Scripture
Luke 16:14,19-31 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, naturally scoffed at all this.
19 "There was a certain rich man," Jesus said, "who was splendidly clothed and lived each day in mirth and luxury. 20 One day Lazarus, a diseased beggar, was laid at his door. 21 As he lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. 22 Finally the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham in the place of the righteous dead. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went into hell. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.
24 " 'Father Abraham,' he shouted, 'have some pity! Send Lazarus over here if only to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.' 25 "But Abraham said to him, 'Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no one over there can cross to us.'
27 "Then the rich man said, 'O Father Abraham, then please send him to my father's home-- 28 for I have five brothers--to warn them about this place of torment lest they come here when they die.' 29 "But Abraham said, 'The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them anytime they want to.' 30 "The rich man replied, 'No, Father Abraham, they won't bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.' 31 "But Abraham said, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even though someone rises from the dead. "'
Observation
What an indictment against the Pharisees, here again is a rich man with the wrong attitude about his wealth; he represents the Pharisees with his cold heart and indifference to those that are suffering around him. The Pharisees should have understood the parallel between the rich man and themselves, but once again Jesus teaching offended them but they were not ready to change.
The Pharisees missed the Savior and would end up in Hell just like the rich man that saw Lazarus suffering just outside his door. In torment they will find out that there are not any second chances, as Abraham told the rich man “remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish and besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no one over there can cross to us.”
How awful that he knew what he had missed, he could see the other side to all the splendor of heaven and he didn’t want anybody else to experience the same fate. The rich man begged for his brothers to be given another warning, but Abraham said it was useless because they still would not believe even if someone came back from the dead.
And that fact proved to be true when Jesus did come back from the dead and still the Pharisees did not believe. They had all the facts available to them, the law the prophets and the resurrection from the very person that said that he would arise but they still did not believe it.
Application
I will not forget that the whole Bible points to Christ and what he saved us from. I will tell others and warn them.
Prayer
Father I confess that I am not as fearless in sharing your word as I wish to be.
