The Rich Man and Lazarus: Parable or Real Experience?

[Phoneman777]

The Rich Man And Lazarus: Parable Or Real Experience?
A Comprehensive Examination

This passage of Luke 16:19-31, is considered perhaps to be the most powerful Biblical evidence for the doctrine of Eternal Torment. It is the view that is widely held today by most Christians who believe this to be the fate which awaits the impenitent sinner. Proponents of this view insist that this passage is not a parable, but that our Lord Jesus is pointing to the tragic fate of a real man who had died in his sins as a warning to us of the consequences for refusing to accept Him as Lord and Savior. They are most emphatic in their claim that this passage must be taken literally, for they know that any attempt to substantiate a doctrine on an uninterpreted parable would be a gross violation of the laws of hermeneutics, or Biblical interpretation.
Others, however, claim that this passage is a parable - a story given to illustrate a point - in which many times the things therein cannot or do not happen in real experience. They insist that this passage is no more literal than Jotham's Parable of the Talking Trees in Judges 9:8-15, because, they claim, it is so obviously filled with symbolism which requires interpretation in order to correctly understand the message that Jesus intended. They further state that this indeed is a warning, but of a different nature altogether.
Dear reader, let us now lay aside preconceived notions and examine this issue from a Biblical standpoint. If this passage is in fact Biblical evidence for the doctrine of Eternal Torment, then it should be able to stand the test of Biblical scrutiny. Several Biblically based arguments present a difficult challenge to the claim that this passage should be taken literally and I encourage you to carefully consider them in order to decide for yourself if this passage should be maintained as evidence for Eternal Torment, or dismissed as no evidence for it once and for all:

1) The passage is found right in the midst of several other parables. As would be expected in the case of earthly teachers, it is highly unlikely that our Heavenly Teacher would abruptly shift from the symbolism found in the previous parabolic passages, to literal discourse, and then back to the symbolism He used to teach about faith and obedience in the beginning of chapter 17, knowing that such inconsistency would likely result in confusion.

2) The passage begins with "There was a certain rich man" which is either exactly or very similarly the way Jesus began several other passages that we know to be parables, such as those found in Luke 14, 15, and the opening verses of 16. Some insist that the use of the proper name "Lazarus" is proof that this is a literal passage, but a far more reasonable explanation for this usage will be given later.

3) There are several elements within the passage which are clearly parabolic and in no way can we expect to take them literally. It is simply not logical to argue that the same passage of Scripture exists as both literal and symbolic at the same time. Such elements are:

a) Lazarus dies and is carried "into Abraham's bosom", a clearly symbolic reference. The myriad of speculation as to the meaning of "Abraham's bosom" on the part of those claiming that this is a literal passage is in itself an indictment of their entire premise, for if the passage is indeed literal, for what reason then should there be a need for any speculation?

b) Abraham's literal bosom cannot possibly be large enough to embrace, receive, and retain all the righteous that have gone on before and since Jesus’ words in Luke 16.

c) Since it is evident that the body stays in the grave when a person dies, it is popularly taught that only the "soul" goes burning in hell or ascending to heaven at death, and not until the resurrection will the body and "soul" be reunited. If this is so, then why does the Rich Man have a tongue and eyes, and Lazarus a finger to dip in water? If the bodies of the Rich Man and Lazarus are yet in their graves, and only their "souls" are here represented, neither would have bodily eyes, tongues, or fingers. Clearly, both the Rich Man and Lazarus, said to be in possession of literal bodies before the appointed time at which the Bible declares the dead are to receive them, cannot possibly be two literal deceased men, but symbolic representations of something else. To agree with Jesus in John 5:28,29 where He declares that the dead will come forth from their graves at the end of time in the resurrections of Life and Damnation, at which time they are to receive a body, and yet insist that the deceased Rich Man and Lazarus are two literal men in possession of bodies in a time which the passage depicts as being long before the aforementioned resurrections, is a contradiction beyond measure.

d) It is entirely unreasonable to believe that a literal man completely engulfed in flames would be able to hold a thoughtful conversation with anyone else, which points to the idea that Jesus is employing a high level of symbolism in this passage.

e) One single drop of water placed on the tongue of a person totally engulfed in flames could not possibly do anything to cool it or any other part of the body, again, making the use of symbolism here painfully obvious. Jesus curiously draws our attention to the tongue of the Rich Man for a specific reason which will be presented momentarily.

