Adding to or Subtracting from the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Feature by Craig Spooner
The Bible solemnly warns us in both Deuteronomy and Revelation not to add or subtract from Scripture. Too often, we Advent Christians subtract this lovely parable from the serious attention it deserves because the details it gives us about life after death are discordant with the truths we find on that subject in 1 Corinthians 15 and other places. We need not ignore this story; to do so would be a subtraction that would lessen our ability to understand and apply Scripture. So let’s look at what it says and what it does not say in Luke 16:19-31.
What this parable does say:
If they didn't listen to Moses, they won't to someone who's back from the dead.
A rich man is “joyously living in splendor” (vs.19, NASB). A poor man, Lazarus, is living a “crummy” life; literally longing for the rich man’s crumbs. After death, a big surprise awaits them both. Lazarus is no longer hoping for crumbs from the rich man, now the rich man is hoping for a drop of water from Lazarus. In the midst of this astonishing reversal of fortune, the rich man has his first unselfish thought. Could Lazarus be a messenger from the dead, like Jacob Marley was for Scrooge? Could his five brothers be warned by a ghost to turn from the world and love God? It makes a good Christmas story, but Abraham (and Jesus) reject this proposal. The punch line to which every detail of this story has been pointing is this: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (vs.31).
The Pharisees already had what they needed.
The audience Jesus was addressing when he told this story was “the Pharisees, who were lovers of money” and who were “scoffing at him” (vs.14). Like the rich man, they are enjoying status and wealth. Like the rich man, they have access to Moses and the prophets. But like the rich man’s family, their minds are made up, so the Bible better not confuse them with the facts. They do not need to seek God; they have already sought and found everything they need.
What this parable does not say:
The details about hell.
This parable is not an attempt to describe hell, it is Jesus’ attempt to hold up a mirror to these self-satisfied, self-deluded travelers happily floating down the river, unaware that Niagara Falls is around the next bend. It is a warning to us too, and we would be subtracting an important life lesson from Scripture if we overlooked it.
The details about heaven.
There is also the danger of adding to this story. It is not meant to give us a detailed picture of the next life, any more than the parable of the leaven is meant to tell us how to cook (the quantity of flour in that story would create a bread explosion worthy of “I Love Lucy”). The parable of the man who hires laborers for his vineyard is not meant to tell us how to manage a payroll. The parable of the sower and the seeds does not offer good farming tips. All of Jesus’ stories have an element of the ridiculous. There are elements in the prodigal son story that make Middle Eastern people gasp. The details that enliven Jesus’ parables are all there to point to one central moral. In this case the moral is, disenthrall yourself from the hollow joys of this world and live for the next one. Every detail in this story is only meant to highlight this truth.
The fact that Lazarus didn't give details about heaven is telling.
This is the only parable Jesus told where the central character is named. He is Lazarus. The true story of Lazarus is told in John 11. Lazarus was recalled to life, and he was a powerful messenger to the Pharisees. He is one of the handful of people who didn’t have a near death experience, but a genuine after death experience. He could have told us the details about the next life, but no word of his is recorded on that subject. Maybe because life immediately after death is supremely uninteresting. “Lazarus sleeps,” Jesus said, “but I go to wake him up.” Like Jacob Marley, Lazarus is unbound and sent into the world of the Pharisees as an astonishing sign that Jesus is our divinely ordained life-giver. A connection to him is the only way to conquer death.
As Jesus predicted in the parable, the Pharisees remain unconvinced, even though they have the witness of Moses and the prophets. As people excitedly gather around Jesus and Lazarus, the Pharisees plan to put Lazarus to death along with Jesus (John 12:9-11). Jesus’s point in our parable is born out: when minds are made up, don’t confuse people with the facts. They will just become angry and even deadly. The only interesting clue about the next life I see in this tragic story is this: The real Lazarus, awakened from death, did not berate Jesus for recalling him from the joys of heaven, but thanked Jesus and celebrated his return to life by hosting a dinner where Jesus was the guest of honor (John 12:1-3).
Craig Spooner, “Adding to or Subtracting From the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,” The Advent Christian Witness, Summer 2019