TOO LATE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’”

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’”

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

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

Luke 16:19-31

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What does life after death look like?

It’s a question that many people have discussed and even written about with any number of interpretations published in some form or another. Some people have even had near death experiences and then shared what that was like with the public at large. Indeed, many books have been published and movies made on these matters.

Why?

Because it’s something of interest to everyone because everyone is going to die. And as much as people are in the know about life from either their present experiences or by learning from those who lived before, death still remains much of a mystery because no one has ever come back from the dead to talk again with others. No one that is except Jesus.

Given this, it should be no surprise to see our Savior shedding some light on what things will look like after death as He continues doing what He does best, teaching others as we finish our study of Luke 16. Look at these words here:

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’”

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’”

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

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”  Luke 16:19-31

Before we get started, it’s important to remember that Jesus has been addressing a group which included His disciples and some Pharisees, the latter having just been tweaked by Jesus because of their love of money (“You can’t serve God and money”). As Jesus tells the story we study today, it should be no surprise that wealth is a primary element at work.

And so as this story begins, we find one of the main characters is a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen (a symbol of affluence) and living in luxury every day. He has mastered the ways of the world and gained all it had to offer. Life was good for him.

Life was not so good for the man, Lazarus, who was stationed at the rich man’s gate. His existence was mired in deep suffering, covered in sores, starving, and forced to beg for what little he had. The scriptures tell us that dogs would come and lick Lazarus’ sores. It was imagery basked in misery.  

Two very contrasting scenes, sharply divided socioeconomically. But as far as apart as the men seemed to be from a worldly perspective, there was one great equalizer between them, one that would quickly level the playing field and indeed, usher in a whole different period for them both.

That great equalizer was death.

Interestingly enough, both men died concurrently and the outcome for both became just as strikingly different as it was when they were alive, only this time, the roles were reversed.

For after his passing, Lazarus found himself carried by the angels up to Abraham’s side. This is the place it was believed someone would end up if they lived a life deemed righteous by God, a place where they would find themselves on the beside the one who believed in God and was credited with righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

As for the rich man, there were no angels to attend to him. Rather, he was buried before entering Hades where he found himself in constant torment, much like Lazarus must have felt when he sat day after day at the gate. He could see Abraham and Lazarus far off and called out for some relief, asking for Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”

The rich man was now in need of help from the man he refused to assist before, the man he allowed to languish in suffering while he lived in extravagance.

Well, as we see by the words of Abraham, the chasm between Lazarus and the rich man could not be bridged. The rich man had enjoyed all his wealth and all the world had to offer, reluctant to share and make a difference in the life of someone who sat right by his gate, a man he had walked by countless times. Lazarus had lived in humility, doing what he could to survive and trusting that God would provide for him. And so each man reaped what they sowed, the rich man misery and Lazarus comfort.

Quickly assessing the hopelessness of his condition, the rich man finally showed an ability to care for someone outside of himself. He asked if Abraham could send Lazarus to warn his family which we know consisted of five brothers. We get a sense that they were much like the rich man because he felt an urgency to warn them about what had happened to him so they could repent and not have to face the same fate, agonizing anguish in Hades.

Unfortunately, it was too late for that just as it was too late for the rich man to reverse his outcome.

Abraham told the rich man the truth, that his family had the same Moses and Prophets that he had, the same Moses and the Prophets that he refused to follow. No dead man coming back from the dead would be able to convince them to believe if they didn’t already.

I find this teaching by Jesus very fascinating in that it parallels what He would talk about later regarding the coming judgment when He will come a second time. Look at His words from Matthew:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”  Matthew 25:31-46

Note here that there will be a sorting at judgment day. Those who believed in Jesus and took the time to live as He did, selflessly committing themselves to make a difference in the lives of others, would be counted among the righteous and on their way to eternal life. For all the others who lived as selfishly as the rich man, they would find themselves entering into a similar destiny, in their way to eternal punishment and it was too late to reverse course.

Friends, both of these teachings by Jesus serve as advance warnings to anyone who has chosen to reject Him as Savior. He wants to make it well known in advance as to the two options awaiting anyone after death and He does this with the hope that no one will have to languish in everlasting misery and affliction. Such is the love of God’s only Son, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.

My prayer today is that if you haven’t accepted Jesus as Savior, you will right now. Please do yourself a favor and secure your place in glory for all eternity and do it before it’s too late.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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