Luke 16:31

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.

If one rise from the dead ... A striking example of the truth of what Jesus proclaimed here occurred not many days later in the resurrection of Lazarus; and there is no way to avoid the perception that Jesus actually had that miracle in mind here. Lazarus (another one) did indeed come back from the grave in the very presence of the Pharisees; but did they repent? No! They set about to kill Lazarus. In a sense, Lazarus came to the Pharisees who were present when he rose from the dead. In the case of Jesus' resurrection, there was no appearance to the Pharisees; and this leads us to reject the comment of Geldenhuys that "the last words of this parable were uttered by Jesus with a view to his own resurrection."[45] No. Lazarus was the one Jesus had in mind here. Regarding his own resurrection, Jesus did not appear "to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God," even to the apostles, "who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead" (Acts 10:41). It would have done no good at all for the Lord to have appeared to the Pharisees.

This great parable teaches many things. Barnes listed these: (1) the souls of men do not die with their bodies; (2) the soul is conscious after death; (3) the righteous go to a place of happiness, the wicked to a place of misery; (4) we should not envy the rich.[46]

Cox listed these: (1) we should not live in luxury while Lazarus begs at our gate; (2) the selfish use of wealth will bring torment beyond the grave; (3) memory will not be obliterated by death; (4) to prevent a great gulf from separating us from Lazarus in the hereafter, we should take care to see that the gulf is not there now; (5) if the ordinary means of grace cannot reach us, we need not expect the extraordinary; (6) he who is lost in death is lost eternally; (7) God's word is sufficient to save men.[47]

ANALOGIES IN THE PARABLE

Going back to Augustine and Gregory the Great, many brilliant students of the word of God have found analogies in this parable with a scope of application broad as mankind itself.

Abraham is God, who alone presides over the destinies of men.

The rich man is primarily the ecclesiastical establishment of Israel. They wore the purple of God's royal favor, and the white linen of the sacred priesthood, and fared sumptuously in the bountiful knowledge that God delivered unto them in the Holy Scriptures.

Lazarus begging at the gate is the whole Gentile world lying in wretchedness, sin, and misery, which awful state Israel made no move whatever to alleviate.

The reversed status of Dives and Lazarus foretold the reversal of the status of the Jews and Gentiles in God's favor, as related so copiously by Paul in Romans.

The dogs that licked Lazarus' sores correspond to the ineffectual treatment of the Gentiles' wretched and sinful miseries by their philosophers, poets, and legislators.[48]

The desire of the beggar to be fed suggests the longing of men's souls for a truth which they have not; but a truth which the Jew had, and had richly; and which, if he had been faithful to his trust, he would have imparted to the benighted nations of the Gentiles.

It is in the primary application to the Pharisees and others like them in the leadership of Israel that the full impact of this remarkable parable appears. The Pharisees were not merely rich materially, but they were the custodians of the whole treasure of God's revelation to mankind; and it was their unfaithfulness to THAT TRUST, more than their mere misuse of money, that earned them the denunciation apparent in this parable.

[45] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 427.

[46] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 118.

[47] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 51.

[48] For an extensive development of these and other analogies, see Richard C. Trench, op. cit., pp. 470-475.