Luke 16:19-31
The Lord said, “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses, and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, Father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to them, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Gospel reading today relates the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It is an unusual parable, in that it is the only one in the Gospels in which Jesus names one of the characters. And it presents us with a sobering account of the fate that awaits us after death. Eternity in Abraham’s Bosom, by which is meant Heaven, for those who are found worthy. And Hades, in other words Hell, for those who are not.
I will begin by making clear that Lazarus is not in Heaven because he was a poor man in life, who suffered much from his ailments. Poverty and sickness are not in themselves virtues; and I am sure we all know or have heard of people who have little or suffer from serious disease or illness who have committed evil acts and remain unrepentant of their great wickedness, irrespective of their suffering.
And neither is the Rich Man in Hell because of his great wealth. There is nothing inherently evil in having great riches. There are many in the world who pile up treasure on earth honestly. Perhaps by means of their own hard work; or perhaps because they have been fortunate enough to gain it by some other means, through inheritance, for example. They then go on to use their wealth wisely, using it to lay up treasure for themselves in Heaven.
No, as the Fathers assure us, the eternal fate of these two men is as a result of how they lived their earthly life. Let us begin with the Rich Man.
This man as not only rich, but fabulously rich. We can see this from the way he spent his money. When this man ate, he did not just eat to sustain his body or satisfy his hunger. He feasted sumptuously. He ate only the best and plenty of it. And we may take from the use of the word feasted that he did not dine alone but threw lavish parties for other men of wealth and power, laying before them exotic dishes, serving them the finest wines, and providing them with the best of entertainments by way of musicians and dancers.
The fine linen, which our Lord mentions, was a very costly cloth. And that it was purple is very telling indeed. In the ancient world, purple dye was not easy to come by. It was acquired by crushing tiny sea snails to extract their secretions. It took thousands to make just a little a small amount, which was worth its weight in silver. So rare and expensive was it, that in Rome its use was restricted to the emperor and other public officials. And only the emperor might wear a purple robe. Elsewhere, such were the garments of kings.
So, this man was literally living like royalty, spending his money to provide himself with a life of wealth and pleasure. And all the while ignoring the man lying at his own gate. Note well that it was not that he did not see him, but he saw him and did not care. We know this because, he knows him by name; for as soon as he lifts up his eyes in Hades, he sees him and speaks of him by name, calling upon Father Abraham to send him to relieve his torments, the very man he did even give so much as crumb to when he lay hungry at his gate.
It is for this reason he is in Hades, the Fathers tell us. Not because he was wealthy, but because he used his wealth selfishly, showing no pity for others, showing no mercy upon those in need.
And what a pitiful sight Lazarus was, a man deserving of compassion, a man deserving of mercy. And yet the dogs show him more pity and mercy than the rich man at whose gate he lays. All they can do is lick his wounds, but at least they do what they can. Our Lord does not go into detail as to the cause of the man’s poverty nor exactly what it is that ails him. But we can be sure that he not some kind of a false beggar, someone who is perfectly capable of earning his own living, but instead choses to try and trick others to provide for them. If he were, Jesus would not hold him up to us. Instead, he says that he is poor; and, therefore, we can be assured that he has no wealth of his own, and no means to earn a living.
Accepting that he is genuine, we may note that we are told that he lies at the gate of the Rich man, rather than sits. So, it is probable that he is crippled. Adding to the misery of his poverty and his disability is the fact of his sores, which have been misery upon misery. Every movement would have been painful.
To make matters worse, every day he sees the Rich Man. This man dresses like a king. He could easily spare a few small coins to help Lazarus; or even have a doctor attend to him to see what might be done to cure him of his ills; but instead, he must watch the Rich Man walk by. He knows he feasts sumptuously at every meal; but not so much as a scrap is sent to him by the Rich Man.
Thinking of his sores and his suffering, I am reminded of Job. Job, you will recall, as he scraped at his boils with a potsherd while sitting on a dung heap was advised by his wife to curse God and die. But he refuses to do so, but rather suffers patiently. So too does Lazarus, the Fathers tell us. He neither curses God, nor even the Rich Man, but instead endures his trials patiently. And it is for that patience he is received into Paradise.
You will remember at the beginning I said that this was an unusual parable, because Lazarus is named. That may be because this is not a parable at all. There are some of the Fathers who believe that Jesus is doing more here than recounting a parable, He is relating the story of something that really happened, that there was really a poor man called Lazarus, and that there was really a Rich Man at whose gate he lay. And this Rich Man really ended in Hades not for how much he had, but for how little he cared for others; and Lazarus really ended in Heaven not for his poverty, but for his patience in enduring all he had to suffer.
If this were the case, would it change the meaning of this passage of Scripture? Not at all. But it might serve to emphasise the warning it contains for those of us who may have more than we need but think not to share with those in want; and those of us who greet even the slightest inconvenience with anger and frustration; a warning I pray all of you will heed. Amen.
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