Are we Paying Attention to Lazarus?

There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate. He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. “Father Abraham!” he called out, “Have mercy 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 flame!”

“Son,” Abraham said, “remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.”

“Father,” he said, “Then I beg you to send him to my father’s house—because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t also come to this place of torment.”

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”

“No, father Abraham,” he said. “But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”

But he told him, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” –Luke 16:19-31 (CSB)

A story not often told in mainstream portrayals of the Gospels, Lazarus and the Rich Man is a powerful cautionary tale Jesus gave to His followers. For many in His audience, it may have been a promise of comfort and justice for all the pain and neglect they have endured. For others, it was a horrifying warning to change the way they lived.

Before going into the main question I want to raise from this story, I want to set some context. First, it’s fascinating how Jesus describes the two main characters. Both the rich man and Lazarus are described in their living situations, and shown to be opposite. The rich man is wealthy and dresses in expensive, stylish clothes. Lazarus is poor and “covered in sores”. Lazarus was unattractive, and considering his living situation, probably poorly clothed.

Lazarus, starving, seeks what little he can from the rich man’s table, but the only company he gets is dogs licking his sores. When Lazarus dies, it seems nobody in the world cared. Just another wasted homeless man on the street. But when the rich man dies, he is buried, implying he had loved ones. The rich man’s company was not dogs, but community who cared for him.

Second, it’s interesting how Jesus names one of the main characters but not the other. Augustine pointed out in a sermon the significance of God naming the poor man who most wouldn’t notice but didn’t give name to the rich man, whom society would see as important.

As much as we like to talk about how important the marginalized are, it’s hard to argue much has changed since Jesus told this story. Many of us (including myself) know celebrities we’ve never met by name, but are often tempted to see homeless people or prisoners as statistics. Yet, as we see in this story, the demographic Jesus sees is the marginalized and rejected, not the ones who are popular and loved.

This isn’t to suggest that being blessed with financial wealth is inherently wrong or automatically draws away God’s favor. Augustine and Jerome state in their homilies that they believe the rich man’s biggest issue wasn’t having money, but being prideful and uncompassionate.

It’s also significant to point out who Lazarus is being comforted by when entering Paradise: Abraham. Not only did Abraham seem pretty well off when God first called him (Genesis 12:4-5), but God continuously blessed him with prosperity despite difficulties and trials (Genesis 13:2, 20:14-15). So it would be inaccurate to conclude Jesus is simply condemning people for having financial wealth.

It seems the rich man knows what he did that was wrong. We see in verses 27-30 that he wants to warn his family to repent. He also calls out Lazarus by name, showing his knowledge of Lazarus’s suffering on earth. The condemnation of the rich man was seeing Lazarus in torment, and refusing to help. Instead, he went in his house, and ate in comfort while Lazarus starved.


What Jesus wants for Lazarus

In addition to seeing the problem Jesus brings up is simply being rich, I also think it would be naïve to conclude the solution Jesus implies is to just donate money. Yes, Jesus brings up the financial situation both men are in, but He also brings up their clothing, eating, comfort, and community. It’s also worth noting that Lazarus is not receiving money from Abraham after he dies, instead he is being comforted. What Jesus expected from the rich man was not to just give some money to Lazarus, but to actually include Lazarus in his life, to be invested. Yes, we are called to sacrificially give our money and resources to those in need, but Jesus wants us to do more than just give money. He wants us to sacrifice our comfort to help comfort those who desperately need help.

Giving money to the poor is certainly something the Old and New Testament stress over and over again. But Jesus did not die for us so we can live in luxury and occasionally do charity superficially. Jesus befriended the disgraced tax collector and the contagious leper (Matthew 9:9-14, 26:6-7). Yes, we should give money to those who need it, but we don’t stop there and live isolated.


Who is Lazarus in your life?

This question can be hard and uncomfortable to face. Donating money to charity and to the poor can feel like enough of a sacrifice. But to actually see and invest in people around us, people who are different than us, is a bit heavy. It would be easier to just remind ourselves that we’re saved by grace and not works and move on. It would be easier when we walk by Lazarus to pray a quick prayer for him and go in our house, hoping to forget about him soon.

But can we honestly do this and follow Christ? I don’t honestly know what it always looks like to comfort and stand by the Lazarus in my community. I’m not the savior, Jesus is. But I know reading this piece of Scripture that I can no longer give to charity superficially. I also know this piece of Scripture shows I am no better than anybody else. I can no longer have superficial relationships with those I reach out to. With the pandemic still going, this can also make current application trickier. But something has to change. Yes, we are saved by grace and not works, but we need to take Jesus’s words seriously.

Will you pray for me to have my eyes open to who Christ’s heart is breaking for around me and how to love and help them? I also will pray that all of us in the Body will humbly seek out Lazarus and step out of our comfort.

Bibliography

Just, A. (2003). Luke. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament III. (pp. 260-261). Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Thumbnail image from the Codex Aureus of Echternach