The most puzzling parable!

[Brighthouse]

Of all of the parables Jesus spoke on,there is but one not explained to us. I am going to take a stab at it LOL.What I am about to tell you as to the answer of this,can be greatly debated,the purpose I am doing this is to find out what other brothers and sister think upon this parable! First the parable! (Luke 16:19-31!!!)

Interesting even more is what comes after this parable!! Forgiveness! But let us deal with this parable.The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich, at least I do not believe he did.Some may hehe. I believe he went to hell because of verse 30!! This answer came as revelation by Holy Spirit,but like all answers one believes they have received I am a tester of any Spirit!

The test comes for me because i can not explain to you from the word if this answer is correct or not! Hence why we all need others to either confirm, or show another revelation from Holy Spirit in them! So you are all a part of this answer to me as well! For I know in part,and will always know in part,but when the other parts get together with one mind,a full answer may become established for all to be blessed in and by! verse 30!

But he said NO,father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead,they will repent! The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich,but rather because he said NO to Jesus himself in his life! This was my revelation by Holy Spirit,do you agree? Or do you see something i may have missed? i very much would greatly be thankful for all who speak upon this parable. Thanks brothers and sisters! To me this is the most puzzling parable of all! If there is also another part of the parable you wish to share please by all means do so. thanks!

 

[Chad]

Hi brother, good question. I found this article that I think has a pretty interesting explanation, perspective.

[h=1]Luke 16:19-31[/h] [h=2]The Rich Man and Lazarus[/h] 19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and [SUB]1[/SUB] fared sumptuously every day. 20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 "desiring to be fed with [SUB]2[/SUB] the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to [SUB]o[/SUB] Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "Then 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 [SUB]p[/SUB] cool my tongue; for I [SUB]q[/SUB] am tormented in this flame.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, [SUB]r[/SUB] remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' 27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham said to him, [SUB]s[/SUB] 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 "But he said to him, [SUB]t[/SUB] 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, [SUB]u[/SUB] neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "

Posted here:
http://www.talkjesus.com/parables-of-jesus/49576-rich-lazarus.html

 

[rag4aCrown]

The rich man had no love or compassion in his heart for a man in great need. Bare ye one anothers burdens. The rich man did not repent and was buried. The rich man loves himself, has all he needs, who needs God. No greater love has a man, than he that will lay down his life for his friend.

Love is the difference between life and death.

 

[Travis]

The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich,but rather because he said NO to Jesus himself in his life! This was my revelation by Holy Spirit,do you agree? Or do you see something i may have missed? i very much would greatly be thankful for all who speak upon this parable. Thanks brothers and sisters! To me this is the most puzzling parable of all! If there is also another part of the parable you wish to share please by all means do so. thanks!

Hi Brighthouse,

I think that Jesus has shown me something about this parable that is similar, if not the same, as to what you are talking about. Like you, I prefer to test the spirits, and make sure something is really true before I attribute it to God Almighty first though. Here's my thoughts:

Jesus is the main theme of the bible, through and through. The name of this forum is really attractive to me for that reason . I would argue that He shows up on every page of the bible, if not multiple times, even though it is often without being explicitly mentioned. I think perhaps Jesus put himself into this parable, as he does many others. If that is the case, then I believe that Lazarus, whom the rich man rejected, was the Christ figure in this parable. Jesus walked around for 3 (or 3.5) years as a homeless man. He wasn't exactly poor, because he had supporters, but he did not have a place to call home. He was not the King that Israel was expecting. The Pharisees were known to be lovers of money and of a righteousness according to the law. Jesus's habit of associating with the poor and with sinners was a huge stumbling stone for them. The Messiah, they thought, was coming to save Israel and conquer the heathen. They did not recognize the suffering servant when He came.

So, when Lazarus showed up at the rich man's estate, the rich man didn't reject just some person, he rejected Christ himself. In fact, throughout the whole of his life, the rich man continually rejected Christ in every form or shadow He came to him. To reject the one man who can save you, who is the Son of God himself, is to reject salvation itself. If you reject Jesus Christ, there is no other way to be saved.

Matthew 25 KJV
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: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ...

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
​

Christ came to the rich man, and the rich man rejected him. That is why he was and is in hell. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ.

Let me know what you think,

Travis

 

[Hekuran]

The parable does not say why the rich man was condemned. I don't think that's what Jesus set out to teach. The common belief of the day was that prosperity was a sign of God's blessing, so I guess that this story would be turning convention on its head.

The main point of the parable is about the persistence of unbelief. The last line: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." is the deadly one for the pharisees. It marks out their resistance to God and points forward to Jesus' own death and resurrection.

 

[RJ]

Unbelief is a terrible thing and only Jesus is the cure.

 

[james1523]

As all previous posters have correctly said, the parable is about unbelief and blindness to the gospel, even in the face of miracles (such as Jesus rising from the dead), caused by the love of money. It's about people who reject the gospel for love of money. Specifically, the "rich man" is the money loving and self-righteous Pharisees (for proof, please see Luke 16:14 and 15). Luke 16:14 also confirms that the story is about the love of money, not just being rich. Also see See Matt 6:21-24. A situation in which our eye is not single, is when we have one eye on God and one eye on money, as the Pharisees did. This results in our (spiritual) eyes being darkened, and how great is that darkness! - to the extent that we cannot see the truth of the gospel even if the evidence is plainly before us.

Actually this is not a parable because it uses the names of real people and a real place called Hades. But anyway that is not important, the meaning of this parable, story, lesson, whatever we call it is important. Jesus's words that the Jews would not believe in Him came true as shown by Matt 28:11-15 and elsewhere (in Acts).
Even though this is about the love of money rather than simply being rich, I do think there is a connection between being rich and loving money. Love of money often makes a person rich, and a rich person often loves their money too much to part with it (by giving to the poor, for example). However, even a poor person, can love money just as much as a rich man, and suffer the same fate if their eye is not single.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

The main point of the parable is about the persistence of unbelief. The last line: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." is the deadly one for the pharisees. It marks out their resistance to God and points forward to Jesus' own death and resurrection.

+

I think the main message of this parable is to point out how easily people are lured into mixing religion with worldly living. This rich man, it would appear, engages in the religious practices of first century Israel and sees himself as righteous while being spiritually blind. There are many people in our church pews today who do the same thing; they observe religious rituals, put some money in the collection basket, and are deceived into believing that they are doing what it takes to get to heaven. I know because I was in that trap at one time.

SLE

 

[RJ]

Sure, possibly Jesus was even comparing the Rich Man with the Parishees and the Saduchees that he often ran into and who eventually killed him.
Jesus would called them vipers and considered many of them lost to unbelief like the Rich Man and possibly that he had as much chance of being saved as a camel going through the eye of a needle!

 

[pekoe]

Brighthouse said,
The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich,but rather because he said NO to Jesus himself in his life! This was my revelation by Holy Spirit,do you agree?

Yes Brighthouse, that's exactly right.


"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Saying no to Jesus is no belief in Jesus.