Study 9: The Rich Man and Lazarus -- Answer Key¶
Luke 16:19-31 -- Parable or Literal History?
A Note on How to Study
Throughout this series, we distinguish between what the Bible explicitly says and what people infer from the Bible. These are not the same thing.
- Explicit: You can point to a verse and quote it. The text directly says this.
- Inference: Someone claims the Bible teaches something, but no single verse says it. They have drawn a conclusion -- possibly a good one, possibly not -- but the conclusion itself is not in the text.
This distinction is especially important in this study. The Rich Man and Lazarus is one of the most frequently cited passages in the afterlife debate. But does the passage intend to teach about the geography of the afterlife, or is its purpose stated directly within the text itself?
Section A: Literary Context -- The Parables of Luke 15-16¶
1. Read Luke 15:1-3. Who is the audience for this discourse? What does Luke 15:3 say Jesus does in response to the Pharisees' and scribes' murmuring?
The audience is "the publicans and sinners" drawing near (v.1), while "the Pharisees and scribes murmured" (v.2). In response, "he spake this parable unto them" (v.3). Jesus begins a parabolic discourse directed at the murmuring Pharisees.
"And he spake this parable unto them, saying..." -- Luke 15:3
2. Beginning from Luke 15:3, how many consecutive stories does Jesus tell before the discourse ends at Luke 16:31? List them.
Five consecutive stories: 1. The Lost Sheep (15:4-7) 2. The Lost Coin (15:8-10) 3. The Prodigal Son (15:11-32) 4. The Unjust Steward (16:1-13) 5. The Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31)
All five appear in one continuous discourse without any scene change.
3. Luke 15:3 says "he spake this parable unto them." Does Luke re-label the lost coin story (15:8-10) or the prodigal son story (15:11-32) with a new "parable" label, or does the single label in 15:3 cover all three stories?
The single label in 15:3 covers all three stories. Luke does not re-label the lost coin or the prodigal son. This demonstrates Luke's labeling convention: a single parabole label at the beginning of a discourse can cover multiple stories without re-labeling each one.
4. Read Luke 16:14-15. Between the parable of the unjust steward (16:1-13) and the Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31), how are the Pharisees described? What is their reaction to Jesus' teaching?
The Pharisees are described as "covetous" (lovers of money) and they "derided" Jesus.
"And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him." -- Luke 16:14
This audience identification is significant: the Rich Man and Lazarus is addressed to money-loving religious leaders who rejected Jesus' authority. The story's reversal of fortunes -- a rich man who ignores a poor man at his gate -- directly targets their covetousness.
Section B: The "Certain Rich Man" Formula¶
5. Read Luke 12:16. How does this verse begin? Does it carry an explicit "parable" label?
Yes. "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." The phrase "a certain rich man" (anthropos tis plousios) appears with an explicit parabole label.
"And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." -- Luke 12:16
6. Read Luke 16:1. How does this verse begin? Does it carry a "parable" label? Is it recognized as a parable?
"There was a certain rich man, which had a steward." No parabole label is given. Yet this passage is universally recognized as a parable -- no serious commentator treats the Unjust Steward as a literal historical account.
"And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward." -- Luke 16:1
7. Read Luke 16:19. How does this verse begin? Does it carry a "parable" label?
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen." No parabole label is given. The opening formula is identical to 16:1 and follows the same pattern as 12:16.
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." -- Luke 16:19
8. The Greek phrase anthropos tis plousios ("a certain rich man") appears in all three of these verses. One has an explicit parable label (12:16), one has no label but is universally recognized as a parable (16:1), and one has no label and is disputed (16:19). Based on this pattern, does the absence of a "parable" label in 16:19 prove the passage is not a parable?
No. The absence of a parabole label does not determine genre. Luke 16:1 uses the identical formula without a label and is universally recognized as a parable. Luke 15:3 provides one label for three stories. Luke's labeling convention demonstrates that he does not re-label each unit in a parabolic discourse. The same formula in 16:19 carries the same generic signal.
| Passage | Opening Formula | Parable Label? | Recognized as Parable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke 12:16 | "a certain rich man" | Yes | Yes |
| Luke 16:1 | "a certain rich man" | No | Yes (universally) |
| Luke 16:19 | "a certain rich man" | No | Disputed |
Section C: The Passage's Stated Teaching Point¶
9. Read Luke 16:29. When the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, what is Abraham's answer?
Abraham's answer is: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." The response is not about afterlife conditions but about the sufficiency of existing Scripture.
"Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." -- Luke 16:29
10. Read Luke 16:31. What is the passage's final, climactic statement? Is this statement about afterlife geography, or about Scripture's authority?
"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." This is about Scripture's authority. The climax of the entire narrative is a statement about the sufficiency of Moses and the prophets -- not a description of afterlife conditions.
"And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." -- Luke 16:31
11. Every detail of the story -- the rich man, Lazarus, the reversal, the torment, the gulf, the request -- builds toward the statement in verses 29 and 31. What is the passage's self-identified teaching purpose?
The passage's self-identified purpose is to teach the authority and sufficiency of Moses and the prophets. The afterlife setting is the narrative vehicle -- the stage on which the drama plays out -- not the teaching content. The entire plot exists so that Abraham can deliver the climactic lines about hearing Moses and the prophets.
