Introduction

Testimony
of Scripture (1)

Testimony
of Scripture (2)

APPENDICES:
The Rich Man
and Lazarus

Hades and
Abraham's Bosom

Greek Thoughts on
the After-Life

Bibliography

Further Resources

APPENDIX I: The Rich Man and Lazarus

by Inge Anderson

The story of the rich man and Lazarus may also be seen as a parable. In this parable Christ shows that in this life men decide their eternal destiny. During probationary time the grace of God is offered to every soul. But if men waste their opportunities in self-pleasing, they cut themselves off from everlasting life. No after-probation will be granted them. By their own choice they have fixed an impassable gulf between them and their God.

This story also draws a contrast between the rich who have not made God their dependence, and the poor who have made God their dependence. Christ shows that the time is coming when the position of the two classes will be reversed. Those who are poor in this world's goods, yet who trust in God and are patient in suffering, will one day be exalted above those who now hold the highest positions the world can give but who have not surrendered their life to God.

The story is not meant to make a statement of condition of man immediately after death. Christ merely used a popular concept to illustrate a lesson appropriate to his listeners at the time.

Matthew points out that Jesus taught mainly through the popular medium of parables when he wrote that "he did not say anything to them without using parables." Matt. 13: 34 Just previous to the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke, we find "the Parable of the Shrewd Manager" (NIV subtitle) which is not specifically introduced as "a parable" any more than the "Parable of the Great Banquet" (Lu. 14: 15 - 23). Thus, not being introduced as "a parable" is no conclusive evidence that a story is not a parable.

Indeed, the story of the rich man and Lazarus is regarded as a parable by many Bible students for a number of reasons. Robert Young in his Analytical Concordance lists Lazarus as "a symbolic name in one of the parables." The name Lazarus, meaning "without help" contrasts nicely with the "rich man" who had no need of any help, thus underscoring that God is the Help of the helpless.

A principle in the interpretation of parables cautions us not to attempt to apply every detail of a parable as a guiding doctrine or principle because parables were meant to teach a specific lesson. We would not use the parable of the shrewd manager (Lu. 16: 1 - 12) to justify or encourage dishonest practices in those holding managerial positions, because that was not the point of the parable.

In the parable, the unfaithful steward is representative of the nation of Israel. To the unfaithful steward his lord's goods had been entrusted for benevolent purposes; but he had used them for himself. So God had chosen Israel and had delivered them from bondage in Egypt. He had made them the depositories of sacred truth for the blessing of the world. They were to communicate the light to others. But His stewards had used these gifts to enrich and exalt themselves.

The Pharisees, filled with self-importance and self-righteousness, were misapplying the goods lent them by God to use for His glory.

The servant in the parable had made no provision for the future. The goods entrusted to him for the benefit of others he had used for himself; but he had thought only of the present. When the stewardship should be taken from him, he would have nothing. But while his master's goods were still in his hands, he determined to use them to secure his future. To accomplish this he had to change his modus operandi. Instead of looking out only for himself, he must look to benefit others. Thus he might make friends, who, when he should be fired, would receive him. So with the Pharisees. The stewardship was soon to be taken from them, and they were called upon to provide for the future. Only by seeking the good of others could they benefit themselves. Only by imparting God's gifts in the present life could they provide for eternity.

After relating the parable, Christ said, "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light." That is, worldly-wise men display more wisdom and earnestness in serving themselves than do the professed children of God in their service to Him. So it was in Christ's day. So it is now. But God intended that his people should manage the blessings of life as His stewards, that is, they should manage them in such a way as to be a blessing to others. And that is the lesson of this parable.

Just so, the story of the rich man and Lazarus teaches a particular lesson, as already pointed out. If the story were meant to be taken literally, we would have to believe that through eternity the righteous would view the suffering of the wicked – that the mother whose son had strayed and died in a drunk driving accident would see her son tormented throughout eternity. And she is supposed to look forward to that state with joyful anticipation?!

The teaching that there is a place called "The Bosom of Abraham" where righteous souls reside until the Second Coming of Christ has no scriptural backing unless we take this story literally. In any event, it is poor exegesis to base a doctrine on a single text of Scripture.

Some would have us believe that the righteous will take pleasure in seeing the torment of the wicked. That strikes me as being in sharp contrast to the character of God who said of the rebellious Ephraimites, "How can I give you up, Ephraim?" He calls the work of destruction "his strange work" and "his alien task." This same God wept over the rebellious city of Jerusalem, the people who were about to crucify Him, because he foresaw the horrible destruction that was to come on them. Yet the people who have learned to love and trust Him in this probationary time are supposed to delight in seeing the suffering of others?! Surely this viewpoint mocks the character of God.