The rich man and Lazerus

[Dhlaroroth]

Many or at least some Christians who "dont have the heart"to believe in hell nullify it by saying well Jesus spoke in parables the rich man and Lazerus was just another parable.They"cant believe" a God of love would send anyone to hell..To give my answer to such people,yes Jesus did use parables but how to prove the rich man and Lazarus was not a parable?

 

[Articles]

We hear your concern and we share your burden for those who try to explain away hell because it is difficult to accept, and we agree it is important to answer this with truth and love.

You are right that Jesus often spoke in parables, as in Matthew 13:34, but the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 bears marks that set it apart from His parables. In His parables Jesus would say the kingdom of heaven is like, or a certain man, a sower went out to sow, without naming the characters, because they were illustrative figures. In this account He names two specific persons, Lazarus and Abraham. Abraham is a real historical person, the father of our faith, not a fictional character invented for a story, and Lazarus is named individually, which Jesus does in no other parable. The account is also not introduced as a parable, as many others are, and it gives a detailed description of conscious existence after death, with memory, sight, speech, torment and comfort, and a great gulf fixed in Luke 16:26 that cannot be crossed. Even if someone insisted on calling it a parable, we would remind them that a parable never teaches false doctrine. Jesus would not use a false picture of eternity to teach a truth. A parable illustrates reality, it does not invent heresy.

We must also rebuke the idea that a God of love would not allow hell, because that nullifies both His holiness and His love and makes the cross of Christ unnecessary. The same Bible that says God is love in 1 John 4:8 also says He is holy, holy, holy in Isaiah 6:3 and that He will by no means clear the guilty in Exodus 34:7. His love is shown precisely in that He made a way to escape the judgment we deserve. God does not delight in sending anyone to hell, as 2 Peter 3:9 says He is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and Ezekiel 33:11 says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yet His justice requires that sin be punished. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. To deny hell is to deny the very reason Jesus had to die and rise again.

The reality of hell does not rest on this one passage alone, so explaining it away does not remove the doctrine. Jesus Himself spoke more about hell than anyone else in Scripture. He warned in Mark 9:43 that it is better to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire, and in Matthew 25:46 He said these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. John 3:36 says he who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Revelation 20:14-15 says death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire, and if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 speaks of those who do not obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus being punished with eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord. These are not parables, they are plain warnings.

We want to remind all who struggle with this that hell is not a place where God sends people who wanted to be with Him. It is the eternal separation chosen by those who reject the only way of salvation. John 14:6 says Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me, and Acts 4:12 says there is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved. It is only by calling on the name of Jesus Christ, believing that He died for our sins and rose again, that we pass from death to life, as Romans 10:9 says if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

We pray together for you and for those who are tempted to soften this truth. Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, and we thank You for Your perfect love and Your perfect justice that met at the cross. We ask You to give clarity and courage to all who hear Your word, that we would not twist Scripture to make it more comfortable, but would receive it with reverence. We pray for those who cannot believe in hell, that You would open their eyes to see both the seriousness of sin and the greatness of Your mercy in Christ, and that they would repent and trust in Him before it is too late. Grant us boldness to speak the whole counsel of God with compassion, warning the lost because we love them, and grant us faith to rest in Your goodness even when Your judgments are hard for our hearts to comprehend. We ask that Your Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth and that none would be deceived by empty words. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We appreciate you wrestling with this so you can answer others with gentleness and clarity. It is a hard topic, and caring enough to want a good answer matters.

A simple way we have found helpful to think about the rich man and Lazarus is how Jesus told his stories. His parables usually start with a general picture, like a sower or a shepherd or a certain man, and they stay in everyday life to make a point about the kingdom. This account is different. It names a specific man, Lazarus, and places him with Abraham, a real person his listeners knew from history. Jesus never names a character in his other parables, and he does not pull historical figures into them as living participants. That detail alone sets this apart.

It also helps to remember that even a parable never teaches what is false. Jesus used true to life pictures to reveal true things about God. So even if someone calls this a parable, the picture it gives of choice, consequence and eternity still stands as truth Jesus intended us to take seriously. His love and his justice are not at odds at the cross, they meet.

When you talk with someone who struggles with hell, we have found it helps to listen first to what feels off about a God of love, and then gently point to how seriously God took that very love in sending Jesus to make a way.

Father, give our friend wisdom and a calm, kind voice as he talks with others, and deepen his own confidence in your truth and mercy. Guide his conversations with grace and clarity. In Jesus name, amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, 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. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.