Part 13 - What about the ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’?

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Life, Death, and Eternal Life.

Some Christians feel that in this story Jesus was offering His hearers a glimpse of what existence in the afterlife is like. Others, citing numerous passages of Scripture that seem to contradict the portrayal of heaven and hell contained in this passage, feel that Jesus was teaching an altogether different kind of lesson - a rebuke for the Pharisees. Unfortunately, many religious teachers have isolated the story from its original context and used it for scaring people with eternal torment for the lost dead. In this study, we’ll take a closer look at just what a parable really is, and examine the setting in which Jesus told this story. Then we will better understand what lessons there are in the story of the rich man and Lazarus and that it is really a parody’ … being an exaggerated story to include the Pharisees nonbiblical traditions and make mockery of them. Jesus had rebuke them more than once for their traditions that negated the truth of God.As nouns the difference between parody and parable is that parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony while parable is a short narrative illustrating a lesson (usually religious/moral) by comparison or analogy.

Unfortunately, many religious teachers have isolated Jesus’ story of ‘the rich man and Lazarus’ from its context and use it to scare people with the supposed ‘eternal torment’ that is due for unbelievers. In this study, we’ll take a closer look at just what a parable really is, and examine the setting in which Jesus told this story. Then we will better understand what lessons there are in the story of ‘the rich man and Lazarus.’

Note that the Pharisees were listening to Jesus (Luke 15:1-2). The ‘The rich man and Lazarus’ should be seen in the context of the two preceding parables; 1) the lost sheep, and 2) the prodigal son of a rich man, as the theme of Jesus teaching concerning ‘humility.’ In these we see that Jesus clearly valued rich and poor alike in offering salvation to all the humbled lost souls. The Lord proceeded to contrast His ‘grace to the humble versus the monetary view of the Pharisees by presenting the story of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus.

Luke 16:19 through Luke 16:31 (KJV):

19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

 22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into ‘Abraham’s bosom’:

the rich man also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he (the rich man) lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24And he (the rich man) cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27Then he (the rich man) said, I pray thee therefore, father (Abraham), that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  30And he (rich man) said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

In the Bible, this one story has been the core basis of misunderstanding for traditional religious people for centuries. The Catholic church used it to extort money from the people to build St Peter’s Cathedral. My study series "Life, Death and Eternal Life" explains several commonly misapplied and misinterpreted Bible verses that seem to support the false pagan idea 'eternal suffering of the lost.'

Religion’s view of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’ can be seen for the fallacy that it is as commonly applied. Most call this story a parable that they say clearly describes “eternal torment for lost souls in hell” as seen for the lost ‘rich man,’ while the humble Lazarus is saved and “comforted” for eternity.

Yet, any serious Bible student would have to admit that this story contradicts the core of the truths of the balance of Scripture. We as believers in “the word of God” should know that we are not to make doctrine from the Bibles parables or stories that are unsupported by the balance of Scripture. Parables properly open our understanding as a picture to demonstrate Bible truth, but by its Bible contradictions, ‘the Rich Man and Lazarus’ only confuses our understanding, so we must come to a better understanding of it.

Of course, we as students of the Bible, should all know the fact is that our doctrine for this age of the pure grace gospel for the members of “the church which is the body of Christ” comes from the clear teachings of Paul, “the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13) in his epistles, to be seen in the light of the Bible’s whole context, not from any parables.

Is the story of “The Rich Man and Lazarus” - a Parable?  Consider this commentary concerning parables.

"This parable is not like Christ’s other parables, in which spiritual things are represented by similitudes borrowed from worldly things. " Matthew Henry’s Commentary (unabridged) volume 5, page 757

"We define or describe a parable thus: a parable is a similitude or comparison, by which some certain affair or thing is feigned, and told, as if it were really transacted, and is compared with some ‘spiritual thing,’ or is accommodated to signify it.” (“See Luke 16:19, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus”) From Benjamin Keach, Preaching from the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, page 239.)

Now, let’s do a simple comparison with another parable found in the previous chapter, ‘the prodigal son.’ The account of ‘the prodigal son’ is seen by all as a parable that conveys rich truth, unlike ‘the rich man and Lazarus.’ Both parables do have certain characters as metaphors for the self-righteous Pharisees:

  • In ‘The Prodigal Son’ parable we have the boy’s father as God; but in this parable, ‘Father Abraham.’
  • Then, we note two individuals representing the Pharisees in each parable: the elder son in the Prodigal and ‘the rich man’ in the other.
  • Third, the Prodigal the son is in want, perishing with hunger, while the other parable presents a beggar, perishing with hunger.
  • Fourth, the Prodigal, whom the father declares to have been dead is returned unto him and is now alive: he is comforted at the father’s house. In the other parable, Lazarus, the beggar, is declared dead, but he is very much alive in the so-called ‘Abraham’s bosom.’

Note that the “rich man” is very pious as are the Pharisees he represents: he considers Abraham as his father; that he is the “Son of Abraham”! The rich man cries out: “Father Abraham” and Abraham addresses him as “Son!" Thus, satire is used by our Lord in this parable because the fact is that Abraham is dead and buried (Gen 49:31) in a grave where, we know, “the dead know nothing” (cf. Eccl. 9:5).

