Luke 16:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 16:20

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‘And there was also a certain beggar named Lazarus.’ His name is a form of the Hebrew name Eleazer, meaning means ‘God is my helper’. His poverty and his infirmity is a little exaggerated in the parable for the sake of emphasis, to show that it isn't riches and accomplishments that count. It's your relationship with God, the fact that you are forgiven, that you know him and walk with him spiritually. So the man who is going to heaven is made in the story as poor and sick as could possibly be. The first thing we notice about Lazarus is that he is named. The Lord Jesus Christ has no name for the rich man, but he has a name for this beggar. That is because he knows Lazarus, and he belongs to him. He is not interested in giving the rich man’s name. The world may have admired him for his money and respect him, but as far as Christ is concerned he is not in his book; he doesn't even clothe him with the dignity of a name. But Lazarus gets a name. He is entirely different. As far as the world is concerned, he may be despised, poor, and a failure, but he has got a name, Lazarus. Here is a man who is known by the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is bound for heaven.You notice in this verse he is laid at the gate of the rich man; he is put there each day. He seems to be crippled, because he had to be lifted and carried by his friends or his relatives, and placed at his station where he begged for alms every day. He was far too sick and crippled to work, and so he begged. There must have been a reason why Lazarus was laid at this particular gate every day. Possibly it was the route to market, and was thronged with people who might take pity on him, and perhaps there was a reasonable expectation that the rich man would provide for him in some way. But in fact that did not happen, because this rich man was as hard as nails. He had no intention of giving any help or solace to some poor crippled beggar at his gate. He could see there was a beggar, a lame man, a cripple laid at his splendid gateway every day who longed to have something to eat, but he did not respond.

Application

Now the object of this parable is most certainly not to teach that what is going to happen, is that in eternity you are compensated for what you experience in this life, so that if people are very, very well to do and rich and comfortable here, they will have to move down a few stations in eternity; and if people are very hard pressed and poor and in great need here, they are going to be promoted and elevated. That is not the teaching of the parable at all. Eternity isn't merely some place where our material fortune or lack of it is put right and adjusted. No, the purpose of this parable is to show that eternity is a matter of heaven or hell. Eternity is being picked up by the Lord, and either taken to be with him, or being banished far from his presence. This is a serious subject. The Lord Jesus takes a rich man and shows, to shock us, how this particular rich man will be banished from God. It doesn't teach that every rich man will be banished from God's presence in eternity. Of course not. But it does teach us this: that some people may appear to be well-to-do and successful and respectable. They may have a high station in society, and when it comes to their funeral and their burial, it may be that hundreds or even thousands will turn out to the occasion. And yet it could be that that is masking the most terrible tragedy possible: that an eternal soul has been lost. On the other hand, he chooses a poor crippled beggar to show that it may be that there is some very lowly person who has known a great deal of misfortune, and yet that person may have a real love for the Lord and a relationship with him.

When we start looking at ourselves, we think we are good enough for heaven and before God saves us and draws us to himself, the Lord Jesus makes us aware of our sinfulness and changes our lives in Christian conversion. What is the truth about us? It is this: I am mainly preoccupied with me in some shape or form; number one comes first. I am portrayed by this rich man as selfish and self-centred, fulfilling the lusts of my flesh. That's the word of the Bible for all my appetites. I am concerned about making a fair show in this world, and about what people think, and about station and position and self-flattery, and I am full of pride and arrogance. The truth is that we are all like this, and yet we walk around thinking God is pleased with us, when we are loathsome in his sight and detestable, when we are revolting from the point of view of heaven.

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Luke 16:20 Commentary and Bible Study