The Rich Man and Lazarus
I've heard people say, "I wonder what my name will be." Rather than pondering on which name Jesus will call us, let's make sure we will have a name in heaven!
Make sure your name is known
We all know about the rich man and Lazarus, the picture of hell, the torture and who goes where. I’d like to focus on a few other points in this story, which I came across recently, reading Luke 16 again.
Have you ever noticed that the rich man doesn’t have a name? Repeatedly Jesus calls him the “rich man”, when he was still alive as much as after descending to eternity. (Luke 16:19, 23, 27) For sure this rich man was known by name while walking the earth; many people probably heard of him, even if they didn’t know the person that went along with this name. He was wealthy, living in constant luxury; of course his name was known, by the world. But his name is not known in heaven, it isn’t written in the Lamb’s Book of Life; he is just the rich man.
Isn’t it sad what we try to accomplish in our lives to be heard, to be seen, to get fame, to feel acknowledged. We waste our time and we waste our money on things and people that are not recognized in heaven. Wow, if that isn’t a wake-up call!
Consider Lazarus on the other hand. He was a man known by the dogs, maybe by one or two more beggars and perhaps by the people who carried him to the gate. Yet his name is written in the Book; Jesus knows his name! (Luke. 16:20, 22) He suffered and was humiliated in his life, but apparently his heart was right. (Luke. 16:25b)
In hell you still don’t ever get it
There are a lot of things we don’t understand about life. You have probably heard it said that we will know all things when we go to heaven. One of the most quoted verses of the Bible, always comes in handy when we don’t have the answer; it is (1Cor. 13:12). I heard it more often than I liked hearing it when I was a young Christian, and I’ve used it quite often myself. So, the thought I had is about the rich man asking Abraham to send Lazarus to get him water. (Luke. 16:24b) Instantly when I read it, my thought was, he still didn’t get it. The rich man is still the rich man, Lazarus in his mind is still "the nobody", "beggar", "servant". When he met his Creator, he met Love and he fell down on his face before Almighty God, but he didn’t get the revelation of life and the understanding of all things working together for good.
This makes the outlook of hell even worse. I’ve always believed that after seeing God face to face and yet being dispossessed of His Love, would be hell enough. But this adds to the agony, because there is still no understanding. It makes hell a continuation of the misery in life without Christ on this earth. It will be mind games and running in circles for eternity after meeting Love.
The Power of the Word
The story of the rich man and Lazarus ends with a powerful message. (Luke. 16:31) The writings of Moses and the prophets are the Word of God, the Old Testament of our Bible. Jesus tells us that the Scriptures are a more powerful message than any message a dead man rising from the grave could ever tell. Let that sink in! Think about this - ghost stories have an effect on humans, (even though I don’t believe in ghosts), and so would the thought of somebody you buried previously knocking on your door. I do believe it would get my attention. But Jesus says that the Word is even more powerful! He explains that the person that is not persuaded by the Word won’t be able to be won over by a resurrected person either.
I always read Jesus into this last sentence of Luke 16, which is a natural conclusion (Luke 16:31). Jesus is the risen one and if one listens to Jesus, he will end up on the right side of eternity.
As long as being a Christian I thought of the Word of God as powerful and convicting, it being plainly alive. But, looking at it now with new insight I must ask myself if there is so much more in it that I haven’t found yet. I will surely look at the Bible in a new way now, searching deeper and trying to find the ultimate power of the written messages of Moses and the prophets, the living and undefeatable Word of God, our Bible. I invite you to do the same.
God’s never-ending wisdom is so much bigger than my little, feeble mind.
“Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. ”