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INJ
St Luke 16:19-31
'We Have Moses and the Prophets'
Divine Service
First Sunday After Trinity
Dear Saints,
In their lives and in their deaths Lazarus and the rich man were different. The rich man was, well, rich. He was warm and full and more, he has all that one's heart might desire. The text says that he “was clothed in purple and fine linen and faired sumptuously every day.”
Lazarus is a different story. He sits at the rich man's gates, begging, hoping for a crumb that would fall from the rich man's table, just a little morsel to fill his mouth. For a scrap, or even just someone to shew the dogs away, for, the text says, “the dogs came and licked his sores.” [St Luke 16:21] This would not be pleasant.
But these two men with opposite lives also have opposite deaths. Both men died and were buried, but the soul of man lives on, apart from our bodies from our death until the resurrection.
In his life the rich man had everything, money and glory and works galore and a good reputation and honor and blessing, everything but faith, everything but Christ, and so he had nothing. Lazarus, on the other hand, had nothing, nothing but Moses and the prophets, nothing but faith in the promises of God, nothing but the Lord Christ Jesus, and so he had everything, the kingdom of God and eternal life. This all becomes clear when Jesus gives us divine insight, telling us what happens to these two souls, of Lazarus and the rich man, what happens to them after death.
The soul of the rich man goes to hell, Hades, the place of eternal torment and eternal death, over the gulf from God and far away from the bliss of the saints. Now the rich man is the one begging, begging for just a drip of cool water from the tip of Lazarus' finger to cool his mouth. Lazarus does not go to hell, but to Abraham's bosom, resting in the promises of salvation before the face of God. This is how it is at death, for Lazarus and the rich man and for you and I. Lazarus is still resting in the bliss of heaven with all the saints who had died in the faith and gone before us, as they together await the great last day and the resurrection of all flesh. The rich man is still suffering in torment with all the unbelievers, still wishing for a drip of cool water and some relief from the torment of the flame.
But this text has more for us, more for us to learn. The Lord Jesus presents the two eternal options so that we might consider how one ends up in one place or the other. Why is Lazarus in eternal bliss while the rich man is in eternal suffering?
We see this in the conversation that occurs between the rich man and father Abraham. The text unfolds like this.
“And [the rich man,] being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’”
The rich man is asking Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to his five brothers, that they might be warned, and believe, and be saved from the wrath to come. The rich man's heart is still hardened, he thinks that he was not given enough to be warned, that his judgment is not fair, that he didn't know, and that his brothers, likewise, do not know what they need to know to inherit eternal life.
But Abraham says that this rich man had all that he needed, and that his brothers have all that they need. Sending someone back from the dead is not the way that the Lord gives His promises and works faith, there is another way, another way of grace.
“Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’”
Moses and the prophets, the word of God, the promises for the Messiah dead in our place, risen for our life, this is enough. The Gospel is the power of God for all who believe, the very gift of eternal life, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Your brothers, says Abraham, have Moses and the prophets, that is enough, enough for them to avoid the flames and torment that you are suffering, enough for them to find the rest that Lazarus enjoys, enough, and more than enough, for Moses and the prophets speak and promise and give out Jesus and all the gifts of His cross, even life and salvation and the forgiveness of sins.
But the rich man made poor doesn't believe it, he still needs more, and he thinks that his brothers need more, a miracle, a message from the other side, the words of one sent back from the grave. “He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Abraham's words are true, for it is not through miracles that the Holy Spirit works faith, but through the word of God. We see this in the Scriptures. There we read about another Lazarus, Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha, who, four days dead and stinky, Jesus called out of the tomb. But this did not cause everyone to believe, rather, it served even more to confirm the unbelievers and enemies of Jesus in their unbelief and malice. John reports that it is from that very day that “they plotted to put Him to death.” [St John 11:53]
I've heard of many people today who say they won't believe unless they see some miracle or sign, but faith does not come by seeing but by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. For the unbeliever and the unconverted and the unChristians, miracles only serve as an occasion for mockery and blasphemy. “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.”
But dear saints, there is much joy in this text for us, because we, too, have Moses and the prophets. We have in our midst the Holy Word of God, the promises of the Gospel, the treasure of the most holy Scriptures. We may not be rich, full and healthy and wrapped in purple linen, but God fills us with His Word, He has clothed and wrapped us in the white robes of Christ's righteousness, He has given us the rest of the forgiveness of all of our sins and the promise of life everlasting before His face in the company of all the angels, in the company of Lazarus and all the saints.
We have Moses and the prophets, let us hear them, and find in them the sure promises of God, and all of our comfort. And may God grant us His Holy Spirit, that we would repent of all of our works and strivings to be like the rich man to have everything we desire, and may He grant us His grace, that we would be like Lazarus, having nothing but faith in the promises of God, having nothing but the Lord Jesus Christ, and so having everything, even the kingdom of God and life everlasting. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
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