The discussion of hell is not a favorite one among many people. I would guess that most church-goers don’t look forward to a sermon or a Bible study all about hell. And over the years even the belief in hell has dropped some. However Jesus spoke more about hell in the Gospels than He did about heaven. In our Gospel reading for today the Lord Jesus gives an account about two men and their eternal destinations, and the reality of each destination. If He spoke about it as often as He did, it is well worth our taking a look.
As our Scripture opens, Jesus is telling His audience about two men. Nowhere is this account called a parable, a fictional story that just teaches a moral lesson. This was an actual account, as Jesus called one of the men by their actual name. In none of Jesus’ parables does He name one of the characters. He never named the Good Samaritan or the victim, the prodigal son and his father, nor even the sower of seeds. But in this account, Jesus gives the poor man’s name, Lazarus. He was not, though, the same Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead, the brother of Martha and Mary.
These two men were opposites. One was extremely wealthy, wearing fine clothing and eating the best meals. Lazarus, on the other hand, was a homeless and hungry man, in poor health with sores all over his skin, and who sat at the gate and begged (vs. 19-21). He was so poor and hungry that he would have gladly gathered up the crumbs and scraps that were discarded from the rich man’s table, yet that rich man was oblivious to him and his needs.
As Jesus continued, both Lazarus and the rich man died around the same time. Because of his faith, Lazarus was given a place of honor after death, despite his poverty (vs. 22). Society at that time thought that the rich were blessed by God, both in this life and in the next, but the poor were neither. Jesus showed that belief was wrong. The rich man also died, and because he had no faith in God, found himself immediately in hell. God did not judge him because he had wealth. It was because he had cared only for that life, and had cared nothing for his soul. These two men were opposite in this lie, and also in the next.
Jesus proceeded to describe some of the torment that the rich man was going through (vs. 23-26). Unlike many jokes that are often passed around about hell, such as that it’s like a tavern with friends, hell is a place of terrible torment. This man probably had people he had known and were friendly with, who were also in hell, but he wasn’t enjoying himself with them. This man had memories of his previous life, and screamed out for mercy, but it was too late.
Though hell is filled with people, each one is alone and solitary. It is a place of flames and great thirst (vs. 24), and a place of torment (vs. 28). Jesus described in the Gospel of Matthew that it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12). And in Mark’s Gospel He says that it is a place of unquenchable fire and where worms never die (Mark 9:48). It is a place of darkness (Revelation 9:2), a place of eternal damnation (Mark 3:29), of everlasting destruction (II Thessalonians 1:9), and where God’s wrath is poured out (Revelation 14:10).
This rich man was a success by earthly standards, but discovered too late that his riches and comfort were only temporary. He lived for himself, but ignored the Lord. After he died, he experienced the consequences of his choices, which was eternal separation from the Lord. The rich man was treated very well in life, but he showed no thankfulness for his blessings. He didn’t allow his blessings to bring him to the Lord. Lazarus, as poor and destitute as he was, didn’t allow his poverty to keep him from the Lord.
The rich man, while in hell, and realizing that there was nothing he could do then for himself, begged God to send Lazarus or someone from the dead to speak to his still-living brothers so they wouldn’t end in hell (vs. 27-31). God told him that they have God’s Word, and if they won’t believe that, they won’t believe a messenger from the dead. People have been given the Word of God. They do not need voices from the dead, which is a type of spiritualism (vs. 29-30). Even when Jesus had risen from the dead, most of the religious leaders of His day, and even today, do not accept Him (vs. 31)
There is a heaven, and there is a hell. Every soul who has ever lived has gone, or is going to go, to one or the other. The only way to make heaven one’s eternal home is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. He, alone, is the Door. Everything else leads one to hell, exactly as the rich man found out to his eternal dismay.
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