Bible Materials

Luke 16:19-31 (2011)

by Paul Choi   09/18/2011   Luke 16:19~31

Message


LIESTEN TO MOSES AND THE PROPHETS

Luke 16:19-31

Key Verse: 19:29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.”

  People are curious about their future. What will happen to me after I die? 85 % of Americans believe in an afterlife. Among them, according to the December 1998 edition of Life magazine, 72 % believe in heaven but less than 56 % believe in hell. Erwin.W. Lutzer, the pastor of Moody Bible Church in Chicago, says in his book ‘One Minute after You Die,’ “While relatives and friends plan your funeral--deciding a casket, a burial plot, and who the pallbearers shall be--you will be more alive than you have ever been!” Yesterday I had a chance to talk with an 84 year old woman whose 87 year old husband had been hospitalized by a stroke. She said that she was ready to go to heaven. However, no one knows if you or I may go earlier than her. As someone said, “There is natural order in birth, but no order in death.” Are you ready to confront your destiny?  Are you prepared to be called by God anytime and anywhere?

  Today’s passage is also one of the most difficult stories in the Bible. However, through this passage, Jesus clearly teaches us three things; first, the existence of hell and heaven; second, the certainty of judgment after death; and third, the unchangeability of our destiny after death. Above all, Jesus teaches us the way of salvation through faith in the Promised Messiah, Jesus Christ himself. Amen.

Look at verses 19-21. “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.” Here are two different persons who lived two completely different lives; one is a rich man, the other is a poor man named ‘Lazarus.’ The rich man was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. The purple and fine linen was the symbol of wealth and power. When the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus in the Praetorium, they put a purple robe on him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Mk 15:17,18) The rich man lived in a luxurious mansion which was decorated with gold and marble. He drove a golden chariot and enjoyed expensive and delicious gourmet food every day.

  However, Lazarus was poor and sick. His body was haggard because of malnutrition and was covered with sores. He was hungry every day and longed to eat morsels which fell from the rich man’s table. He looked so pitiful that even a dog came to soothe his pain by licking his sores. What a pathetic picture of Lazarus! Look at verse 22. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.” Both Lazarus and the rich men died since there is no one who can live forever on this earth. When Lazarus died, no one cared about his death. His dead body might have been dumped in a pile of trash. However, as soon as he died, the angels came and carried him to Abraham’s side, which indicates the kingdom of God. Even though Lazarus lived a poor and difficult life on this earth, he was escorted by the angels who brought him to the place of comfort and ease. The name ‘Lazarus’ - in Hebrew, “Eleazar,” - means “God has helped.” Like his name, Lazarus put his hope and comfort in God even though he suffered on this earth. He had personal faith and a relationship with God despite his poor physical condition. When his life was over on this earth, his suffering and pain were also over. God took him to his side, the place of comfort and peace.

  Unlike Lazarus’ quiet death, when the rich man died, the whole community responded. His death was the front page headline of the local newspaper. Numerous visitors participated in the funeral ceremony. The rich man’s dead body was laid in a golden casket covered with many kinds of flowers. Professional mourners and musical band were hired.  His funeral ceremony was big news to the community, but there was no news from heaven. There were no angels for him. There was no salvation for his soul. The Bible says that the rich man was just buried. Where did he go? He was in hell.  Look at verse 23. “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”

  These days some people do not admit to the doctrine of hell, saying, “Since God is love, how can he send people to hell to suffer forever?” “Hell is not real, but just a symbol of torment and suffering.” In the book, “Case for faith”, the author Lee Strobel interviewed a prominent theologian about the doctrine of hell. The theologian said, “Hell is punishment-but it’s not a punishing. It’s not torture. The punishment of hell is separation from God, bringing shame, anguish, and regret…” I partially agree with his statement, but not fully.  People deny the literal existence of hell as the place of perpetual torture and agony of soul, and accept it as a symbol of separation from God’s presence.  Of course, separation from God brings us loss, gloom, shame, anguish, regret, and so on. However, in today’s passage, Jesus clearly describes hell as a fiery place where the damned are tortured. In verse 24, the rich man complained about his excruciating agony in hell, saying, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”  Have you ever burnt your finger accidently? The rich man knew that the amount of water from the tip of Lazarus’ finger could never cool his agonizing body. Still, he wanted release from the torment even for a second. The agony and torment in hell is real and perpetual. In verse 28, the rich man again pleaded with Abraham to prevent his brothers from coming to the place of torment, which is hell.

  Pastor Timothy Keller said in his book, “The reason for God”, that a common image of hell in the Bible is that of fire. Jesus said in Mark 9:47-49, “And if your eye causes you into sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes be thrown into hell, where “there worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Everyone will be salted with fire.”  The Apostle John said in Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

  Look at verse 23 again, “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” As soon as Lazarus put off his physical body, he entered into new existence. He was led to Abraham’s side, which indicates the place of the righteous, the dwelling place of God’s people, the kingdom of heaven. Even though Lazarus suffered much on this earth because of affliction and starvation, he is now comforted in heaven. He is completely free from the agony of his earthly life. Abraham’s side is our destination after our holy pilgrimage on this earth. Abraham’s side is our eternal dwelling place where we share joy, comfort, and peace with our Lord Jesus Christ.

  It is amazing that the rich man has his full senses even during his afterlife. He could see, communicate, feel pain, and be compassionate. He saw Lazarus who was far away sitting by Abraham’s side. Is that the poor Lazarus who used to beg for food at my door gate? Why is he there? But the rich man had no time to envy him or to ask about him because his torment in the fire was too severe. So he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to bring a drop of water to cool his tortured soul. (24) How did Abraham reply? Abraham had two reasons why he couldn’t help the rich man.

  Look at verse 25. “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” The first reason is that the rich man was rich toward himself and poor toward God during his lifetime. In other words, the rich man enjoyed all God’s blessings for himself and did not care about the poor and suffering people like Lazarus. He had no heart of God and no relationship with God. On the other hand, Lazarus was poor and sick. He had no one to rely on but God. He sought comfort and peace from God. He allowed even a dog to lick his sores. Now, he is in heaven, healed and comforted. Those who live in self-centeredness and self-indulgence will be with the rich man. (Lk 12:21) On the contrary, those who live for God’s kingdom and care for God’s suffering people will be at Abraham’s side with Lazarus.

  Abraham said the second reason why he couldn’t meet the rich man’s request. Look at verse 26. “And besides all this, 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.” According to Abraham, between heaven and hell there is a greater and deeper abyss than the Grand Canyon.  So, no one dares to cross over to the other side. Abraham’s message teaches us that once our destiny is fixed, that’s it. We cannot change our destiny as we wish. It is too late to regret in hell. Once you make a decision for your destiny on this earth, it cannot be changed in your afterlife.

  The rich man came to realize the unchangeablity of his destiny after he died and the seriousness and urgency of salvation for others. For the first time, he cared about others, in this case his brothers. So he asked Abraham again. “…Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” (27-28) The rich man was sure that all his five brothers would also go to hell. So he asked Lazarus to visit his brothers with the message of repentance so that they would not go to hell. The rich man knew well that his stubborn brothers would not believe the Bible. They would not listen to any pastor or to any sermon about God’s divine judgment after they die. They would not even pay attention to talk about hell or afterlife on the radio. However, the rich man expected that they might listen to a person who was resurrected from death (30).

  But how did Abraham answer him? Look at verse 29. “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” Here, Moses and the Prophets indicate the Old Testament, which is the Bible in modern terms. Abraham meant that the rich man’s brothers have the Bible which is the word of God. There is the way of salvation in the Bible. The Bible teaches all about sin, repentance, judgment, salvation, eternal life, the kingdom of God and so on. Lazarus does not have to warn them, but the Bible will warn them.

  What did Jesus want to teach us here? Why did he mention the importance of listening to Moses and the Prophets? At that time, Jesus was telling this story to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were like the stubborn brothers of the rich man who would not accept Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God. Here, Moses and the Prophets indicate Jesus Christ himself. Moses is the symbol of God’s Promises and law. All the promises and prophecies in the Old Testament point to God’s promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. God showed the way of salvation in the Old Testament even in Genesis. In Genesis 3:15 God promised to send the Messiah, the Savior of the world as an offspring of a woman. Again God promised Abraham to send the Messiah through one of his descendants when he lived by faith in God’s promise. (Ge 12:3).  God’s promise was confirmed through King David , and the picture of the Messiah was foretold and portrayed by many prophets in the Old Testament such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Micah, Hosea and so on. Therefore, whoever accepts Jesus and believes in him as the Promised Messiah will be saved. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Christ and that he died for our sins and rose again from the dead for our justification will escape God’s punishment and will enter into the kingdom of God.

  In this relativistic post-modern generation, people talk about many ways of salvation. There are many mind-control programs and self-discipline systems. Students on campus have many different voices, different ideas of salvation and different interpretations about God. No matter what men may say or how they may think, there is only one way to be saved which Jesus today shows us; listen to Jesus. Jesus said in John 5:24-25. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” 

  Today we learned about the story of the rich man and Lazarus. You have a choice on this earth - whether to listen to Jesus or not. However, your choice determines your eternal destiny. Once your destiny is fixed up after you die, that’s it. You cannot change your place as you wish. You will be in heaven or in hell! The Bible says that there is no middle ground between heaven and hell. While living on this earth, we have a second chance to repent and turn to God. But, we’ll lose this second chance when our eternity is set. Jesus is the entrance and the access to the kingdom of heaven. There is no other name under heaven which was given us by God for our salvation, but Jesus. (Ac 4:12) Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)  We thank you Jesus. We believe that you died for our sins and rose again from the dead for our justification. We repent and decide to listen to you. Now, come into my heart and become my Savior and Lord. Bring me to your kingdom when I finish my journey on this earth so that I may live forever in your presence in your kingdom. Amen.


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