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Parts 2 and 3.
The Rich Man and Lazarus (Part 2)
In the last post I spoke of the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. I didn’t go into much detail due to the length of the post. I need to give more detail so as to show what the parable is about. As we saw in the last post, Jesus was addressing the Scribe and the Pharisees after they had derided Him. Essentially, they were laughing at and mocking Him. This is where He turned His attention to them and says that the Law and the Prophets were until John. This is a statement about the end of the Law and the Prophets. Their time as rulers was coming to an end. He also accused them of justifying themselves before men, being Lovers of money, and wrongfully divorcing their wives. The book of Malachi is about judgment of Israel. it's aimed primarily at the priesthood.
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master:
If then I be a father, where is mine honour?
And if I be a master, where is my fear?
Saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.
And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar;
And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?
In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?
And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Offer it now unto thy governor;
Will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. (Mal. 1:6-8 KJV)
In this passage we see the priests justifying themselves.
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?
In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,
Even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be meat in mine house,
And prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts,
If I will not open you the windows of heaven,
And pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Here we have Lovers of money.
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, Against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: Yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek ta godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: For one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. 17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, And he delighteth in them; Or, Where is the God of judgment? (Mal 2:14-17 KJV)
After asking, “where is the judgment of God,” the Lord says,
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
(Mal 3:1-3 KJV)
This passage speaks of the judgment of God. Notice it is speaking of the coming of Christ. He is “the messenger of the covenant”. He is the one who would bring the judgment of God to these priests. That judgment came in AD. 70 when the temple was destroyed. Jesus gave them this judgement in a parable.
20 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. (Luke 20:1-19 KJV)
We see in this passage that the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came and confronted Jesus after addressing them He speaks a parable to the people in the presence of the chief priests, scribes, and elders. In the parable the owner of the vineyard sends his servants to the men of the vineyard to receive what is his and the men of the vineyard killed them. God had sent His prophets to Israel and they killed them. Then the owner decides to send his son. The men of the vineyard then killed his son. God sent His Son to Israel and they killed His Son. The chief priests, scribes, and elders perceived that Jesus was speaking of them. They were correct. They should have, and probably did, realize that Jesus was referencing an Old Testament passage. God spoke of a vineyard through the prophet Isaiah.
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof,
And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And also made a winepress therein: And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, And it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah,
Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard,
That I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
And break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned, nor digged; But there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; For righteousness, but behold a cry. (Is. 5:1-7 KJV)
Here God asks the men of Jerusalem and Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard. He asks, what more could be done that He hasn’t already done? He’s at the end of His rope. So notice what He says He will do. He will take away it’s hedge, and it will be eaten up, the wall will be broken down and it will be laid waste. Then He says the His vineyard is the house of Israel and the men of Judah. This is what happened in AD. 70 when the Romans came in and destroyed the city and scattered the Jews. This is the parable that Jesus is telling and the chief priests, scribes and elders, rightly perceived that He was speaking of them.
Jesus is bring all of this to mind when He said to the scribes and Pharisees, the Law and the prophets were until John, you are they who justify yourselves before men, and when He chastises them for divorcing their wives.
After this, Jesus launches into the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. In the parable He gives us several important details was to what the parable means. The Rich Man was dressed in purple and fine linen, and he fared sumptuously. The Rich Man died after Lazarus. The Rich Man had five brothers. The Rich Man called Abraham, father. The Rich Man is tormented in the flame. The Rich man is in hades, the grave. On the other hand, Lazarus was poor, a beggar at the Rich Man’s gate. Lazarus was full of sores and sought crumbs from the Rich Man’s table. Lazarus died before the Rich Man. Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. Lazarus is being comforted while the Rich Man is being tormented. It’s just the opposite of what they had when they were alive. All of these details are important to understanding the parable and what it is the Jesus is saying.
In the next post we'll look at the details.
The Rich Man and Lazarus (Part3)
Let’s start breaking down the parable and see what all of these details mean. Firstly, we see that the Rich Man called Abraham, father. This indicates that the Rich Man is a Jew. He’s one of Abraham’s seed, a physical seed. He was dressed in purple and fine linen. Purple was the color of kings. We can see this in Luke.
