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 lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,
²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. 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 Laz'arus in his bosom.
²⁴ And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus 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, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil 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 some one 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 some one should rise from the dead.'"

• In last Sunday's Gospel, Jesus told the parable of the unjust manager and drew the conclusion from it that one cannot serve both God and money. "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and laughed at Him" (16:14). They seem to think that their possessions are a sure sign of God's favor. So, here Jesus tells another parable of the rich man and Lazarus to condemn the pride of these people and gives them the answer.
• (v.19) The rich man is nameless while the poor man's name is given as if to reverse the world's opinion. The parable is rather a conventional reversal of fortune. Those who are well off in this life trade places with the poor in the next life. It echoes the blessings and woes in the Sermon on the Plain (6:20,24).
• (v.24) "father Abraham": Mere words do not make one a child of Abraham and an assurance of salvation. John the Baptizer had already indicated that it was not enough to claim "we have Abraham as our father" (Lk 3:8); but one must "produce deeds appropriate to conversion".
• "have mercy on me": The irony of the story is that the rich man now requests "mercy" who did not show mercy in almsgiving to the poor man.
• (v.29) The word of God revealed through Moses and the Prophets makes God's will clear to anyone who seeks it. Jesus has not abolished the Law (16:17), thus the Law about almsgiving is still valid. The rich are not privileged in God's sight. They have the obligation to care for the needy.
• (v.31) Even something as astounding as the resurrection from the dead will not convince those whose minds are closed to God's truth. Addressed to the Pharisees, Jesus' parable is a message of rejection. The obstinate Pharisees would continue on their merry way to perdition, as did the rich man in this story. If the teachings of the Law are shrugged off as unimportant, even the teachings of the risen Lord will have no impact.

Use our possessions wisely, they are on loan from God and have to be used to help the poor.

1. How do you feel when you see a street person?
2. How is the Gospel situation true of the present time? In what ways do you identify with the rich person? In what ways do you identify with the poor person in the Gospel?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community