Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is fairly well-known to most Bible students. One man lived a life of luxury but found himself in torments after he died. The other was a poor beggar in this life yet was comforted after death in a place of paradise.
Once in torments, the rich man appealed to Abraham to allow Lazarus to go to his brothers and warn them of the punishment that awaited them (Luke 16:27-28). Since the rich man ended up in this undesirable place, it would be good for us to notice this man’s sins that Jesus mentioned in this passage. These are a few of the things we need to avoid if we want to escape the terrible fate that belonged to this man.
This Man Focused Only on This Life – Jesus began by describing the rich man: “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day” (Luke 16:19). In contrast, Jesus spoke of “a poor man named Lazarus” who “was laid at his gate, covered with sores” (Luke 16:20). The Scriptures do not teach that there is anything inherently wrong with riches – after all, they are supplied by God (1 Timothy 6:17) – or with enjoying life (Ecclesiastes 11:9). But Jesus implied that this man put an inappropriate amount of focus on these things. We may have wealth or enjoy life; but if we are not careful, these things can turn us away from God (Luke 8:14). This world is only temporary (1 John 2:17). Therefore, we must “store up…treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
This Man Ignored the Needs of Others – The poor beggar, Lazarus, was “longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:21). Generosity and a willingness to help others should be characteristics that Christians possess. Paul wrote, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:10). Our responsibility in helping others is dependent upon our ability. Paul wrote, “For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). We may be limited by resources, time, or distance from helping those we know who are in need. But these limitations did not apply in the rich man’s situation. Lazarus was just outside his gate. The crumbs from his table – which were of no use to the rich man – could have helped Lazarus. We should each examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) and see if we are doing what we can do, lest we be guilty of ignoring the needs of others when we might be able to help.
This Man Did Not Appeal to God – When the rich man found himself in the place of torments, the first thing he did was cry for help. However, he did not appeal to God for mercy. Rather, he cried out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me” (Luke 16:24). In this circumstance, God was the one to show mercy or not (Romans 9:15). While Abraham was the father of the faithful (Romans 4:11), many of the Jews wrongly placed their faith in Abraham rather than in God (Matthew 3:9). They trusted in their heritage rather than God and His Son (John 8:31-33, 39-42, 56-59). Faith in God leads one to Christ (Galatians 3:26). If we wish to be saved, we must look to Christ and to Him alone. Peter said, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). If we wish to obtain mercy, we need to appeal to God – not to Abraham, Peter, Paul, or anyone living today.
This Man Believed He Was Superior to Others – This could be a reason why one would ignore the needs of others (earlier point), but not necessarily. But we do know from the text that the rich man had this arrogant attitude. When he appealed to Abraham, he said, “Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame” (Luke 16:24). Even at this point, he believed he was more important than Lazarus. Why else would he want Lazarus to leave paradise to come to the place of torments to serve him? The Scriptures teach that all men are equal, having been made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). This does not mean that one man cannot have others serve or work for him (Colossians 4:1). But it must only be in an arrangement that has been agreed upon in which the worker/servant is compensated fairly (Matthew 20:13; James 5:4). However, differences in economic class do not matter to God (Galatians 3:28). We are all worth the same to him. Therefore, we must be humble and not “think more highly of [ourselves] than [we] ought to think” (Romans 12:3).
This Man Had No Faith in the Power of the Word – While the rich man obviously did not care about Lazarus, he was concerned for his brothers. He again requested for Lazarus to leave paradise, but this time to warn those of his father’s house (Luke 16:27-28). Abraham responded by telling him that the revealed word of God was sufficient to help the living avoid the place of torments: “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). However, the rich man did not believe this was enough. So he protested, “‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead’” (Luke 16:30-31). Even today, people claim to need miracles to believe in God. Jesus declared that the word was fully sufficient to cause us to believe (John 20:29-31). Paul wrote that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Do we believe that? We need to believe it if we want to have any hope of being saved.
The account of the rich man and Lazarus does more than just tell us that there are two potential destinations for us after we die – paradise or torments. It also shows us some of the things we must avoid so that we will not find ourselves in that place of punishment. Let us learn from the sins of the rich man, so that we might serve God acceptably and be comforted in paradise after this life is over.
[…] Read the article: Sins of the Rich Man […]