Section D: Unique and Uncorroborated Imagery¶
12. The term "Abraham's bosom" (kolpos Abraam) appears in Luke 16:22-23 as a destination for the dead. Search the rest of the Bible -- the Old Testament, the other Gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. Does "Abraham's bosom" as a post-mortem location appear anywhere else in Scripture?
No. "Abraham's bosom" as a post-mortem destination for the dead appears only in Luke 16:22-23. It is found nowhere else in Scripture. The word kolpos (G2859) in other NT uses means intimate relationship (John 1:18: "bosom of the Father"), physical proximity (John 13:23: leaning on Jesus' bosom), garment fold (Luke 6:38), or geographic bay (Acts 27:39). None of these designate a post-mortem location.
13. The standard NT term for the abode of the blessed is paradeisos ("paradise"), which the same author (Luke) uses in Luke 23:43. Does Luke 16:19-31 use the word paradeisos for Lazarus's location?
No. The passage does not use paradeisos. If Luke intended to describe the actual destination of the righteous dead, his failure to use the standard term -- a term he himself uses elsewhere -- is notable.
14. Read Luke 16:24. The rich man asks for a drop of water on a fingertip to cool his tongue in flame. If the rich man is a disembodied soul, does a disembodied soul have a physical tongue, and can a drop of water relieve fire?
A disembodied soul has no physical tongue, finger, or need for water. A drop of water on a fingertip cannot cool a being in flames. These details serve the parabolic narrative -- particularly the reversal of social positions and the rich man's continued expectation that Lazarus should serve him -- rather than describing literal afterlife conditions.
"Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." -- Luke 16:24
Section E: Same-Author Evidence from Acts¶
15. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Read Acts 2:29, 34. What does Peter say about David -- is he alive in heaven, or dead and buried?
Peter states that David is "both dead and buried" and "is not ascended into the heavens." This is didactic prose -- direct apostolic teaching about the state of a specific righteous person.
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." -- Acts 2:29
"For David is not ascended into the heavens." -- Acts 2:34
16. If Luke 16:19-31 teaches that the righteous dead go immediately to Abraham's bosom in conscious bliss, how would you reconcile that with Luke's own record in Acts that David (a righteous man) "is not ascended into the heavens"?
The same author who writes the Rich Man and Lazarus narrative also records apostolic teaching that a righteous individual (David) is dead, buried, and has not gone to heaven. If Luke intended the parable's afterlife imagery to be taken as literal doctrine, his own didactic material in Acts contradicts it. Luke's didactic prose in Acts (direct teaching about a named historical person) interprets how his parabolic imagery in Luke 16 should be read: death is a state of waiting for resurrection, not conscious existence in a compartment of the afterlife.
Explicit or Inference? -- Answers¶
A. "Luke 15:3 provides a single parable label that covers three consecutive stories without re-labeling each one." - Explicit. You can read Luke 15:3 ("he spake this parable unto them") and observe that the lost sheep (15:4-7), lost coin (15:8-10), and prodigal son (15:11-32) follow without new labels. This is an observable textual fact.
B. "The absence of the word 'parable' in Luke 16:19 proves the passage is not a parable." - Inference. No verse states this rule. Luke 16:1 uses the same formula without a label and is universally recognized as a parable. Luke 15:3 covers three stories with one label. The claim requires adding a rule the text does not provide.
C. "The passage's climactic statement is 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them' (Luke 16:29)." - Explicit. You can point to Luke 16:29 and 16:31 and read the statement. The text directly identifies its own teaching point.
D. "Abraham's bosom is the biblical term for where the righteous dead go after death." - Inference. "Abraham's bosom" as a post-mortem location appears only in Luke 16:22-23 -- within a parabolic narrative. No other passage in Scripture uses it this way. Treating a single parabolic occurrence as a standard biblical term requires adding a conclusion the text does not state.
E. "Luke 16:19-31 teaches the literal geography of the afterlife -- conscious torment in hades and conscious bliss in Abraham's bosom." - Inference. The passage itself does not say "this is a description of the afterlife." Its stated teaching point (vv.29, 31) is about hearing Moses and the prophets. The claim that the narrative vehicle is also the doctrine requires an interpretive framework imported from outside the passage.
What the Bible Says vs. What People Say the Bible Teaches¶
| The Bible explicitly says... | People often claim the Bible teaches... |
|---|---|
| Luke uses "a certain rich man" as a parabolic formula (12:16 with label; 16:1 without label, recognized as parable) | The Rich Man and Lazarus must be literal because it lacks a "parable" label |
| Luke 15:3 provides one parable label for three stories | Each parable must be individually labeled to be parabolic |
| The passage's climax is "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them" (16:29, 31) | The passage's purpose is to describe afterlife geography |
| "Abraham's bosom" as a post-mortem location appears only in Luke 16:22-23 | "Abraham's bosom" is a standard biblical concept for the righteous dead's destination |
| Peter says David is "dead and buried" and "not ascended into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34) | The righteous dead are consciously with Abraham immediately after death |
| The same author (Luke) records both the parable and Peter's didactic statement about David | Luke 16 and Acts 2 describe different aspects of the same afterlife reality |