Most of us, I am sure, have at one time thought about what it is like to die. Many try not to think about it, but we cannot really avoid the thought completely. Those who have said that they died and came back, really didn’t, because if they really had died, they would not have come back! Once the soul returns to God who gave it, this life is all over and no one is revived from that. The accounts we hear are not reliable, and differ from one another, showing that they cannot be depended upon.
But, thankfully, God has given us a brief, but dependable account. Since the Son of God himself spoke it, we know it is reliable. It is not about someone who died and came back, but rather about two people who died and could not come back. The account is, of course, that of the rich man and Lazarus which we find in Luke 16:19-31:
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you 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.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house– 28 for I have five brothers–so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'”
This account is different from the parables because of the details given and the amount of conversation recorded. It is also different because the name of a person is used. None of the parables that Jesus spoke ever mentioned the name of a person. This account is a study in contrast, because the life and situation of the two were extremely different. One living in remarkable luxury, able to enjoy all the material things he had, and the other in abject poverty and suffering from illness that made it impossible for him to provide for himself. It is hard to imagine two people so different. Not only are they different materially and in their physical health, but they are also totally different in their spiritual condition.
But, they did have something in common. Being human, both were subject to physical death, and died. But, here again we see contrasts, but they are reversed. The one who was suffering is now comforted and he that had live comfortably is now tormented. This illustrates well the fact that things are often very different from what they appear to be. We generally think that having things in this life is synonymous with being “well off,” and that being poor, materially speaking, and sick would be the opposite. But, this account teaches us very clearly, that to think that way is to be totally wrong. Jesus said in Luke 12:15:
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Could there be a better illustration of this truth than what we have in the account of these two individuals? Whatever the rich man had acquired is of no use to him now to obtain what he needs most, the salvation of his soul. Is it any surprise, then, that Jesus has told us in Matthew 6:19-21:
19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Someone has said, you cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. This seems to agree with the sentiment of what Jesus said. At least Lazarus had some crumbs from the rich man’s table, but the “rich” man now has nothing, not even a drop of water to cool his tongue. He now desires mercy, a characteristic that had been so noticeably absent in his behavior toward Lazarus. He requests comfort, but none can be given to him.
Many might think that the “rich” man was condemned because he was rich and that the “poor” man was accepted by God because he had been poor and suffered so much. But, they would be wrong! A man’s spiritual condition is not based on how rich or poor he is, but on whether the person’s heart has been changed to be like God’s. It is very obvious that the “rich” man did not love, he did not care about spiritual things, about his soul, or about the souls around him. His heart was not like God’s. Evidently, the “poor” sick man had, during in his life, learned to love, to care, to change his heart to be in harmony with God’s heart through giving attention to God’s word. Coming to be like God does not require money, position, or influence, but only a heart that seeks God and obeys His word. What a blessing lay at the gate of the rich man, if he only had taken the time to get to know this righteous man! The rich man might have received of Lazarus more than he would have ever given to this poor sick man.
Realizing that his situation had no solution, he turned his thoughts to his five brothers. He seems to realize that their situation is not any better than his and that they needed to change in order not to suffer the same fate as he. How sad that all the days of his life, he did not pay attention to his spiritual needs, nor to those of his brothers. All his life he had attended to material things. He had never thought seriously enough about the reality of spiritual things.
The solution he suggests to the situation of his brothers, like the request he made for himself, involves a request for Lazarus’ assistance. But, Abraham tells him that provision has already been made to warn his brothers. The expression, “They have Moses and the prophets….” refers not to the Moses and the prophets, personally, but rather to the Scripture that Moses and the prophets had delivered to the people by the inspiration the Spirit. The “rich” man counters that if someone would appear to them from the dead, that surely would impress them more effectively. Abraham answers that if the word of God does not change them, even a resurrection from the dead would not do so. Here God reveals to us that His word is the only power needed to change the heart of a person. For this reason, we have recorded in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” People today often think that some “miracle” is required to change the heart of a person. They are mistaken. There is no other power as Paul, the apostle, explains to us in Romans 1:16:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If people are to be saved, it will not be by the power of modern-day signs, wonders, or miracles done by men’s hands. It will be because they listened to God’s word and applied their life by obeying it. That is the only hope!
The account ends here. But, it is obvious that we have learned much from it. First, that the spiritual is just as real, and is indeed more important than the material, because this life is for a short time, and eternity is forever. Secondly, the time to prepare is now! After death, there is no way to prepare or change our situation before God. No amount of prayers, donations, or rituals will ever change anything after our death. We have also learned that what is most important in life is not bought with money. It is available even to the poorest among us. God has given it to us freely. No amount of money can save our soul. Only the precious blood of Christ can do that! That is available if we learn God’s word, the only power to change the heart, and if we obey it. It is clear too that if we are to do anything for our family, friends, and the people we live with day by day, if we are to show God’s love in our life, we must do it now. Someday, that opportunity will be gone.
Finally, we can say that this account has shown us what is really important in life, and that if we miss this chance to become like God and do his will, we have missed it completely, no matter what we may have enjoyed here. As God tells us in Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Are you winning or loosing in life? When it is all said and done, what will your eternal destination be? In the light of what we have studied, how should you change your life to really consider yourself successful? In conclusion, we can say that if we live our whole life and never come to be like God in our thoughts, our words, and our actions, it would, indeed, have been better for us if we had never lived!