The Rich Man and Lazarus

(The Call for Early Repentance)

Luke 16:19-31

Key Verse 16:31

In this passage Jesus teaches us the importance of early (timely, if you will) repentance. 

The Bible teaches us that God has the message of salvation, that is, the good news of the kingdom of God.  Read Mark 1:15 (what Jesus asks us to do for salvation); Matthew 21:28-32 (what people failed to do and thereby forfeited their salvation).  

In this passage Jesus dug up a conversation that took place between a rich man and Abraham on the other side of life.  In that conversation the rich man asked Abraham to do two things, first for himself (24), and second for his brothers (27-28). Abraham rejected both. 

1. Examine the rich man’s first request to Abraham in verse 24. What did the man ask Abraham to do?  Abraham is known as a man who is willing to go the extra mile to meet the needs others have. Yet why did Abraham reject his request? What can we learn from this conversation in preparing for the life to come? 

** He did not ask Abraham to do much; he asked Abraham to do just a little favor. [let a drop of water touch the tip of his tongue]

** 1) Lazarus is on his vacation; and 2) there is a big chasm fixed between the paradise section and the hell section of the underworld. 

** It is while we are physically alive here on earth alone that we can prepare ourselves for our life to come (after our life’s journey is over). Once we die there is no opportunity to improve the well being of our life after death. 

2. Think about the rich man’s second request to Abraham in verses 27-28. In what respect was his concern “noble”? Abraham’s reply in verse 29 indicates that honoring his request is within the range of possibility. Yet, Abraham rejected the request because the five brothers had Moses and the Prophets. What are Moses and the Prophets referring to? How will listening to Moses and the Prophets prevent the rich man’s five brothers (or anyone) from coming to the place of torment after death? (Luke 16:16; 24:25-27) 

** He used to be a self-seeking person, but now he is thinking about someone else, like his five brothers. 

** Moses and the Prophets are an idiom for the Old Testament Scriptures. 

** Moses and the Prophets talk about Jesus Christ (his death and resurrection), so that through faith in Jesus, one can be forgiven of one’s sins, and be saved into His kingdom, just as the tax collectors and sinners had been doing (Luke 16:16). 

3. Consider the rich man’s argument in verse 30, and Abraham’s reply to the man’s  argument in verse 31. What does this conversation indicate about: 1) the importance of repentance; 2) the time for repentance; and 3) the means of repentance? 

** It is important because it involves the change of mind (in deciding one’s course of action) based on one’s choice, choosing either the way of life or the way of eternal destruction. No one but each person can make such a choice. 

** The time for repentance – it is while we are on this side of the grave. 

** Listening to the living word of God, which will lead man to being convinced of the blessedness of the life that repents and turns to God the Father, as opposed to the wretchedness of the life that is self-seeking, in rebellion against the word of God in the Bible. 

The end 

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