Sermon Video: The Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31

In his ongoing effort to explain the deficiencies of the religion of the religious authorities, Jesus tells his last parable in the Gospel of Luke, the Rich Man and Lazarus.  The parable begins with an expected lesson about the limited value of riches in this life, relative to poverty, if the former does not lead to the spiritual renewal that will lead to heaven.  The rich man's riches do not avail him when he dies, for he ends up in hell, while Lazarus' extreme poverty is no hindrance to his final destination at Abraham's side in paradise.  The lesson is reinforced when the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to give him a slight momentary relief of a drop of cold water to ease his torment, only to find out that it is not possible for any to interfere with the punishment given to those who reject God.
The unexpected twist of the parable comes when the rich man follows up his rejected request by asking Abraham to send Lazarus instead to his five living brothers to warn them of what awaits them if they follow in his footsteps.  This request is also rejected, but not because it is impossible, instead it is rejected because the living already have a miraculous witness that they ought to be listening to, not someone raised from the dead, but the Word of God as revealed through Moses and the Prophets.  The rich man insists that a visit from the dead is what is necessary to turn his brothers from their path, but the parable ends with Abraham's ominous response that not even someone coming back from the dead would be sufficient if they have already rejected God's Word.  Thus the parable of Jesus, while continuing the warning about shallowness of riches, is really a much sterner and more important warning about the eternal consequences of missing out on the call of God to repentance.

To watch the video, click on the link below: