THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS.
By W. N. Glenn
IN approaching this subject there is one point that should always be borne in mind, namely, that all of Christ’s ministry was devoted to the people of Israel, the literal seed. “He came to his own.” They were his recognized people, to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. (See Rom. 9: 4, 5.) It was meet, therefore, that he should give them the first opportunity to receive him, and through them reach out to the nations of the world. From this point of view it would be expected that his teaching would be primarily adapted to their condition. Christ was a wise teacher; in him was all wisdom; and it must not be supposed that in teaching a certain class he either intentionally or accidentally shot over the heads of his pupils. Whatever was intended for future generations, was designed to come through that generation, and not over it. The question here arises, What was there in their condition that must first be overcome before they would accept the humble Nazarene as the Messiah?—It was their false ideas of the mission of the Messiah. They supposed themselves righteous; that none but the literal seed of Abraham were worthy of salvation; that the Messiah would come in great majesty and power, and set them above all other peoples in the world. This idea of the Messiah and of themselves rendered them selfish, covetous; and we learn from verses 14 and 15 that this is what called out the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. He would teach them that “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Until they could learn this lesson, until they would become convinced of their true condition, and of the true mission of the Messiah as Saviour of all who would come unto him as sinners, regardless of birth or social position, it was of no use to try to teach them anything else. Hence the burden of his direct appeals to them had this prime object in view. In the parable before us the Lord presents two characters conforming to the Jewish idea of themselves and the Gentiles: “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores.” The Jews deemed themselves rich and highly exalted above all other people, because they were Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promises. They deemed all other nations as unworthy of their consideration, and who would be literally at their mercy when the Messiah should come. They deemed the Gentiles as unworthy of any better relationship to them than being laid at their feet; and they looked for a time in the then near future when the conditions would be comparatively about as described in the parable,—the beggar “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” The companionship of the dogs adds emphasis to the low degree of the class represented by Lazarus, the beggar. Now we come to the turning point, and we view the situation from the Lord’s stand. We must remember that this is a parable, and the characters are not two literal individuals. “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” Are all the Gentiles to be saved?—No; “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. But the kingdom of God is made up from “Lazarus,” “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Rev. 5:9. Even those Jews who will be saved will not be in the kingdom because of their natural birth, but because of their faith. They can only come in on an equality with Lazarus. And the Scriptures are very explicit as to the time when the angels shall gather the elect “into Abraham’s bosom.” It will be at the coming of the Lord in glory:— “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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.” Matt. 24:30, 31. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to743meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. These scriptures show that the language of the parable is highly figurative. The dead holding converse must be figurative, parabolical, for
“The dead know not anything; . . . also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Verse 10. Bear these scriptures in mind as we read: “The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell [hades, the grave, or place of burial] he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Now note particularly the conversation:—
“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” He calls Abraham his father; he must represent the literal seed, for if he stands for the spiritual seed he would not be in that situation. He asks Abraham for mercy, so he represents those who trust in Abraham. This shows beyond question the class represented by the rich man. And, in addition to this, Abraham calls him his son:— “But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
“Then he said, I pray thee therefore father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
“Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
“And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Now what might the Jews learn from this parabolic prayer to Abraham and the answers?—It was designed to teach them, as Jews, that there was no help in Abraham, either before or after death. Although the promises were to Abraham and his seed, yet they could not secure them by virtue of being his literal seed. It was also designed to teach them, as Jews, that the word of God as given in the writings of Moses and the prophets, was the standard of doctrine, instead of their traditions; and if they believed Moses and the prophets, they would accept him (Jesus) as the Messiah. Failing to believe the word of God, no other evidence would be given them. But what does the parable teach us?—We may learn from it the same lessons that they were to learn as Jews, in order that we may avoid similar mistakes. There are also other very pointed lessons for them and us in common: (1) “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (2) There is but one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ the righteous, and there is no use of appealing to dead saints. If Abraham, the father of the faithful, and the friend of God, cannot help his own descendants, surely no other can. (3) Wealth and honor in this world are no guarantee of wealth and honor in the kingdom of God. He who seeks what the carnal mind calls the “good things” of this life must expect the conditions to be reversed in the life to come. (4) There is no hope of a probation after death. If those who go into the grave unsaved are confronted by an impassable gulf “fixed” between them and the place of the saved, what hope is there for them? “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (5) Dead saints cannot return to the living, cannot possibly render any assistance in the conversion of the impenitent. They are dead, and their coming back would imply their being raised from the dead. (6) And even this would be of no avail, for those who are impenitent do not believe the word of God; and if they will not believe that, “neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” (7) We are then shut up to the word of God as the only ground of faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” These are the plain lessons of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.