# The Rich Man & Lazarus



## scottmaciver (May 5, 2011)

I wonder what the thoughts of the board are as to whether or not you would consider the Rich Man & Lazarus in Luke 16 to be a parable and why?


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## Bill The Baptist (May 5, 2011)

I believe it is a parable and it represents the Jews and the Gentiles. Here is a great sermon by John Macarthur on the subject.

YouTube - The Rich Man and Lazarus - John MacArthur


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## Pergamum (May 5, 2011)

Jesus said, "Now there was a certain rich man...' Thus I believe that there was a certain rich man. 

The personal name for the begger is even given, and such personal naming nowhere occurs in any other parable. I believe this is history, a literal event.

Also, are we to suppose even if this were a parable that we cannot draw out teachings about hell from it (which is the reason many reject it as really happening and consign it to merely the status of a parable).


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## MichaelR (May 5, 2011)

Whether parable or not, the point is well made. Hell is beyond our imagination of suffering.

It's interesting that the rich man would be so concerned for his brothers when he's in a state where there is no good left in him.


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## Bill The Baptist (May 5, 2011)

Honestly I don't think it really matters if it is a parable or not, we can still learn a lot from it. Obviously Jesus is trying to tell us something about the nature of hell, mainly that people will pray in hell but God will not hear them. I also believe in the last part of the passage He is foreshadowing his own death and resurrection and the collective Jewish response to it. 

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, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’


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## ddharr (May 6, 2011)

Does anyone know the significance of the rich man seeing Abraham?


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## Bill The Baptist (May 6, 2011)

I believe in this sense the rich man represents the Jews, and Abraham is of course the patriarch of the Jewish people.


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## T.A.G. (May 6, 2011)

Pergamum said:


> Jesus said, "Now there was a certain rich man...' Thus I believe that there was a certain rich man.
> 
> The personal name for the begger is even given, and such personal naming nowhere occurs in any other parable. I believe this is history, a literal event.
> 
> Also, are we to suppose even if this were a parable that we cannot draw out teachings about hell from it (which is the reason many reject it as really happening and consign it to merely the status of a parable).


 
It also states 

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
Luke 16:1 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had(A) a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.


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## Jack K (May 6, 2011)

The form follows that of a parable. Nowhere else do we get Jesus telling stories about real people we aren't introduced to, but he tells parables all the time as a part of his teaching. So the presumption should be that it's a parable.

This shouldn't call into question Jesus' basic descriptions of heaven and hell, especially the difference between rest and torment and the impassable gulf between them, because these are amply supported elsewhere in the Scriptures. However, I wouldn't want to put too much stock in the possibility of conversation between heaven and hell, whether this is a parable or not, because this represents an isolated instance and may have been either created for the purpose of illustration or have been a special, uncommon event. When formulating doctrine about what is normative, we must always look for more than a single reference in Scripture.

The use of a name for one of the characters is unusual for a parable. But it may be explained by the fact that the parable employs conversation between the characters and the name makes that conversation sound more natural. Or perhaps by giving the poor man a name while the rich man remains nameless, Jesus is showing that status in God's eyes (a name) is not a matter of worldly riches or favorable heritage.


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## torstar (May 6, 2011)

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, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’[/QUOTE] 


And He ends another teaching with yet one more ironic jab... BAMMMMMM !!!


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