City Life Starter

The Word: Luke 16:19-31

19“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

20“And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores,

21and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

22“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

23“In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

24“And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’

25“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.

26‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

27“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

28for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

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

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

By Scott Fiddler

In this parable, Jesus addresses the issue of Hell. Notably, Jesus does so after giving three parables on God’s love for the lost (Luke 15) and a parable on evangelism (Luke 16:1-9). This is significant because it illustrates the importance of presenting both the love of God and the justice of God. Today, one hears much of the former and little of the latter.

In this parable on Hell, Jesus makes another important point. The rich man in the story asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers, who are still alive, to warn them so they will not end up in Hell like him. This part of the parable is an answer to the oft-asked question, “Why doesn’t God just show up and prove His existence to people rather than allowing people to go to Hell?” The assumption appears in the question is that if God did so, everyone would believe in Him.

Jesus’ answer? It wouldn’t make any difference. If they don’t respond to the Word of God (“Moses and the Prophets”) even if someone rises from the dead they will not be persuaded. In other words, their unbelief is not the result of an evidence problem but a heart problem. As a general rule people don’t believe because they don’t want to believe, and people don’t want to believe because they would rather do their own thing than serve God. It’s a heart problem, not a head problem.

It should also be noted that God did show up in history in the person of Jesus,  proved His identity through the resurrection, and people still don’t believe He is who He said He was.

Application

Two final thoughts on Hell. First, there are those who believe it’s unfair that people who’ve never heard the Gospel should go to Hell. But people don’t go to Hell because they don’t hear the Gospel but because they rebel against God.

Second, if an unbeliever’s ignorance guaranteed him an eternity in Heaven, by sharing the Gospel with him you would be taking the chance he would reject the Gospel and, no longer being ignorant, end up in Hell. If that were the case, no one would ever share the Gospel, and if no one ever shared the Gospel, no one would ever get to know Jesus during their earthly life. If no one knew Jesus in this earthly life, the world would be in a sorrier state than it is today. You get the picture. It really can’t be any other way.

So, the take away from all this, and following on last week’s post about apologetics, is to speak Truth to people who don’t know Jesus. Speak the Word. Explain to them the reason people feel separated from God is that they are separated from God. The reason people feel guilty is that they are guilty before God (as we all are). But Jesus, whose appearance and ministry was foretold in the Old Testament, has paid the price for our sin and guilt so we can be reconciled to God if we repent, turn to Jesus and serve Him. If people don’t respond to that, then they would not be persuaded even if someone rose from the dead.