Note also that just prior to teaching the parable of ‘the rich man and Lazarus,’ Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their love of mammon (money). The scripture makes known their covetousness. The Lord exposes them as “they which justify yourselves before men. . .God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) This line of thought simply continues in v19 with“There was a certain rich man…”

Note that in John eight the Pharisees, as on other occasions, boasted that Abraham is their father; to which Jesus replied, If ye (the Pharisees) were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham… Ye are of your father the Devil.” (John 8:44) In light of this, Jesus uses the terms, Father Abraham, and Son, relating the Pharisees as sons of Abraham in the flesh, that is ‘racially.’ They were not sons of Abraham in Abraham’s Faith. Then note that the rich man’s cry was to Abraham; not to “the God of Abraham!

Thus, the Lod paints a picture for the Pharisees, using satire; making a mockery of those ‘religious leaders,’ the ‘children of Abraham in the flesh!’ Jesus called the Pharisees a “generation of vipers.”

“But when he (Jesus) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7)

Here in ‘the rich man and Lazarus’ He uses their own false teachings against them. Jesus’ story of ‘rich man and Lazarus’ story then pictures “hades” as Hell, as a place of torment, applying it to both the self-righteous Pharisees and the awful Rich Man. (Actually ‘hades’ is Biblically defined as the temporary abode of “the grave” where the dead ‘sleep’). Yet, most Christians think no study of “hades” as a place of torment would be complete without addressing Jesus’ parable “The Rich Man and Lazarus.” They use the ‘parable’ as the very foundation of the traditional erroneous religious view of an ‘eternal fiery torment’ for wicked or lost souls. But the rich man is seen as “rich,’ not evil. With the Pharisee it was all about money. But Christendom rest its misinterpretation of the lake of fire on this one story. Most of Christendom today will use this parable of Jesus’ as proof of an everlasting punishment awaiting the wicked lost.

Jesus’s teaching is actually a critique of the Pharisees, as recorded in Luke chapters 14-16. Luke 15:1-2 Then drew near unto him (Jesus) all the publicans and sinners for to hear him (Jesus). 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man (Jesus) receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

As background, the greedy Pharisees viewed earthly wealth as a sign of God’s favor on them. So, when Jesus told the story about The Rich Man” Going to Hell, while The Beggar Found Comfort in Heaven, Jesus was directly Attacking the Significance and Value the Pharisees Had Put on Their “Wealthas evidence of their virtue as supposed ‘sons of Abraham.’  Abraham’s Bosom is not used anywhere else in Scripture.

In Jesus using the language of the Pharisees, speaking of “Abraham’s Bosom,” the Pharisees knew exactly what Jesus meant. The Pharisee’s had their own nuanced teachings adding to “the Law,” about wealth as a sign of God’s favor for the pious as ‘sons of Abraham.’ The Pharisees’ motivation for their teachings was to increase their wealth and their power by exploiting the people, while misrepresenting God’s true message for Israel. By this story, Jesus is continually highlighting the unscriptural teachings of the Pharisees. Jesus’ introductory words expose the story as a mocking of the greed’ of the Pharisees. Christ was engaged in a pointed dialog with the Pharisees about their false teachings, self-righteousness, and greed.

9And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 13No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:9, 11, 13)

Jesus made the Pharisees teachings to be seen as self-serving and foolish. See if you can find the many unscriptural items mentioned here in this story of “the rich man and Lazarus,” which contradict truth that is revealed in the balance of the word of God, in context. The facts below reveal Jesus’ words of “the rich man and Lazarus” as contemptuous of the Pharisees. The” rich man and Lazarus,” is NOT to convey Bible truth for us concerning that which follows death for the lost nor for the righteous in Christ.

Consider here below how this story is presented in contrast to revealed Biblical facts of truth.