17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his
head, 18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing
their knees worshipped him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. (Luke 15:17 KJV)
The priests wore fine linen
27 And they made coats
of fine linen
of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, 28 And a mitre
of fine linen, and goodly bonnets
of fine linen, and linen breeches
of fine twined linen, 29 And a girdle
of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet,
of needlework; as the Lord commanded Moses. (Ex. 39:27-29 KJV)
As we see in these two passages, the Rich Man, being dressed in purple and fine linen is indicative of a kingly priest. During the time of the Hasmonean Dynasty the Jews were ruled by a priest who functioned in the role of priest/king. Thus, Jesus dressing the Rich Man in purple and fine linen tells His audience, and us, that the Rich Man is of the tribe of Levi. Levi was the tribe of the priests. God had made a covenant with Levi.
And now, O ye priests, this commandment
is for you.
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay
it to heart,
To give glory unto my name, saith the Lordof hosts,
I will even send ea curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings:
Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay
it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed,
And †spread dung upon your faces,
even the dung of your solemn feasts;
And i
one shall take you away with it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
That my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace;
And I gave them to him
for the fear wherewith he feared me,
And was afraid before my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And iniquity was not found in his lips:
He walked with me in peace and equity,
And did turn many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge,
And they should seek the law at his mouth:
For he
is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But ye are departed out of the way;
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law;
Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, According as ye have not kept my ways,
But †have been partial in the law. (Mal.2:1-9 KJV)
Notice this passage is addressed to the priests. God had made a covenant with Levi. Levi walked with God and revered Him. He was honest and faithful. However, by Malachi’s day that was no longer the case. We see in the book of Malachi that God is lambasting the priesthood. He said that the priest should speak truth and yet they were not speaking truth. God said that they had departed out of the way and were causing many to stumble at the Law. Remember what Jesus said to them?
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Mat. 22:13-15 KJV)
Jesus accuses them of the very same thing that they were accused of in Malachi 2. Remember, in Chapter 3 We see God’s “messenger of the covenant” coming to bring judgement on these priests. The priests in Malachi’s day had “departed out of the way”. The priests in Jesus’ day were no better, they may have been worse. The priests in Jesus’ day were actually seeking false witness against Him so they could crucify Him. So, these priests had really, “departed out of the way”.
We’ve established that the Rich Man calling Abraham father indicates that he is a Jew and being dressed in purple and fine linen represents the priesthood. However, there’s more. We also see that the Rich Man had five brothers. Levi, the head of the Levites, the one who had the covenant with God, also had five brothers. Levi’s five brothers were, Reuben, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Judah. Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah. When the promised land was divided up among the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi, the Levites, were not given a land allotment. Instead, they were to serve in the temple.
What about Lazarus? Why did Jesus choose the name Lazarus? Did He just pull it out of thin air? The name Lazarus comes from the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means God help or God is my help.
16For dogs have compassed me: The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: They pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: They look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, And cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. (Psalm 22:16-19 KJV)
In this prophecy of Jesus, we see the dogs encompassed Him. Remember in the parable the dogs licked Lazarus’ sores? Then He says, “haste thee to help me.” Lazarus means God help.
And I was not rebellious, Neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, And my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7For the Lord God will help me; Therefore shall I not be confounded: Therefore have I set my face like a flint, And I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He is near that justifieth me; Who will contend with me? let us stand together: Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; Who is he that shall condemn me? (Is. 50:5-9 KJV)
In this Messianic prophecy we see verse 6 says He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. But then notice verse 7. “For the Lord God will help me” That’s the meaning of the name Lazarus. David is prophesying the words of Christ and He says, “for the Lord God will help me.” Lazarus.
The Scribes and Pharisees should have seen this connect as soon as Jesus gave the Parable.
The parable also says Lazarus was poor. Jesus was poor. There were actually people who funded his ministry.
58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air
have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay
his head. (Luke 9:58 KJV)
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Cor. 8:9 KJV)
Lazarus was laid at the Rich Man’s gate. He was laid before the Rich Man. Jesus was laid before Israel. Lazarus was full of sores. Jesus was full of sores.
