Biblical Allusions In Luke 16

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There are three main points in Luke 16:19-31; the poor will go to Abraham when they die, the rich will go to Hades, and it will be challenging for the rich to change their fate. The people that lack basic physical needs will go to Abraham after they die. Lazarus lies at the gate of a rich man’s home “covered with sores…long[ing] to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20-21). It can be concluded that someone who would eat crumbs falling from a table for a meal, is on the verge of death by starvation. The only thing that tended to Lazarus’ sores were the dogs who “would come and lick [them]” (Luke 16:21). Because Lazarus longs for food and only the dogs acknowledge is sores, it follows that he lacks the basic…show more content…
The author of Luke begins by referring to “a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19). From this verse we find that this man truly had all he needed and more. When this man died, he “was buried” (Luke 19:22) and nothing more. He was sent to “Hades, where he was…tormented” (Luke 16:23). We read that every day “a poor man…covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20-21) laid at Lazarus’ gate. From this, we can conclude that the rich man ignored the poor man’s basic needs because his needs were never fulfilled. Abraham tells the rich man, “during your lifetime you received good things…and [now] you are in agony” (Luke 16:25). As a result of living a lavish lifestyle, the rich man was sent to Hades. The rich man asks if Lazarus can warn his brothers of what will come of one of them if they do not repent (Luke 16:28-30). It is suggested that his brothers also live a wealthy life and will be sent to Hades for that reason and thus, all of the rich will be sent to…show more content…
When the rich man calls out to Abraham to have mercy on him and allow Lazarus to share water with him, Abraham tells him “between you and us a great chasm has been fixed” (Luke 16:24-26). The rich man is with Hades because he lived a rich lifestyle (Luke 16:25), but due to the chasm separating them, he cannot change his fate. The rich man asks Abraham if he can send Lazarus to warn his family of what will come of them if they do not change their rich living conditions: “I beg you to send him…that he may warn [my brothers], so that they will not also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28). Abraham tells the rich man that they have Moses and the prophets to listen to (Luke 16:29). He insists that if a dead man rises to warn them, they will listen, but Abraham informs him that “if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets…they [will not] be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:30-31). We can assume the rich man’s brothers are rich too, if he is worried about them having the same fate as him. This leads us to the conclusion that the future of the rich is hard to change because of their inability to change their lifestyle from luxurious to
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