The Perfect Teacher - Part Three

Hello everyone,

After a long time, here I am to (try to) finish The Perfect Teacher series (read part one here and part two here)... Well, remember the movie credits I talked about? It took them a long time to be revealed also (much more time than it took me to write this last post)... because Job is one of the first written books of the Bible and it was Jesus who was able to answer that question, thousands of years later (Disclaimer: That number is an estimate, I am not sure of the exact number of years between Job and Jesus - maybe someone can give us that information?).

Anyway, let's quickly bring Job's ideas to the discussion: "One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, his body is well-nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both." (Job21:23-25). See, it is like he is saying: no matter what kind of life you lived, in the end it will all be the same, worms will eat you!!!! (Yuck, I know.)

BUT JESUS...

... The Perfect Teacher

... wants to show us otherwise. Let's take a look at Luke 16:19-31. Right off the b___ (American friends, is the expression right off the batch, right off the bat, right off the bet... or something else? Please fill the blank for me hehe), Jesus gives us the same situation: " There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores." (Luke 46: 19-21).

There they are, the rich man with lots of marrow in his bones and the beggar, never having enjoyed anything good - so if anyone was wondering, having your sores licked by dogs is not enjoyable ;). Jesus adds a few more details - the rich man not only was healthy but lived a luxurious life. And the beggar (don't you guys think it is interesting that he was named by Jesus?) had a name and a horrific life.

Verse 22 tells us that they both died. Lazarus went to heaven, carried by angels (pretty luxurious, I would say) and the rich man to hell. The Bible doesn't say how he got there, but I can only imagine it was not a pretty scene. Anyways, there they are. Jesus could have ended it here, the main question is 'kinda' answered: No, people don't have the same ending.  But why? Only because they had a good life, they deserve an eternity of suffering? If that was the case, I would definitely take suffering first, then heaven!

That is why I said the answer is 'kinda' answered. We need more answers, if you know what I mean. Here are my thoughts as I read this: Sooooo, wait a minute, the rich man did not necessarily choose to be rich, maybe he was born like that, maybe he was royalty, maybe ... who knows what? I find it very interesting that Jesus did not name him. Maybe it means that it does not matter who he was - that is, why he was rich, how he may have achieved that status. All that mattered was that everyday he had a good life. And that at some point a beggar came to make his gate look ugly.

Oh, there is so much stuff I could say right here... how sometimes a 'nuisance' could have been our turning point if we let God work, how ungrateful we are for life's trials (I am pretty much guilty on both instances), etc... but let's keep our focus on those two...

Or not, hehehe... I need to stop because the post is getting big... and I still have a lot to explore in this passage... sooooooooooooooo, this was not the last post on the series... but hang in there, there is more to come...

Like the Americans say, here is some "food for thought", if you are interested: Read the rest of the story in Luke. What do you think is the real difference between the rich man and Lazarus? (Hint: it has nothing to do with money.)

The Brazilican Learner