Parable about the rich man and poor man?

Question

There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angles to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'" (Luke 16:19-26)

In this parable, the sudden reversal of roles and expectations so characteristic of Jesus' teaching is once again manifested. Two extreme situations are juxtaposed. A rich man dressed in purple, symbol of the upper classes and power, feasted not just well, but sumptuously--and not just on feast days, but every day. At the gate to his estate lay Lazarus the beggar. In the popular mindset of the time beggars were considered responsible for their miserable plight. Poverty was looked upon as a punishment for sin and for that reason, the hearer would be thinking, "It's his own fault."

Lazarus dies and is carried by angels to Abraham's bosom, symbol of the fulfillment of all the promises made by God to Israel. The rich man also dies and is buried in Hades. In Jewish religious literature, prior to this time, there is no mention of a chasm between the just and the unjust that extends beyond the grave. This is a new note that the parable here introduces. Abraham responds to the rich man's plea by pointing out that he had enjoyed every good thing during his earthly life and now is in torment, while the poor man had experienced just the opposite.

The kingdom of God in Jesus' preaching presupposes solidarity with the community and its needs. In this light we begin to see what was wrong with this rich man's behavior. No particular misdeeds of his are listed. The parable indicates that it was not his wealth that was the cause of his undoing but his use of it. He failed to share with the community the abundance that God had given him. Such is the true purpose of the blessings of wealth. Thus this parable inveighs against the sin of indifference that fails to share one's abundance with those in need. It does so by juxtaposing the rich man's private enjoyment of his great abundance with the extreme want of the beggar for whom no practical concern was offered.

The sin of the rich man could not have been his wealth as such, since Abraham too was a rich man and found favor with God as the book of Genesis attests. The rich man's fate suggests that his sin was his failure to pass through the gate of his estate and to respond to the desperate need of the beggar. The parable attacks the complacency of our divisions between rich and poor, the socially acceptable and the socially outcast. The gate symbolizes the grace that enables us to love our neighbor--everyone--as ourselves. The rich man stayed in his enclosure. His failure to go through the gate and to enter into solidarity with the one in need was the particular cause of his undoing.

Gates can be barriers or passageways into solidarity with others. In whatever way the rich man obtained his goods, whether through junk bonds or other means of getting rich quick, he failed to pass through the gate of his private interests and concerns to identify with someone whose situation was desperate and whom he could easily have helped. In the next life things will be reversed. If the rich man had gone through the gate to reach out to the beggar and had not simply used it as a barrier to protect himself and his property, his fate would have been quite different. God does not set up barrier. We do. Our relationship to our local community and to the human family as a whole determines whether we are in the kingdom or out of it, both now and in the next life.

Do you remember to give others

Answer 1

I know this story well and it is a good thing for us all to be aware of so that we don't forget to share and that we have compassion on the poor and needy. Thank you for posting this.

Answer 2

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

Is the account, at Luke 16:19-31, literal or merely an illustration of something else? The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote, acknowledges that it is a “parable in story form without reference to any historical personage.” If taken literally, it would mean that those enjoying divine favor could all fit at the bosom of one man, Abraham; that the water on one’s fingertip would not be evaporated by the fire of Hades; that a mere drop of water would bring relief to one suffering there. Does that sound reasonable to you? If it were literal, it would conflict with other parts of the Bible. If the Bible were thus contradictory, would a lover of truth use it as a basis for his faith? But the Bible does not contradict itself.

What, then, did Jesus mean when he said in one of his illustrations: “The beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell (Hades) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom”? (Luke 16:19-31, King James Version) Hades refers to mankind’s grave, and not to a place of torment, it is plain that Jesus was here telling an illustration or a story. As further evidence that this is not a literal account but is an illustration, consider this: Is hell literally within speaking distance of heaven so that such a real conversation could be carried on? Moreover, if the rich man were in a literal burning lake, how could Abraham send Lazarus to cool his tongue with just a drop of water on the tip of his finger? What, then, was Jesus illustrating?

The rich man in the illustration stood for the self-important religious leaders who rejected Jesus and later killed him. Lazarus pictured the common people who accepted God’s Son. The death of the rich man and of Lazarus represented a change in their condition. This change took place when Jesus fed the neglected Lazarus-like people spiritually, so that they thus came into the favor of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God. At the same time, the false religious leaders “died” with respect to having God’s favor. Being cast off, they suffered torments when Christ’s followers exposed their evil works. (Acts 7:51-57) So this illustration does not teach that some dead persons are tormented in a literal fiery hell.

What does the parable mean? The “rich man” represented the Pharisees. (See verse 14.) The beggar Lazarus represented the common Jewish people who were despised by the Pharisees but who repented and became followers of Jesus. Their deaths were also symbolic, representing a change in circumstances. Thus, the formerly despised ones came into a position of divine favor, and the formerly seemingly favored ones were rejected by God, while being tormented by the judgment messages delivered by the ones whom they had despised

The context and the wording of the story show clearly that it is a parable and not an actual historical account. Poverty is not being extolled, nor are riches being condemned. Rather, conduct, final rewards, and a reversal in the spiritual status, or condition, of those represented by Lazarus and by the rich man are evidently indicated. The fact that the rich man’s brothers rejected Moses and the prophets also shows that the illustration had a deeper meaning and purpose than that of contrasting poverty and the possession of riches.

Answer 3

There is a parable in the bible, in which a rich man gives loads of money, and a widow gives two peices of silver, and Jesus said that the widow gave more, because that was all the widow had.

Answer 4

Great job, Foxy! God Bless You!

Answer 5

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Two things

1. It shows that there is no purgatory, unlike what the roman catholic institution teaches

2. I like to find out how you manage to squeeze so much in one 'question'


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Answer 6

thats one of my favorite parables!

Answer 7

See also http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/pbl36.html

Answer 8

If I would have read all that I wouldn't have got first answer.

Damit

Answer 9

i aint reading all that, dude weres the question

Answer 10

foxyblue, I do what I can !