The Rich Man and Lazarus
-the intermediate state-
 

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS - Part 2

Moreover, there is this further moral difficulty; in this parable, which is supposed to treat of the most solemn realities as to the eternal destiny of the righteous and the wicked, there is a man who receives all blessing, and his only merit is poverty. That, for ought that is said, is the only title Lazarus has for his reward. It is useless to assume that he might have been righteous as well as poor. The answer is that the parable does not say a word about it; and it is perfectly arbitrary for anyone to insert either the words or the thought. On the other hand, the only sin for which the rich man was punished with those torments was his previous enjoyment of �good things� and his neglect of Lazarus. But for this neglect, and his style of living, he might have been as good and moral a man as Lazarus.

Again, if �Abraham's bosom� is the same as Paradise, then we ask, �Is that where Christ and the thief went according to the popular interpretation of Luke 23:43? Did they go to 'Abraham's bosom'�? The fact is, the more closely we look at tradition, the more glaring are the inconsistencies which it creates.

The teaching of the Pharisees had much in common with the teaching of Romanists and Spiritists in the present day. We have only to refer to the Lord's words to see what He thought of the Pharisees and their teachings. He reserved for them His severest denunciations and woes; and administered to them His most scathing reprobations. It was the teaching of the Pharisees, which had made the Word of God of none effect, that was the very essence of their sin and its condemnation. Everywhere the Lord refers to this as bringing down His wrath; and calling forth His �woes.� The Word of God said one thing, and the Pharisees said another; they thus contracted themselves out of the Law of God by their traditions.
The context shows that the Lord's controversy with the Pharisees was now approaching a crisis. It begins, in chapter 14:35, with the solemn formula, �He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.� We are immediately shown who had these opened ears; for we read (15:1):

�Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them.�

They professed to have the key of knowledge, but they entered not in themselves; and those who were entering in they hindered (Matthew 23:13-33). They had the Scriptures, but they overlaid them with their traditions, and thus made them of none effect (Matt. 15:19). They were like �the Unjust Steward� (Luke 16:1-12) in the parable which immediately follows Luke 15. For He would explain to His immediate believing followers the iniquity of these murmuring Pharisees.
They dealt unjustly with the oracles of God which were committed unto them (Rom. 3:2). They allowed His commandments to be disobeyed by others that they might make gain. In Mark 7:9 the Lord said, �Full well ye reject (margin, frustrate) the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.� This was said in solemn irony; for they did not �well� in the strict meaning of the word, though they did well, i.e. consistently with their own teaching when they practically did away with the fifth and seventh Commandments for their own profit and gain, just as Rome in later days did away with the doctrine of �justification through faith� by the sale of �indulgences.� (Read carefully Matthew 15:3-6 and Mark 7:7-13). They were �unjust stewards�; and contrary to their teaching, the Lord declared there was no such thing as �little� or �much� when it came to honesty, especially in dealing with the Word of God; and that, if they were unfaithful in the least, they would be in much also, and could not be trusted. The time was at hand when the sentence would go forth, �thou mayest be no longer steward.�


Then in Luke 16:14 we read: �The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things; and they derided him� (v. 14): lit., they turned up their noses at Him! The supreme moment had come. We may thus paraphrase His words which follow and lead up to the Parable:
�You deride and scoff at Me, as if I were mistaken, and you were innocent. You seek to justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. You highly esteem your traditions, but they are abomination in the sight of God (v. 15). The law and the prophets were until John, but you deal unjustly with them, changing them and wresting them at your pleasure, by your tradition, and by the false glosses ye have put upon them.
And when John preached the Kingdom of God, every one used violence and hostility against it by contradictions, persecution, and derision (v. 16). And yet, though by your vain traditions you would make the law void and of none effect, it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fail (v. 17).
Take one instance out of many. It is true that God permitted, and legislated for, divorce. But ye, by your traditions and arbitrary system of divorces, have degraded it for gain. Nevertheless, that law still remains, and will stand for ever, and he who accepts your teaching on the subject, and receives your divorces, and marrieth another, committeth adultery� (v. 18).
Then the Lord immediately passes on to the culminating point of His lesson (v. 19):
�There was a certain rich man,� etc.
He makes no break. He does not call it, or give it as one of His own Parables; but He at once goes on to give another example from the traditions of the Pharisees, in order to judge them out of their own mouth. A parable of this kind need not be true in itself, or in fact; though it must be believed to be true by the hearers, if not by the speaker. No more than Jotham's parable of the Trees speaking (Judges 9:7-15). No more than when the Pharisees, on another occasion, said �this fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils�; and He, judging them out of their own mouth, did not contradict them, nor did He admit the truth of their words when He replied, �If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?� (Matt. 12:24-27). No! The Lord did not bandy words in argument with these arch-traditionists, but turned the tables upon them. It was the same here, in Luke 16. He neither denied nor admitted the truth of their tradition when He used their own teachings against themselves.

It was the same in the case of the parable of the �pounds� a little later on, when He said, �Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow� (Luke 19:22). The Lord was not, of course, an austere and unjust man; but He uses the words which those to whom He was speaking believed to be true; and condemned them out of their own mouth.

We believe that the Lord is doing the very same thing here. The framework of the illustration is exactly what the Pharisees believed and taught. It is a powerful and telling example of one of their distinctive traditions, by which they made the teaching of God's Word of none effect. It is, of course, adapted by the Lord so as to convey His condemnation of the Pharisees. He represents the dead as speaking, but the words put into Abraham's mouth contain the sting of what was His own teaching. In verse 18 He had given an example of their practice in making void the Law of God as to marriage and divorce; and in the very next verse (19) He proceeds to give an example of their doctrine to show how their traditions made void the truth of God; using their very words as an argument against themselves; and showing, by His own words, which He puts into Abraham's mouth (verses 29 and 31), that all these traditions were contrary to God's truth.

They taught that the dead could go to and communicate with the living; the Lord declares that this is impossible; and that none can go �from the dead� but by resurrection; �neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead� (v. 31). Note, these latter are His own words; He knew that their traditions were false, and in this very parable He corrects them. He distinctly declares that no dead person could go to the living except by resurrection; and that if one did go it would be useless; for, there was one of the same name � Lazarus, who was raised from the dead shortly afterward, but their reply was to call a Council, in which �they determined to put Lazarus also to death,� as well as Himself (John 12:10). And when the Lord rose from the dead they again took counsel, and would not believe (Matt. 28:11-15). Thus the parable is made by the Lord to give positive teaching as well as negative, and to teach the truth as well as to correct error.

    
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