Moses and the Prophets
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Luke 16:19-31
"Do you want to hear God speak? Read your Bible out loud."- John Piper
Our passage in Luke for this week raises a lot of questions! Questions about heaven, hell, and the afterlife.
Many would suggest that the story that Jesus tells in this passage is not simply a parable. But because he uses an actual name, Lazarus - something Jesus doesn't typically do in parables - we can take this to be a true story that actually happened!
So in this real-life story, Jesus speaks of two men. A rich man, and a poor man, Lazarus.
Upon Lazarus' death, Jesus said that "he was carried by the angels to Abraham's side" (16:22). And the rich man, upon his death, went to Hades.
And between these two locations - "Abraham's side and Hades - the distance is great. Uncrossable. Abraham later explains that between them "a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us" (16:26).
And yet, these locations are in some sense, close. Close enough to each other that the rich man was actually able to lift up his eyes and see "Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side" (16:23).
The questions, rightly, come flooding in...
- What is Hades? Is it the same as hell, or different?
- What is this place that is "Abraham's side"? Is it the same as heaven, or different? Is it the "Paradise" that Jesus speaks of on the cross? (Luke 23:43) And why is Abraham of all people seemingly the gatekeeper of this place???
- And how is it that these two places are (sort of) next to each other, albeit with a great chasm between them?
These are all great questions!
And I raise them all to say... be sure to be present on Sunday so that you can hear Steven explain the answers to them all!
Ultimately, we should notice that Jesus does not seem super concerned with answering these questions either. I don't want us to miss how this passage ends, and what Jesus' ultimate takeaway is for us.
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The rich man's thought process is completely understandable. In Hades, he was "in torment" (16:23) and "in anguish in this flame" (16:24-25). So he wants to prevent his five siblings from coming there too!
He requests that Abraham send Lazarus as a messenger from the dead to warn his siblings - that they would repent, and not join him in that place of anguish and torment.
But notice what Abraham says to him...
"They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them... If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."
"Moses and the Prophets" here would be synonymous for the Old Testament Scriptures. So notice what is said here:
The Scriptures should carry such weight, such authority, such sufficiency for us that we would consider them just as great - no, greater! - than if we had a messenger come back from the dead to tell us something.
If someone came back from the dead and told you something, that would be a life-changing message that you would never forget!
And yet, Jesus is telling us that what we have in the Bible is something far greater. In the Bible, we have the very word of God Himself.
And compared to what is spoken of here in Luke - "Moses and the Prophets" - we have an even more complete message!
We have "the good news of the kingdom of God" (16:16)! The words of Jesus and His followers - the good news of the Son of God's death and resurrection!
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My question for us is...
Do we prize and uphold the Word of God like that?
In our own minds and hearts, in the daily rhythms of our lives, do we give God's Word this kind of authority, and sufficiency and weight?
If you're like me - and I'm betting that you are - you let a lot of things into your day-to-day life that distract you. Many of these things are not bad, and some are even good!
But before we know it, our time with God in His Word is squeezed out. And no time is left to hear from Him, and be with Him.
Would you join me today in repenting of this distracted living? We can be confident that God will be gracious and kind to help us.
-Joe