15 And
so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged
him, to be crucified. (Mark 15:15 KJV)
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with
his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare
our sicknesses. (Mat. 8:16-17 KJV)
This one bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we accounted him to be in trouble and calamity and ill-treatment. 5 But he was wounded because of our acts of lawlessness and has been weakened because of our sins; upon him was the discipline of our peace; by his bruise we were healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5 Septuagint)
In the parable we see that the dogs licked Lazarus’ sores.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Mat 15:22-28 KJV)
The Jews referred to the Gentiles as dogs. We see that in this passage. However, notice what the woman says, ‘the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the masters table.’ In the parable, it says that Lazarus desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the Rich Man’s table. We know that Jesus came to the Jews. In the above passage He says He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Yet, the Jews rejected Him. The apostle John tells us that.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not (John 1:6-11 KJV)
Here John tells us that Jesus came to His own and His own did not receive Him. The apostle Paul also said this to the Jews.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. (Acts 13:45-49 KJV)
Paul said that the word of God had to go to the Jews first, however, they rejected it, judging themselves unworthy of eternal life. The Gentiles on the other hand rejoiced in the word of the Lord, the Gospel message. They embraced Christ. The dogs licking His sores.
The passage says that Lazarus died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. The first thing to note here is that Lazarus died before the Rich Man. Jesus died before the priesthood was ended. It says that Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham’s, his father’s, bosom. The key point here is that he was carried. Jesus, too, was carried, by angels, to His Father’s bosom.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:9-11 KJV)
In this passage it says Jesus was taken up. The word translated “taken” is the Greek word is eperthe, and it’s in the passive voice. The passive voice indicates that the subject is receiving the action of the verb. In other words, He was taken up by something or someone. He didn’t go up under His own power. This passage doesn’t say that Jesus was taken up by angels. However, it does say He will return in like manner. So, His return will be the same as His being taken up. We do know how He will return.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of athe earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mat 24:29-31)
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Mat. 25:31 KJV)
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:14-15 KJV)
In this passage it says, “with ten thousands of his saints”. The word translated saints is hagios. It literally means holy. It’s an adjective but there is no noun to modify. Therefore, it should be translated holy ones. Holy ones is actually a better translation, because when people hear the word saints, they think of Christians. However, holy ones could refer to Christians, but it could also refer to angels. As we’ve seen from the two previous passages, Jesus is returning with His angels, not Christians.
Since the angels at the tomb said that Jesus would return just as He left, we can conclude that He left with angels. Since He was taken up, we can conclude that He was carried up by angels to His Father’s bosom. John tells us that the Son is in the Father’s bosom.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
So, in the parable we have Lazarus being carried by angels to his father Abraham’s bosom and we have Jesus being carried by angels to His Father’s bosom.
If Lazarua represents Jesus in the parable, what does it mean that He is carried to Abraham’s bosom? Abraham’s bosom is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee. (Gen. 16:2-5 KJV)
From this passage we can see that being in Abraham’s bosom means to be in a relationship with Abraham. It’s a close embrace. What does this mean? If Lazarus represents Jesus, then what we are seeing in this parable is Abraham embracing his long-awaited seed. God had promised Abraham a seed back in Genesis.
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which
is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Gen. 22:16-18 KJV)
God had made a four-fold promise to Abraham. He told him He would make him a great nation, that many nations would come from him, that all nations would be blessed through him, and that He would give him all the land of Canaan. The promise was to Abraham and his seed. The Jews believed they were the seed because they were the offspring of Abraham. However, Paul corrects their misunderstanding when he says the promised seed is not the Jews, but rather is Christ.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Gal. 3:16 KJV)
The Jews thought they were the recipients of the promise, but Paul says no, it was Christ. So, in the parable we see Abraham embracing the promised seed several thousand years later. On the other hand, we see the Rich Man, the physical seed of Abraham, who thought he was the recipient, suffering. Remember what Jesus said to the Jews?
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 8:11-12 KJV)
He said the children of the kingdom would be cast out. This is what we see in the parable. We see Lazarus being accepted and comforted while the Rich Man, “children of the kingdom”, is cast out and suffering.
