Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” (Luke 16:14-17)

Jesus had just told the crowd the parable of The Prudent Steward of Unrighteousness. It’s a story demonstrating mercy and forgiveness, where a steward, fearing for his job, has his master’s debtors reduce the amount they each owed to his master. Now, the steward, if he were to be kicked out of his master’s service, would have made friends of those debtors to the point where his mercy toward them would be repaid, or he would have saved his hide by giving them a more favorable opinion of his master. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” (Luke 16:9)

The Pharisees heard this and, naturally, heard it as a condemnation against them. They and Jesus were constantly at odds, not the least of which was that they followed the commandments of men as if from God (cf. Matthew15:9)—their doctrine was not that of God. In addition to this point of contention, Jesus also nails them on being lovers of money, and if lovers of money, then not ones who loved God and their neighbors—He tells them the parable of Dives and Lazarus.

Now, Dives, which word is Latin for “rich man” and not the rich man’s name, was opulently wealthy. He dressed in fine clothes all the time. Every day, he feasted. Feasting was spared for special occasions, such as when a son who was all but dead to you returns and pleads for forgiveness. (cf. Luke 15:21-24) Dives did this everyday, but more than that, his feasting is described by Jesus as being excessive, sumptuous, lavish.

At the gate to Dives’ house is laid a poor man whom Jesus gives the name Lazarus. Nothing should be read into the name as if to indicate this is a true story or that this Lazarus is supposed to be someone Jesus knows outside of the parable. This is a parable, and Lazarus is merely a character in it. His name is significant, and we’ll get to that in a bit. Lazarus was a poor man who hoped for at least a crumb that would fall from Dives’ opulence. Instead of a crumb of mercy from the rich man’s fare, the dogs of the house, which likely were fed by these crumbs (cf. Matthew 15:27), would come and lick Lazarus’ sores. He would beg and beg, day after day, yet not one person who feasted with Dives, nor Dives himself, would have compassion on this poor man.

As it would happen, both men died. Lazarus was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom—Lazarus had a place in eternal life. That is the significance of his name in this parable—the significance of the poor man having a name. It indicates that he is known by name in Paradise because his name is written in the Book of Life. Dives, however, is buried. The rest of the parable states that he is in eternal torment in Hades, the place of the dead. He is dead and unknown to God and Abraham—perhaps signified that he has no name in the parable. The sentence pronounced on him is the same to the five foolish virgins: “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” (Matthew 25:12)

From his place in torment, the unnamed Dives sees Lazarus reclining on Abraham’s bosom, in that eternally sumptuous feast of victory of the Lamb. He cries out from afar, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” The reversal is on, but the rich man doesn’t exactly get it. In life, he had his good things, feasting every day as if there were no cares or worries; in death, he becomes the poor, miserable beggar. In life, Lazarus was the poor, miserable beggar, but in eternity, he feasts at the richest of feasts creation will ever know...or not know. The rich man begs for mercy, as Lazarus had done in life, and pleads for Lazarus to be sent to give that mercy. There’s a reversal of roles, but in life and death, the rich man sees Lazarus as nothing more than low-life scum.

As much as Abraham and Lazarus may have wanted to give mercy to Dives, they simply could not. “[B]etween 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.” The time for personal interaction between the haves and have-nots is over after death, according to Jesus’ parable.

In life, Dives had every opportunity to show mercy to Lazarus. He could have sent a servant with a plate of food to the poor man laying at his gates. He could have had Lazarus welcomed to the table—there was certainly more than enough there for him—had him cleaned up, cared for, and dressed to the nines, and set a place for him at the lavish feasts. He could have sent Lazarus away with a coin or two to get something, perhaps even invited him in and cared for him as one of his servants and given him a wage. Instead, he was ignored by all in the house except for the dogs—those dirty, filthy, low-life dogs!

As a result, Dives was condemned to a death of eternal torture separated from God by a great gulf, such that not even lavish Lazarus—or anyone in Abraham’s bosom—could show him any mercy. It would seem that Jesus here condemns the rich to death and eternal torture. He is, after all, condemning the Pharisees as lovers of money.

The rich have every right to throw lavish parties. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the gifts which God thrusts upon you, through food, clothing and shoes, house and home, land, animals, and anything else. If you, being rich, wish to indulge in these things, please do so, and enjoy them as perfectly good gifts that God gives to you.

But in the process of enjoying the many gifts which God bestows on you, do not forget the many poor which God has also given to you to care for. They may not be as easy to identify as Lazarus laying at your gates, but they are there, and you cross paths with them more often than you may realize. In fact, there are many right here and now, sitting with you at the feet of God, and receiving forgiveness, life, and salvation right along with you from the bountiful hand of the Lord! The poor are also God’s gifts to you as a means by which you may show mercy through the bounty that God has given you. Here are the good works prepared in advance for you to do. (cf. Ephesians 2:10) What more is required of you? Care for them, give to them, be merciful to them, and you, too, will have your name written in the Book of Life.

