Luke 16:19-25
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously everyday. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou are tormented.
This is a beautiful story. I want you to think about the rich man for a moment. Think about how it would be to fare sumptuously everyday. The word sumptuously means this man received more money everyday then he knew what to do with. The sad part is, when he was in hell he knew about Lazarus. That means when he was alive on earth he knew about Lazarus and did nothing to help him, although he had more money then he knew what to do with.
We know this man was rich because he wore purple clothing. In those days in order to die material purple it cost a lot of money, and only Kings wore purple. Fine linen was also very expensive, so we know for a fact that this man was very, very rich.
On the other hand, Lazarus was very very poor. We know he was crippled, so he couldn't move around. When you can't move around, you can't get to the crumbs that the rich man throws out. And as the Bible says, he desired them. It doesn't say he always received them.
It also says his body was full of sores. We usually think he had sores on his skin, but if his body was full of sores, he must have had sores inside of his body also, which means he was in much pain.
Here we have a very rich man with more money then he knows what to do with, and is very selfish. And, we have a very poor man, who not only has no money, but has no health, and no way he of earning money. That's why he was a beggar.
In verse 22 of the story, the Bible says that Lazarus died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
This needs to be explained. Before Jesus came to earth, when a Christian died they didn't go to what we know as heaven. They went to a place near the center of the earth, waiting until Jesus died on the cross and set them free. During this time the people who had trusted him as their savior were on one side of this place, and people who had not trusted him as their savior were on the opposite side. And they could see each other, but they could not cross over. I know this is hard to believe, but is everything in the Bible easy to believe?
In verse 23 the Bible says that the rich man died and went to hell. It also points out that he was in torments, plural. We don't know what kind of torments he was in, but there was more than one.
At this point, in verse 24, the Bible says that the rich man cried for mercy. You see, when he was on earth and had lots of money, he had no need for mercy from anyone. He had no worries, no cares. Many people today are that way. If we are not careful as Christians we can be that way. Have you ever done something without asking God or talking to God about it? That's what the rich man did all of his life. Now he's in hell, and knows the truth, but it's too late.
One interesting part of the verse is where Abraham calls him, "Son." From this we can guess that this man was probably Jewish but had never needed to consider that when he was alive because he trusted in his money, and his riches. He didn't feel like he needed anyone's help.
Now he needs help, and who is he asking for help from? Lazarus. But Lazarus can't help him, even if he wanted to because it's now too late. It's interesting that the rich man could have asked Lazarus for help before the rich man and Lazarus died. Can't you just see the rich man standing out by his gate asking Lazarus for help? How embarrassing that would have been. But now, the rich man is no longer embarrassed to ask for help from Lazarus.
Isn't it interesting how different things are going to be someday in heaven?
The Bible also says that Lazarus was "comforted." Think of the times when you have been comforted by Mom, or Grandma. Remember how nice it felt when they were talking you into bed, or when they were giving you your favorite treat?
Think of Lazarus, who had never walked, never had a good meal, never been comforted by anyone. Think of him now in heaven.
Remember one more thing: Lazarus is still in heaven, and still being comforted. And the rich man is still in hell and still in torments. Remember that next week.
The lesson to remember here, is that there are times when we don't feel like we needed anyone's help. That's how the rich man felt. And it's okay to be rich. But we all need to remember, whether we are rich, or poor, that we will die someday. We need to do as Lazarus did, and consider ourselves poor and needy and God's eyes.
It was obviously not easy for the rich man to bend his knees and ask for mercy while he was alive. But once he knew the truth about hell, bending his knees became very easy, and asking for mercy was not a problem.
If you have a problem asking God for mercy, and asking Jesus for mercy, you're no different than the rest of us. You're no different than the rich man. By our nature as human beings it's not easy to ask for mercy while we're alive on this earth. But this is where we must ask for mercy if we want to see Lazarus being comforted someday, and not have to see the rich man being tormented.