Jump Start # 1345

Luke 16:20-21 “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.”

  This passage came up yesterday in a Bible class that I was teaching. The class is entitled, “Understanding Heaven.” We looked at this context to gain insights about what happens when we die. There are differing thoughts about how this passage should be classified. Some want to label it as a parable. It sits in a series of parables and the flow makes sense. Some say this however, to take away the literalness of the passage. If it is a parable, they a few claim, then it really didn’t happen. Parables, however, are based upon true principles. The parable of the sower is based upon what really happens to seed when it is scattered across a wide section of soil types. So, if this is a parable, the principles remain true. Others claim that this doesn’t fit in with other parables because Jesus referred to the poor man as Lazarus by name. No other characters are named in the parables. Also, the idea of a parable is to understand a physical principle or story and then compare that to the spiritual principle that Jesus is teaching. Beyond the obvious of this story, what is the spiritual lesson? It seems that this is to be taken just as it is stated.

Parable or not, this passage gives us one of the few windows into the next world. We wonder what happens when we die. We wonder where do we go? We wonder what will we do? Will we remember this life? Will we float about from cloud to cloud? Do we go straight to Heaven? Will we know other people? Are we all together? Lots and lots of questions about the moments after death. I remember standing over a departed Christian, he had just passed away. I was on one side of the bed and his teenage son was on the other side. With tears running down the young man’s face, he asked me what I thought his dad was doing at that moment. Curious minds want to know.

Luke 16 doesn’t settle all of our curiosity, but it does put things in order from Heaven’s side of things. It helps to spend some time looking at this and giving it some serious thought. This week, we will try to do that.

We start with Lazarus, the poor man. He is sick. He has sores. Possibly leprosy. More possibly, we don’t know. He is hungry. He is desiring the crumbs from the rich man’s table. He has been dumped by someone at the rich man’s gate. He is left there. He doesn’t seem to have a pillow, blanket nor a cup of water. He is left for the mercy of the rich man. If that rich man has a heart, maybe Lazarus will get some help. Without any money, poor Lazarus has no means to get medical treatment. There are no hospitals, clinics or free medicine. The wealthy survived and the poor begged. It was a cruel world.

Nothing is stated about why poor Lazarus was poor. Did he not work? Was he terrible at handling money? Did he spend all that he had on trying to get better? On and on we can guess about such things. The road of speculation can take you to some wonderful places, but often they are not supported by Scriptures and are nothing more than the fancies of our mind.

The picture painted for us of Lazarus is pitiful. Poor. Hungry. Sick. Dying. Alone. Not even able to get away from street dogs that are licking his wounds. That wasn’t a pleasant experience. Germs, pain and all kinds of nasty things come from roaming dogs that lick open wounds. Poor, poor Lazarus. That’s the scene we are to have of him. No one to take care of him. Abandoned and forgotten and helpless and hopeless. Some want Lazarus to represent the Gentile nation. They see connections there. I tend to think the audience first hearing this would not have made that connection. I think we can read too much into some of the Lord’s stories.

Two thoughts for us today about poor Lazarus.

First, when he dies, the angels will carry him to comfort. He goes there not because he was poor, sick or had a hard life. There seems to be a common thought among many today, that if a person has had a tough life then they deserve Heaven. No one deserves Heaven. The fact that someone has given their life to save others doesn’t merit Heaven. Soldiers, police officers, firemen who die trying to save others are commonly thought to go directly to Heaven. They may have never worshipped God, believed in God or given God a thought. However, it is said among too many today, because they died serving others, they automatically are included in Heaven’s list. The Bible doesn’t support that idea.

Similar to that, is the thought that if a person has had a rotten life, then they deserve a better life in the next world. Maybe they came from a broken home. Maybe abuse and dysfunction were everyday events. Maybe they had a sorry marriage. Maybe their kids were a mess. Maybe there has been addictions and tears their entire life. Maybe their parents died when they were young. Maybe they have gone from one heartache to another their entire life. These folks deserve Heaven, many think. The reason is because they had such a terrible life here. Again, the Bible doesn’t support that thought. Heaven isn’t deserved nor earned by any of us.

Lazarus would be carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom not because he was poor, alone, sickly or hungry. If that was the ticket to Heaven, then get rid of all your stuff, become poor and Heaven is yours. No. Implied  and properly assumed from the rest of the Scriptures is that Lazarus was a believer. He walked with God. He was a man of faith. Hebrews 11 tells us that those who gained approved all did things by faith and obedience to God. They didn’t make it because they endured sorry lives. They were people of faith. Lazarus was one of those.

Second, Lazarus’ life was not an indication of how God felt about him. He was poor. He was hungry. He was alone. He was sickly. He couldn’t even get away from the dogs. How many prayers he must have uttered. How many times he must have longed for something better. Now, dumped at the rich man’s gate, he eventually dies, most likely there at that gate. Yet, at his death, the angels of Heaven were summoned and they carried the soul of Lazarus to comfort. It’s easy to see on the surface and to concluded that the rich man was blessed and Lazarus was ignored by God. That wasn’t the case. Being poor, being sickly, being hungry, not having means to take care of yourself is not an indication of how God feels about you. We tend to think, ‘If God is good then He would help Lazarus.’ Maybe He was by placing him at the rich man’s gate. God was with Lazarus even in his death.

There are things beyond the surface in all of lives that we often do not understand nor see. God does. God measures success by faith and not the amount of stuff we own. Lazarus was safely home. Lazarus would never be in need again. He would never hurt again. He was comforted, maybe for the first time in decades. His faith made the difference. God had not forgotten him. God was there.

I hope that you and I can see these valuable lessons. What a powerful passage this is for us.

Roger