Invisible - Friday Devotional
Luke 16:19-31 (CEB)
“There was a certain rich man who clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted luxuriously every day. At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores.
“The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side. He shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I’m suffering in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received good things, whereas Lazarus received terrible things. Now Lazarus is being comforted and you are in great pain. Moreover, a great crevasse has been fixed between us and you. Those who wish to cross over from here to you cannot. Neither can anyone cross from there to us.’
“The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers. He needs to warn them so that they don’t come to this place of agony.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They must listen to them.’ The rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will change their hearts and lives.’ Abraham said, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”
“There was a certain rich man who clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted luxuriously every day. At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores.
“The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side. He shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I’m suffering in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received good things, whereas Lazarus received terrible things. Now Lazarus is being comforted and you are in great pain. Moreover, a great crevasse has been fixed between us and you. Those who wish to cross over from here to you cannot. Neither can anyone cross from there to us.’
“The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers. He needs to warn them so that they don’t come to this place of agony.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They must listen to them.’ The rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will change their hearts and lives.’ Abraham said, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”
The third gospel in the New Testament, Luke, is an eloquent literary composition describing Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Throughout the narrative, Luke emphasizes Jesus’s compassion for the needy, the sick, the brokenhearted, and the outcast. More so than the other gospel authors, Luke insists that Jesus’s teachings are universal and addressed to all people. Scholars believe that Luke was written sometime between 80 and 90 AD.
Jesus’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus begins with a vivid contrast: one clothed in purple and linen, feasting every day, and another, covered in sores, longing for crumbs at the gate. The story unfolds with startling clarity - death levels the hierarchy, and the one who had nothing is carried to comfort while the one who had everything finds himself in torment.
For many of us, it is tempting to read this as a straightforward description of heaven and hell - the afterlife divided into reward and punishment. Yet the details do not quite fit those categories. Abraham speaks of a “great crevasse” fixed between the two realms, but the language is more about distance than fire, more about separation than judgment. The rich man is not condemned for disbelief or improper doctrine, but for failing to see Lazarus as a neighbor in life. His torment is the result of his disregard for others, not a sentence handed down from above.
This suggests that the parable is less about mapping eternity and more about revealing the consequences of how we live now. Wealth and blindness can carve chasms long before death, cutting us off from the humanity of others and leaving us isolated in our own plenty. The image of Lazarus at Abraham’s side names what is at stake - comfort or estrangement, communion or disconnection.
What’s interesting is not simply the reversal of fortunes, but also the persistence of the rich man’s blindness. Even in anguish, he sees Lazarus as a servant to be sent on errands. He asks Abraham to send him with water, then to send him as a messenger to his brothers. The pattern remains: Lazarus is never seen as a neighbor, only as someone to use.
This parable challenges us to notice the Lazaruses at our gates - not with pity, but with recognition and kinship. Divine love bridges the chasms we create, drawing us into a community where no one is invisible.
For many of us, it is tempting to read this as a straightforward description of heaven and hell - the afterlife divided into reward and punishment. Yet the details do not quite fit those categories. Abraham speaks of a “great crevasse” fixed between the two realms, but the language is more about distance than fire, more about separation than judgment. The rich man is not condemned for disbelief or improper doctrine, but for failing to see Lazarus as a neighbor in life. His torment is the result of his disregard for others, not a sentence handed down from above.
This suggests that the parable is less about mapping eternity and more about revealing the consequences of how we live now. Wealth and blindness can carve chasms long before death, cutting us off from the humanity of others and leaving us isolated in our own plenty. The image of Lazarus at Abraham’s side names what is at stake - comfort or estrangement, communion or disconnection.
What’s interesting is not simply the reversal of fortunes, but also the persistence of the rich man’s blindness. Even in anguish, he sees Lazarus as a servant to be sent on errands. He asks Abraham to send him with water, then to send him as a messenger to his brothers. The pattern remains: Lazarus is never seen as a neighbor, only as someone to use.
This parable challenges us to notice the Lazaruses at our gates - not with pity, but with recognition and kinship. Divine love bridges the chasms we create, drawing us into a community where no one is invisible.
Posted in Luke
No Comments