The Rich Man and Lazarus: A Luke 16 Devotional

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)

Hello lovelies! I wanted to think a bit on Lazarus and the Rich Man today.

At the very end of this excerpt from scripture, Abraham tells the rich man that if his brothers don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe someone raised from the dead. Moses and the prophets were dead, left to them only in holy texts.

We have the same thing, don't we? Prophetic words, holy texts - all in the form of scriptures bound together in our Bibles - and if we don't believe scripture, we won't believe when Jesus returns.

The rich man, his brothers, and all of us have the same problem. Not a problem of sight, where if we could just see, we would believe, but a problem of the heart, where even seeing someone miraculously raised from the dead to give us warnings that would save our souls would not do a single thing to ensure our eternity in heaven.

What are we doing today, right now, to keep the dead that reside in that fiery, dreadful place from begging Father Abraham to send residents of Heaven to save us? Are we living in ways that mean we need intervention? 

Take your intervention from the pages of your Bible and change your path today. Hell exists, and the rich man can attest to its endless misery. 

All the love,

Emily

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