  1. First, we know Abraham, though faithful, was just a man like any other. This is the ONLY mention of “Abraham’s bosom” in the whole Bible. “Abraham’s bosom” was a creation of the teachings of the Pharisees, just as preachers today create unbiblical myths. Jesus here is simply using the language of the Pharisee’s false teaching to expose them.
  2. Notice that the appeal of “the rich man” was to “father Abraham” (v24), not “the God of Abraham.”
  3. We know that Abraham is dead and asleep in the cave of his grave with Sara. “And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.” (Gen. 23:19) Abraham was then and is now hardly able to speak to “the rich man.”
  4. Then, the fictional “fixed gulf” of the ‘story,’ between heaven and hell, is apparently not so fixed as to prevent communication between them, according to this ‘story.’
  5. If the wicked could already be in the “flames” of a hell (which actually is but “the grave”). This cannot be, for they would have to have been pre-judged before “the Great White Throne” Judgment, so of course this is not so.
  6. And the “flames” portrayed as in hell are said to be so weak that those in hell can carry on normal conversation and expect only a drop of water to soothe them! This is hardly a picture of torment. Actually, in hell (Gk. hades, “the grave”) there is ‘no consciousness(cf. Eccl 9:6-7) and there is no “flame” while men “sleep” in “the grave.” The Bible clearly tells us, while dead men sleep in “the grave” ... “the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5)
  7. This story gives dead Israelites… living bodies and consciousness while asleep in “the grave even before Christ’s 2nd coming to awaken the righteous dead of Israel in the 1st resurrection (Rev. 20:6).
    1. Eccl. 9:6-7 (the dead) their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
    2. Eccl. 9:10 for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in ‘the grave,’ whither thou goest.
  8. That the dead can converse with each other is not scriptural. Ecclesiastes says the dead no nothing and do not speak, hear or perceive. (Eccl. 9:5-6, 10; Job 14:12, 21)
  9. In their ministries, both Jesus of Nazareth’s to Israel, and Paul words to the Gentile “body of Christ” were God’s truth tellers (cf. Jn. 1:14, Rom 9:1), both were opposed by the Pharisees. So why would we take the false ideas and teachings of the Pharisees as doctrine for believers of this or any age?
  10. Finally, the Bible says plainly that the righteous of the O.T will awaken from “the grave (hades)” to be resurrected in the “1st resurrection” (Rev. 20:6), to receive new glorious bodies at Christ’s 2nd coming.

Paul clearly says the dead who are “sleep in Jesus,” and the living grace believing members of “the body of Christ” this age of grace will be Raptured in their glorious spirit-bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-52, 1Thes. 4:13-18).

The revealed truth from the balance of Scripture is that the lost wicked will be resurrected from the dead in a 2nd resurrection, to occur about thousand years “the 1st resurrection,” then to be judged at “the Great White Throne” (Rev. 20:5-6), and then go to their “eternal destruction (2Thes 1:9) in “the lake of fire.”

Jesus’ story of ‘the rich man and Lazarus’ contradicts so many of the plain words of the Bible. In the light of all this, it seems clear that the story cannot be a parable or literal, it clearly appears be a story to expose and mock the Pharisees false preaching and their corrupt motives. Jesus used it to make fools out of the Pharisees by using their own false teachings and values in this story.

The Pharisees believed and taught many things that were not according to the Scriptures. Among them was that Jews, upon death, would go to “Abraham’s bosom” to live in “Paradise.” Contradicting Scripture, this is not true. This version of the belief in immortal souls in torment is not scriptural, having its roots in the kingdom of Babylon. Many of the doctrines of the ancient pagan religions were mingled by the Pharisees with the true teachings of God. The erroneous idea of eternal torment was not universally accepted by the Jewish people. The Sadducees, disbelieved in any resurrection at all. Therefore, because Christ was speaking specifically to the Pharisees, He used their own language to emphasize His point.

The two preceding parables to ‘the rich man’ tell us God values the rich and poor alike, offering salvation to all humbled lost souls alike. The Pharisees sought to extort money from the people; erroneously teaching that if a man were rich, he would be condemned to a fiery torment, while a man poor man, especially if he gave his money to the religious Pharisees, would enter into a Paradise in Abraham’s Bosom.”

Note the Pharisee’s emphasis was on ‘money, rich and poor,’ instead of salvation offered to Israel and obtained by extension of God’s love by grace through faith as expressed by obeying “the Mosaic Law” with its sacrifices. The Pharisees’ doctrine taught that entry into eternal life or eternal punishment is based on wealth. Nowhere in the parable does it say that the Rich Man was ‘evil’ or that Lazarus was ‘good,’ only that … one was rich and one was poor… emphasizing money!

Jesus was using this sardonic story to illustrate the untrue, self-interested, teachings of the Pharisees. The parables of Luke 14 to the end of chapter 16 set forth a direct chastisement of the Pharisees and their false, self-righteous teachings and greed. Jesus uses the Pharisees false teachings and their corrupt teaching against them, making an open mockery of their corrupt teachings.

So, any attempt to frame a doctrine of hell as the place everlasting torment of souls based upon this story is to overlook all of its obvious contradictions it has with the rest of Scripture, which clearly tells us over and over that all the dead “sleep” in “the grave,” whether righteous or wicked, all await their respective resurrections.

The Biblical facts are that while “asleep” in “the grave” people do not hurt, do not speak, and are not conscious, and know nothinguntil they are resurrected to their just reward (Eccl 9:5-6; 12:6-7, Rev 20:5-6).

The destiny of the dead is either;

  • Rapture to reign in heaven - for the believing members of “the church, the body of Christ,”
  • Or, to reign on earth - for the OT believing saints, in the Millennial kingdom to come on earth;
  • Or, the lost will resurrect to “stand” at the “Great White Throne Judgment” where it is determined that their “spirit will return to the Lord who gave it” (Eccl 12:7) and their then lifeless bodies will be utterly destroyed, cremated in “the lake of fire,” burnt to ashes!

I encourage all to read Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and Lazarus as a whole, in context, and in the light of revealed Bible truth, to come to your own conclusions.