake of the parable and not a representation of heaven/hell, but it does represent that you cannot pass from one into the other once our judgment has been passed.

[B. W.]

One thing about Jesus, he speaks truth and truth is contained in the parables he used. Since truth, he gives the best illustration of the concept of the afterlife in the first century and first person perspective and from that truth competes the message he conveys...