BUSS or BURNING by Douglas C. Hartley
I n His p r e - c r u c if i x io n minis try, the Lord Jesus Christ made great use of parables, short d esc r ip tiv e narratives from which spiritual truths may be drawn. The pages o f the Gospels are full of them; in fact, from Luke 14 to 16:18, Jesus had taught His disciples and the peo ple by means of five parables. Then follows the well-known, true-life story of Luke 16:19-31. This account is therefore not a parable. It is about two people who had actually lived . . . and died. True, the one is not named, but that he was a definite per son is clearly indicated by the words of verse 19, “There WAS a certain rich man”—a particular person whom Jesus had in mind. The other leading character in this story, “A certain beggar,” in verse 20 is named Lazarus. Abra ham, father of the Hebrews, is al so named in verse 23. Let us com pare briefly the two main leads in this intense drama, which might be entitled, Bliss or Burning — Which Shall It Be? Our Lord is not teaching here that it is wicked to be rich, or a virtue to be poor. He is not saying that the rich will go to hell and the poor to heaven, though He did give definite warning in the para ble of the sower (Matt. 13:22) about the deceitfulness o f riches. Yet of Abraham it is said in Genesis 13:2 that he was very rich, and we see in him, in verse 22 of our story, the figure o f the blessed place where the righteous dead, as he was, made their abode until they should “ also appear
with Him in glory” (Col. 3 :4 ). Also in Proverbs 13:7, we are told: “There is (in this earthly life) that maketh poor (in this world’s goods) yet hath great riches” (of a spiritual nature). No, our lot in life does not de cide our eternal destiny. What Jesus was teaching in this true story is that one’s use of his op portunities and advantages while living, reveal his character, the longings of his heart, and his place in the eternal ages. In verses 19-21 we see TWO MEN IN THIS LIFE: rich and poor; one abiding in a mansion, the other living on the street out side; one well fed, the other al ways hungry; the first richly clothed, the second in rags; the rich man in excellent health—the beggar full of putrifying sores and ill of body. So they lived their earthly sojourn: as fellowmen, neighbors, having daily contact; and this is true o f all of us. In verses 22-31 we again see the same two men — in the life to come: AND WHAT A CON TRAST! How d iffe r e n t from what the people o f the city where they made their earthly homes must have expected. Both in due course had met death (v. 22) : ANGELS CARRIED LAZARUS’ SPIRIT TO GLORY (his body may have been dumped in a quag mire outside the city). Men car ried the body of the rich man to his handsome, costly sepulchre. Nothing is said about how the people regarded these passings. Lazarus was only a beggar; and (Continued on next page)
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