Most misunderstood parable in the Bible: Rich man and Lazarus There is so much confusion in the Christian world, as result of misunderstanding the parable of Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Some people uses this parable to teach that human beings go to paradise or hell immediately after death to receive their reward. But this parable is not focused on the state of man when he dies. Its purpose was to teach an important lesson: our future destiny is determined by the decisions we make daily in this life. If we reject the light God grants us here, there is no second opportunity after death. Any attempt to interpret this parable literally leads to many insoluble problems. Jesus did not intend His words to be taken literally, but figuratively. What are the apparent contradictions and absurdities, when we try to interpret this parable literally? 1. It mentions about people in heaven and hell communicating through eternity. That is surely a very grotesque and hideous picture. How could the saints enjoy comforts of heaven while constantly hearing cries of the tormented, some of whom will be their own close relatives? 2. If there is really a great gulf fixed between heaven and hell, how could the rich man be heard by Abraham? 3. How could we explain “the mystery of the not empty graves” in this world, if this parable is taken literally? As mentioned in the parable, their bodies were whisked away rather quickly after burial to their respective places of reward, without spending much time in the grave. Of course, they need bodies, for we find rich man lifting up his eyes, and desiring to have his tongue cooled. 4. There is talk of one drop of water, cooling the tongue of a person who is in burning hell, which is an obvious exaggeration. 5. Finally, it says that Lazar when dead is saved and goes to Abraham’s bosom. There is no other verse anywhere in the Bible that says that all the saved go to the bosom of Abraham. If that is true, then he has to have very large bosom because there have been many saints who have died through the ages. Thus we see that there is so much symbolic language used, and if we take it literally we get a highly distorted picture of the truth. First of all we should know what is a parable? The Random House College Dictionary describes a parable as “a short, allegorical story designed to convey a truth or moral lesson.” Therefore a parable is meant to convey a moral lesson. Jesus desired to stimulate their deepest thought and contemplation through parables. He knew that if He spoke too literally, certain of His hearers would quickly forget His words. Not only that, but others, for whom certain of His parables contained stern rebuke, would be so angered by straight speaking that they would attempt to silence Him by violence. Jesus had another purpose in mind, when he talked in parables. Jesus said recalling the words of Isaiah 6:9 to His disciples, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” (Luke 8:10) The rich man, is a symbol of God’s people, who have the truth (God’s word or food), which they are not sharing with their spiritually starving heathen brethren. Finally, they find themselves lost in the Judgment and the heathen are saved. Jesus was also telling His Jewish brethren that if you do not share it with the Gentiles, you will be cast out and the Gentiles will be in. It is appropriate to investigate to whom Jesus was speaking to. Verse 14 says, “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” Pharisees, were infamous for deception, selfishness and dishonesty. Obviously, this parable has a physical connotation also, about sharing our material wealth with the needy and the poor. Therefore, essentially this parable is about stewardship. God has entrusted us with His word, talents and money, which we have a duty to share with our fellow brethren. This rich man daily used to see this suffering beggar at his gates daily when he went out and came in through his gate. Nevertheless, he was selfish and went after his pleasures and his own salvation. In fact the entire Luke 16 is devoted to subject of stewardship. Beginning in verse one Jesus gave a parable about stewardship of money or wealth, “There was a rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.” After dealing with stewardship of material goods, Jesus deals with the issue of entrusted with spiritual truth, narrating the story of another rich man. Who was the symbolic rich man depicted in this story? Jews had been blessed abundantly by a knowledge of God and his plan of salvation. They had received “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” (Romans 9:4). Only a Jew would pray to “Father Abraham”, as we find rich man doing later in the story. So Jewish people was clearly represented by this character. In contrast, Lazarus symbolized all the Gentiles in spiritual poverty, which whom Jews were supposed to share their spiritual heritage (Isaiah 49:6, Matt 15:26, 27). But Jews considered Gentiles as dogs that would have to be satisfied with the spiritual crumbs falling from their masters’ tables. Jesus used this metaphor to test the faith of Canaanite woman before healing her daughter vexed with demon (Matthew 15:26, 27). The rich Jews were hoarding the truth of God entrusted to them, without sharing. The rich man begs Abraham to raise Lazarus and send to his brothers, “if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” However, if they do not listen to Moses and prophets, they cannot be persuaded by one who rose from the dead also. Jesus actually raised real life Lazarus from the dead, as a supernatural sign from heaven; even then, these spiritually blind and obstinate Jews did not accept Jesus or repent. Instead, they tried to kill the resurrected Lazarus. In this parable, Jesus uses the word “hades”, which comes out of Greek mythology, where “hades” is a place controlled by Pluto, the god of the lower world. Jesus does not believe in Pluto or Greek mythology as well. Suppose somebody starts telling a story like this, “One day Alice was strolling in wonderland”. Once they hear that, the listeners immediately know that he is going to tell a fairy tale, parable, or allegory. Unfortunately, many modern preachers have separated this parable from its original context and used it for scaring people into religious “conversions”. But true conversion should come only from a genuine appreciation of God’s character and love, and a proper understanding of word of God. God never threatens or forces people. It is Satan, which compels and frightens people into subjugation. Misconception about eternal hell, where people are made to suffer endlessly is grotesque concept spread by Satan, to malign the image and love of God. Many have gone away from the saving love of God, because of this misunderstanding of the word of God. However, our spiritual struggle in this great controversy between God and Satan is fought over a level playing field, where God permits Satan to put forward real life false doctrine. He is allowed to spread false information and false interpretation of God’s word. If this is not so, God cannot be considered just or the salvation attained by us cannot be merited as “they overcame” (Rev 12:11). May God give us strength, so that we will not hoard the truth of God, without sharing it with our fellow human beings! Let us spread the knowledge of salvation! May God bless us so that we will be part of that “some”, who are resurrected “to everlasting life”! Welcome to this page for more messages https://facebook/SomeTruthsThatYouShouldNotMiss
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:10:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015