4) Many people do not realize that the word "hell" in the Bible is translated from one of FOUR words, "Sheol" in the Old Testament, and "Hades", "Gehenna", and "Tartarus" in the New Testament. When Jesus said the Rich Man was "in hell", it is extremely important to consider that He did NOT choose the Greek word "GEHENNA", which refers to the fiery, burning, blazing hell that so many people think of when they hear the word - He carefully and deliberately chose the word "HADES", which is NEVER translated to mean the "fiery, burning, blazing" hell, but is many times translated as "the place of the dead" or "the grave". It is from this place that the dead, which includes both the dead in Christ and those dead in their sins, will come forth in the resurrection of Life or Damnation. If Jesus intended to teach that the Rich Man was a real man that had previously died and wound up in hellfire, then WHY did He not choose the Greek word for hellfire? Moreover, the book of Revelation says that "Hades" will be cast into the Lake of Fire, or hellfire, which proves that "Hades" and "Gehenna" are NOT the same thing. Jesus' deliberate choice of wording is strong evidence to support the idea that the flames which torment the Rich Man are actually a symbolic representation for some other source of the Rich Man's torment, which we will also come to momentarily.

5) Nowhere in the Bible do we find that the dead righteous and dead wicked are able to communicate with one another. To the contrary, the Bible unmistakably speaks of the dead as being in a state of unconscious silence, without thoughts, knowledge, wisdom, reasoning ability, memory, emotions, or the ability to praise God (See Job 14; Psalms 146:4; Ecclesiastes 9; Psalms 88:10-12; Psalms 115:17). King Saul is said to have died for communicating with a "familiar spirit" that he “perceived” was the dead prophet Samuel. The fact that the disembodied "Samuel" came up from below rather than down from heaven above, as many would expect, spoke to Saul, was irritated, remembered that the Lord would give David the kingdom, and possessed knowledge of the fate of Saul and his sons proves, in light of the above Bible verses, that this could only have been a demonic spirit which took the form of one familiar to the living, a "familiar spirit". The Bible likely refers to it as "Samuel" merely because it took the form of the dead prophet when Saul asked the witch to conjure it.

6) In Matthew 13:34, the writer says that, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them", which he then says was a fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Psalms 78 in which the Lord Himself declares that He would call together His people and speak to them in parables. It is more than reasonable to expect that the highly symbolic passage of the Rich Man and Lazarus was just one of the many parables that He Himself declared He would speak when He would come to us as the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world."

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It appears that the only possible conclusion which we can draw is that the passage in question is indeed a parable. Though Jesus' interpretation is not contained in the passage itself, simply comparing Scripture with Scripture will lead us to correctly understand what our Lord intended for those to which He spoke it:
In Matthew 15, a Gentile Canaanite woman recognizing Jesus as God came to Him and begged for His help concerning her demon possessed daughter. He proceeded to test her faith by initially denying her any help, answering, "I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She persisted still, and He finally answered her again saying, "It is not meet to take the CHILDREN'S bread and cast it to DOGS." She replied, “Truth, Lord, yet the DOGS eat of the CRUMBS which fall from their master's TABLE."

Was Jesus and this woman having a discussion about canine dietary habits? Were they discussing the eating habits of dogs? No. She knew what Jesus meant and Jesus knew what she meant and He broke out with a praise for her, saying, "Woman, GREAT is thy faith," and her daughter was healed that very hour.

The Jews considered Gentiles "DOGS". It was and is still today a common expression used by Jews when referring to Gentiles. This Gentile woman was essentially saying to Jesus, "Truth Lord, I know I am not worthy! I know that You've been sent to Your CHILDREN, the chosen people, the masters who are rich in the blessings of God...but, Lord, they are casting aside Your blessings and though I be a Gentile DOG, I can still eat of the CRUMBS which fall from the master's TABLE!"

NOW WHEN WE COME TO THE PARABLE OF LUKE 16, IT ALL BEGINS TO MAKE SENSE.

1) The Rich Man refers to Abraham as "Father", and Abraham refers to him as his "Son" which means that the Rich Man must be a son of Abraham. And, just who are the sons of Abraham? THE JEWS! The Rich Man is clearly a representation of the Jewish nation.

