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Study 9: The Rich Man and Lazarus

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?

  2. Beginning from Luke 15:3, how many consecutive stories does Jesus tell before the discourse ends at Luke 16:31? List them.

  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?

  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?

Section B: The "Certain Rich Man" Formula

  1. Read Luke 12:16. How does this verse begin? Does it carry an explicit "parable" label?

  2. Read Luke 16:1. How does this verse begin? Does it carry a "parable" label? Is it recognized as a parable?

  3. Read Luke 16:19. How does this verse begin? Does it carry a "parable" label?

  4. 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?

Section C: The Passage's Stated Teaching Point

  1. Read Luke 16:29. When the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, what is Abraham's answer?

  2. Read Luke 16:31. What is the passage's final, climactic statement? Is this statement about afterlife geography, or about Scripture's authority?

  3. 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?

Section D: Unique and Uncorroborated Imagery

  1. 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?

  2. 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?

  3. 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?

Section E: Same-Author Evidence from Acts

  1. 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?

  2. 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"?

Explicit or Inference?

For each statement below, decide: Does the Bible explicitly say this (you can point to a verse), or is it an inference (a conclusion someone draws that no verse directly states)?

A. "Luke 15:3 provides a single parable label that covers three consecutive stories without re-labeling each one." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

B. "The absence of the word 'parable' in Luke 16:19 proves the passage is not a parable." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

C. "The passage's climactic statement is 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them' (Luke 16:29)." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

D. "Abraham's bosom is the biblical term for where the righteous dead go after death." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

E. "Luke 16:19-31 teaches the literal geography of the afterlife -- conscious torment in hades and conscious bliss in Abraham's bosom." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this