IT MAKES YOU THINK! Luke Amos 6.1a, 4-7 It makes you think! That s certainly what this story is meant to do. It would certainly have been

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1 IT MAKES YOU THINK! Luke Amos 6.1a, 4-7 That s certainly what this story is meant to do. It would certainly have been uncomfortable listening for those who heard it. Let s get one thing out of the way at the beginning. Can we use this parable of Jesus to build up a belief in the afterlife in which some people go to a place called heaven and live in eternal bliss and happiness, and the rest go to a place called hell, with eternal torment and punishment? You could certainly read this as a story of Lazarus going to heaven and the rich man going to hell particularly in the way in which it is translated here. The translation that we have in the New International Version is probably not very helpful, because the word that is translated as hell in v 23, is the Greek word Hades which is a word that is used within the Judaism of the day to speak of the realm of the dead. Now popular ideas about what happens to people after death were beginning to change at this time. And so the word Hades is beginning to take on a range of meanings. In some popular thought it was looked on in fairly neutral terms merely as the place where all of the dead congregate. But we are also beginning to find ideas that some of those who die are judged beyond death for their conduct in this life and Hades can become the place where that takes place for good and for ill. So when Jesus speaks of Hades in this parable, it is possible that the word Hades itself has a neutral meaning as the abode of the dead and that both Lazarus and the rich man find themselves in Hades, but that their experiences in life beyond life are so contrasting that in this life beyond life they are as separated from each other as they are in this life. I am not sure that Jesus told this story in order to enable us to construct a theology of heaven and hell, but that he took popular beliefs of his day about what happens beyond death, and he makes it into a story as Jesus likes to tell stories in order to make his listeners think about their lives here and now.

2 And, perhaps what is most remarkable, is that Jesus actually doesn t have a great deal to say about the destiny of our lives when we die but when he does focus on this directly (as he does here) it is interesting that Jesus isn t talking about what we believe about God, how faithful we are in our worship, about whether or how we pray, about what we believe about Jesus he is talking about the divide between a rich man and a poor man. When Jesus tackles directly the question of our eternal destiny it is in the context of his talking about wealth. And if we turn this into a discussion of heaven and hell, actually we have missed the point of it. Ouch! And the whole point of the parable was to make people think because the story that Jesus tells of the fate of Lazarus and the rich man goes against all of the popular assumptions of his day. There was an assumption that those who were rich were rich because they were blessed by God God had been good to them. He had granted them the worldly success that they enjoyed. The poor, on the other hand, were poor because God had removed his favour from them their distress was a consequence of something wrong in their lives, or in the lives of their family. And so when Jesus introduces the two characters in the story, assumptions would have been made. The rich man is super-rich and so super-blessed. It was one thing to have fine linen to wear it was another thing to have both fine linen and purple purple dye was expensive and only worn by the superrich. And when we are told that he lived in luxury every day this is a reference to the food that he enjoyed every day. Not long before Jesus had told the story of the landowner welcoming his son back home with a feast of a fattened calf a feast for a special occasion. Well this is how this man ate every day! Michelin star dining, day in and day out.

3 Super-rich and super-blessed is the assumption. And Lazarus is at the opposite end of the scale. He is a beggar no means of support and he is laid at the gate of the rich man. Well actually the word could be translated thrown at the gate of the rich man. Is the implication that he is paralysed and he is dumped there every day? And no mention of clothes for Lazarus, what is distinctive about Lazarus is that he is covered in sores which would have made him ritually unclean, and so unable to take part in any public religious observances. And in the story both die. Notice that there is no mention of a burial for Lazarus and is that because he is so poor that no one actually bothers with a proper burial? But the story is about their fate beyond death and here is where the story takes an unexpected turn. The poor man Lazarus is received into the arms of Abraham the father of the faith. The rich man finds himself in torment. The parable puts in story form the words Jesus has already spoken in Luke 6. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. (6.20) But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. (6.24) And the parable brings into question these popular assumptions about who has found favour with God, who is blessed by God. Whatever life beyond life is all about it is about God bringing his justice to the world And have you realised that this is the only parable of Jesus in which Jesus gives one of the characters a name? The prodigal son is not named. The good Samaritan is not named. But Lazarus is named.

4 He is named by Jesus in the parable, perhaps because Jesus wants to give this poor man genuine worth. He is not just one of the nameless mass of poor people. He is Lazarus a person with an identity and a story an individual loved by God. And interestingly the rich man knows his name: Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue Which all goes to compound the tragedy, that even though he knows his name, he does not share his wealth with him. But this is what so easily happens to the poor we fail to see them as individuals, as people we create a cognitive distance between us and them. There was a fascinating social experiment carried out in America in which people walked past members of their family who had been dressed up as homeless people begging on the street. Watch this It is interesting that in the Christian tradition there has been an attempt to give the rich man a name also. You will sometimes here this parable spoken of as the parable of Dives and Lazarus. Dives is actually the Latin word for rich man but it has been turned into a name. Which immediately defeats the power of Jesus naming Lazarus alone And then there is the divide between the rich man and Lazarus. The divide in life is mirrored by a new divide in life beyond life. But the divide in life beyond life, within this story, cannot be bridged. v 26 Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot; nor can anyone cross over from there to us.

5 Although the fortunes of each has been reversed between the two worlds, the reversal does not actually bring about anything like a change of heart in the rich man. It is as if the trajectory of his heart is fixed he is for himself and for his own. He is only interested in Lazarus for what comfort Lazarus can give him, or for what warning Lazarus can bring to his five brothers. But where has the divide/the chasm between Lazarus and the rich man been fixed? It has been fixed by the rich man s actions and attitudes during his life. There need not be a chasm between Lazarus and the rich man it was within the rich man s powers to live differently, to use his wealth differently, to use his power and influence differently He could have picked up all the clues he needed in the law and the prophets. Amos could not have given a clearer warning Jesus tells the parable because it does not have to be like this! Things can be different!