It was Tertullian who recorded, “‘Look,’ they say, ‘how they love one another,’ for they themselves hate one another, ‘and how they are ready to die for each other,’ for they themselves are readier to kill each other.” Part of being ready to die for each other is to sacrifice a bit of the bounty that God has given you in support of a brother in need—it’s dying to the opulence you could otherwise enjoy in order to give to a brother who could make better use of it!

But how does if often go? “I gave at the office.” “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled.” (James 2:16) “Ignore him, honey, he’s a dirty beggar.” “You can’t tell if he’s really a beggar in need.” “There’s nothing more I can do; let someone else more suited to caring for them do something.” No, these reflect more readiness to kill each other! Love each other, be merciful to each other, and you can’t; your place in the Book of Life is in jeopardy.

“Alright then,” says Dives. “If not to me, send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers—one who gives at the office, one who tells them to depart and be filled, one who ignores dirty beggars, one who is skeptical about beggars, and one who let’s others do the work—let him testify to them so that they don’t end up here. If only someone from the dead were to tell them, they would repent.”

“They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” What do Moses and the Prophets say?

• “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 23:22)
• “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58:6-7)

But Moses also wrote this: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear...” (Deuteronomy 18:15) Then, when the voice from the mountain thundered down, it declared, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Luke 9:35) So, when Jesus speaks, He is Moses and the Prophets; what they wrote is what He says, what He says is what they wrote. And Jesus commends the same care for the poor and downtrodden that Moses and the Prophets did—for one, it is here in this parable; for another, when Jesus says, “You have the poor with you always.” (Matthew 26:11)

Therefore, since Jesus is Moses and the Prophets, it stands to reason that if anyone will not hear Moses and the Prophets, then they will neither be convinced is someone is raised from the dead. Jesus was not speaking solely of Lazarus in the parable, but of His own resurrection. Moses and the Prophets spoke of resurrection, too. Hear Jesus say, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matthew 16:4) What is this sign? Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days before coming back to the land of the living; the account of Jonah is an account of resurrection. The Psalms, Isaiah, the Books of Kings all tell of resurrection—but Jonah, that one was the sign. The Pharisees knew this! However, true to form, Jesus’ resurrection did not convince those who refuse to hear Moses and the Prophets.

But do you hear Moses and the Prophets? They speak of the One who was to come, who has with Him the riches of creation and eternity, but gave all of that up in order to be one with you. He gave all of that up in order to serve you with those riches, to give you what is rightfully His, to be merciful to you by taking what you deserve by your sins into His flesh and giving you the riches of life everlasting. Moses and the Prophets, that is Jesus Christ says through His apostle John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... (John 1:1-4, 14a)

Do you hear this, because He’s speaking to you?!

You have within you an evil heart which is always at the ready to kill your brother. Take his life, sure, but rob him when you should be giving to him, show him contempt when you should be showing him compassion, be of service to yourself when you should be of service to others. Your heart is always readier to kill him. Look into the mirror of God’s Law, and you see Dives!

But you also have Moses and the Prophets, Jesus, who has come to you and served you with His riches, not merely as an example of how you should live, but sacrificially, giving of Himself to you in order that you would live. Your name is written in the Book of Life, not for your sake, not for the sake of being merciful (because you are not perfectly merciful), not for the sake of your evil heart (these things would have your name stricken from that Book), but for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom you have been clothed, and through whom you have a place in Abraham’s bosom. Where you lack mercy, Jesus is perfectly merciful for you. His righteousness is yours, gift to you from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, received in faith. In Christ Jesus, baptized into His name, when the Father looks at you, He sees His perfectly merciful Son, for you are robed in His mercy, clothed in His righteousness.

“Wir sind alle bettler,” Martin Luther once said. We are all beggars, this is the truth. You have nothing in and of yourself by which you have the right to approach God, much less which grants you license into His eternal presence. This should be cause for proper fear of God. This was true for Dives as much as it was for Lazarus. But God is merciful toward you. He sent His Son to serve you, and out of His loving service toward you, He was ready to die for you, and did so. Look upon the cross and see there the mercy of your God. The Law says, “That’s your place,” but the Gospel declares, “Jesus took it for you.” That’s mercy, not receiving what you deserve—and that’s the mercy of God, that He dies in your place. The grace of God is that you receive His life that you do not deserve, but receive for the sake of Jesus Christ.

“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) This now becomes for you an invitation. You are a New Man in Christ, and that New Man which was born of water and the Spirit (cf. John 3:5) is always at war with the Old Adam. This New Man, God’s gift to you in Christ, seeks to live as one in service to God by being a servant to others. “Look how they love each other, and how they are ready to die for each other,” Tertullian wrote; this comes only by the grace of God.

Look how Jesus loves all of you, that He was ready to die for you. This He has done, and you are forgiven for all of your sins. By His grace and mercy, your names are written in the Book of Life—your names are known and spoken before the throne of God in heaven!