Parable of the Book of Luke

Luke 16:19-31 (The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus)

Stein writes that two strong Lukan themes are found in this parable. The first, which is found in the first part of the parable (16:19-26), involves the great reversal. Tied to this are two related Lukan emphases involving the need for repentance and the stewardship of one's possessions. The rich man suffered reversal in the afterlife not because he was rich and lacked compassion for the needy. He could callously feast each day sumptuously and ignore the needs of poor Lazarus lying at his gate. He suffered irreversible damnation (16:26) because he lacked a repentance (16:31) that produced fruit (3:8). His actions reveal a heart never make tender by repentance and regeneration. God's love did not abide in him (1 John 3:17). As a result his attitude toward his possessions was one of self-serving greed. Like another rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), foolishly ignoring that his worldly wealth was only on loan, he possessed no true riches that would be eternally his (16:11-12) and lost his very self (9:25). Theophilus and the other readers were reminded once again that they needed to make certain they were "rich toward God" (12:21 ) and possessed "treasure in heaven" (12:33). Only by using their worldly wealth to serve God and others would they possess "true riches" (16:11).

The second part of the parable (16:27-31) involves Jesus' adamant rejection of a sign to satisfy his opponents. The parable argues that a refusal to repent is not due to the lack of a sign. If one is sincere, all that is necessary for faith is the Scripture (16:31). A sign dose not necessitates faith, as 11:14-23 has already shown. Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry refused this way of fulfilling his messianic mission (4:1-13). "Jews demand miraculous signs" (1 Cor. 1:22), but only preaching of Christ crucified is necessary for those with a tender heart for God. For those with stony hearts even a witness returned from the dead will not convince them to believe. This is seen elsewhere in the Gospel, for when Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11:38-12:9), instead of faith the result was a plot to kill him (12:10-11). There is little doubt that Jesus' original audience would have understood the rich man's request (Luke 16:27) and Jesus' concluding statement about "someone... from the dead" (16:31) as involving the sending of Lazarus to his brothers. In Luke's setting, however, his readers could not have helped thinking of Jesus' resurrection and applying 16:30-31 to him The Lord had indeed risen from the dead (16:30), but even this did not result in Israel's repenting (16:31). It is on this point that the main emphasis of the parable falls. Compare Rom. 10:5-17.

Another theme found in the second part of the parable involves the continued validity of the OT (Like 16:29-31). Like prepared his readers for this by what he already had said about the OT Scriptures in 1:1f., but in the immediate context he prepared them for this in 16:17. From the first chapter of the Gospel (cf. 1:6, 45) to the last (cf. 24:25-27, 32, 44-48), from the first chapter of Acts (cf. 1:16-18) to the last (28:23, 25-27), the eternal validity of the OT Scriptures is taught both explicitly