An Excerpt From: ‘The Real Meaning of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’ by Arthur J Licursi

See this all at: http://www.artlicursi.com/articles/real-meaning-%E2%80%98-rich-man-and-lazarus%E2%80%99 

¹⁹   There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: ²⁰  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, ²¹  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² And 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; ²³ And in hell [Gk. gehenna, lake of fire] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴ And he 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.

²⁵ But Abraham [who is dead and in his grave somehow is able to speak while dead in the grave, cf.  Gen. 25:9, 23:19] said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. ²⁶ And 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.

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

 ²⁹ Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. ³⁰ And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. ³¹ And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:19-31 (KJV)

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), enriching themselves. The scripture makes known the covetousness of the Pharisees. 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 is the line of thought that is carried on into v19 that begins the story with “There was a certain rich man…”

Now recall that in John 8 the Pharisees, as on other occasions, boasted of Abraham as 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, ‘racially’ only. They were not sons of Abraham in Abraham’s Faith. Then note that the rich man’s cry was unto Abraham; not to “the God of Abraham”!

Thus, the Lord Jesus paints a picture for the corrupt Pharisees, by using satire; making a mockery of these ‘religious leaders’ of Israel, the ‘children of Abraham in the flesh!’ Jesus had called these 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)

What of the torment of the rich man in flames?

• Here in ‘the rich man and Lazarus’ Jesus uses the Pharisees own false teachings against them. Jesus’ story of ‘rich man and Lazarus’ pictures “hades” (Hell), as a place of torment, applying it to both the self-righteous Pharisees and the fictitious Rich Man. (Actually “hell” or ‘hades’ in Greek, 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 foundation of the traditional erroneous religious view of an ‘eternal fiery torment’ for the lost souls. Actually, the “rich man” is seen as “rich,’ not necessarily evil. With the Pharisees it was all about money. But Christendom rest its misinterpretation of “the lake of fire” as a place of torment on this one story. It will be that place of torment “for the Devil and his angels” for whom Jesus said it was created (cf. Matt. 25:41). Yet, most of Christendom today uses this parable of Jesus as proof of an everlasting punishment awaiting the wicked lost.

Actually, Jesus’s teaching here is a continuation of His conflict with and 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, elitist, Pharisees viewed their earthly wealth as a sign of ‘God’s ‘favor upon them.’ Jeremiah noted the corrupt leaders in his day. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jeremiah 5:31 (KJV)

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 misplaced Value the Pharisees Had Put on Their “Wealth” as evidence of their virtue as supposed ‘sons of Abraham.’  Note that the term “Abraham’s Bosom” is not used anywhere else in Scripture.

In Jesus using the unbiblical language of the Pharisees in the story, 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.

With 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 here 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 [money] 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 used the fictional story of ‘the Rich man and Lazarus’ to expose the corrupt teachings of the Pharisees 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,” (above) which contradict revealed truth in the balance of “the word of God,” in context. The facts below reveal Jesus’ words of the story of “the rich man and Lazarus” as disdainful of the Pharisees. The ‘rich man and Lazarus,’ is NOT to convey Bible truth for us concerning that which follows death of the lost nor of the righteous “in Christ.”

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

1. First, we know Abraham, though faithful, was just a man like any other. Yet we have the ONE and ONLY mention of “Abraham’s bosom” in the whole Bible.

Actually, the idea of “Abraham’s bosom” was a creation of the teachings of the Pharisees, making it tradition. This is much like 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 to “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) “And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;” (Genesis 25:9)

Being dead and buried, Abraham was then and is now hardly able to speak or respond to “the rich man’s” cry to him.

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. The wicked to this day are dead and in “the grave,” they could not be in the “flames” of “the lake of fire.”

Also, this cannot be, for the lost would have to already 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-fire are said to be so weak that those in the flames can carry on normal conversation and expect only a drop of water would 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” ... and that “the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5)
7. This story apparently gives dead Israelites… living bodies that can feel flames and consciousness while ASLEEP in “the grave” even before the Great White Throne Judgment, unto which all ‘the lost’ will appear at the end of the Millennium. The facts of Scripture earlier and below contradict this story.
   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. Amazingly, that the dead here are seen to be able to converse with each other is “not scriptural’. Ecclesiastes clearly tells us the dead no nothing and do not speak, hear or perceive. (Eccl. 9:5-6, 10; Job 14:12, 21)
9. In their ministries on earth, 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 Violently 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 “1^st resurrection” (cf. Rev. 20:6), to receive new glorious spirit-bodies at Christ’s 2^nd coming.