2) The Jews were rich in the gifts of God and fared sumptuously at the TABLE of His blessing. They had the covenants, the blessings, the lively oracles, and the promises and daily enjoyed their privileged position held by them for so many years. Unfortunately, they became hard-hearted and took these blessing for granted, and instead of cherishing each one with utmost gratitude, they began to allow them to fall like CRUMBS from their TABLE.

3) Lazarus is said to be at the gate full of sores and OUTSIDE with the DOGS, desiring to eat the CRUMBS which are falling from the Rich Man's TABLE. He is clearly a representation of the GENTILES who have been OUTSIDERS, wretched and poor in the blessings of God, and desirous of just a few CRUMBS of the rich blessings which they've seen poured out on the rebellious Jews.

4) The Rich Man is said to have died and wound up in torment. This is what eventually came upon the Jewish nation for having rejected their Messiah. They used their TONGUES to hurl maledictions at Jesus and eventually call for Him to be crucified; TONGUES which would later become ultimately the source of their immense torment. Jesus declared that the tables would be turned on them if they persisted in their rebellion. Over and over, He warned that God's favor would be taken from the Jewish nation, saying that the Gentiles would "come from the East, West, North, and South to sit down in the kingdom", while saying to the Jews that "you yourselves shall be cast out" and that the kingdom would be taken from them and "given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." When the entire Jewish nation finally rejected their Messiah by demanding that Jesus be crucified, crying out "His blood be upon us and our children forever and ever!" they were indeed turning the tables on themselves. Paul says of the unbelieving Jews that "wrath has come upon them unto the uttermost" and one atrocity after another has marked the existence of the Jewish people throughout their history. They indeed even now are in torment!

5) Lazarus is said to be COMFORTED while the Rich Man is in torment. What is the Comforter? It is certainly not found in Abraham's literal bosom! The Comforter is the HOLY SPIRIT (John 16:7) which Jesus promised God would send to us, the New Testament church. The HOLY GHOST Who has come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; Who guides us into all truth by leading us out of error; Who intercedes for us when we pray; Who bestows His gifts of the Spirit upon the Church. We, the church, are indeed now COMFORTED by our Comforter!

6) The beggar is mentioned by name as "Lazarus", but far be this to be any evidence that this passage is anything but a parable. The use of the name "Lazarus" serves only to prove that the last words of Abraham to the the Rich Man would very soon ring true in the minds of all who heard them. The Rich Man wanted Lazarus to return from the dead to warn others of what would happen to them if they did not repent, and he was told that if these refused to believe "Moses and the Prophets", they would not believe even if one came back from the dead. "Moses and the Prophets", “the Law and the Prophets”, “Moses and Elijah”, “the Law and the Testimony (of the prophets)” are interchangeable, symbolic expressions found throughout the Bible which refer to the writings contained in the Word of God. In other words, if they refused to hear and believe the Word of God by faith alone, they would not believe otherwise. When the literal friend of Jesus, Lazarus, was indeed raised mightily from the dead soon after the telling of this parable, instead of the Jews repenting and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they took counsel as to how they might kill BOTH Jesus and the risen Lazarus, which further demonstrated the adamant unbelief in the hearts of the Jews, and that they would not believe "though one rose from the dead."

7) This parable ultimately was a warning to the Jews, but not of eternal torment, but of what would become of their nation if they persisted in their unbelief and rejection. Many of Jesus' parables were warnings against the Jews of the same and the Jews themselves say so in Matthew 21:45: "And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spoke of them." What were the parables of Jesus? Well, one of them was the Rich Man and Lazarus! Even the parable of the Prodigal Son was a warning and rebuke to the Jews for their hypocrisy by representing them as the second son, ungrateful in heart and having rendered service unto his father which was motivated by gain, rather than by love for this kind, tenderhearted, beneficent man.

So, we see that this passage was simply yet another solemn warning from Jesus to His chosen people of what would happen to them if they didn't change their ways, and in no way is meant to teach us about the eternal reward of the wicked. For more on the "State of the Dead" and "The Reward of the Wicked" check out www.truthaboutdeath.com and www.helltruth.com. May God richly bless all those who sincerely seek salvation in Jesus Christ alone and His truth as it is found in His Word. Amen