Hi there,
Well, I will start by saying I hope this is the last post in the series... I won't make any promises though, the more I think about it, more comes to mind so... let's get going!
Luke 16:23 gives us an overview of the rich man in hell: "In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side." How fascinating this verse is ... to think of how life after death looks like. Somehow heaven can be seen from hell... and Abraham is there... with Lazarus... their lives on Earth were so far apart from each other and yet there they are, together in heaven... On Earth, the rich man saw Lazarus' suffering very closely but on the other 'side' Lazarus might be seeing it from a distance... (I am telling you, it gets harder and harder to finish this discussion...)
"So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.', verse 24 says. Now, two distinct things jump out of the page to me: first, what terrible suffering must the rich man be going through... a drop of water would satisfy him! And yet, somehow, the fire is not consuming him because he can communicate his pain. Now for those of you who did not watch the Secret Church simulcast this year, I strongly recommend it. David Platt explains the whole hell/heaven situation so well (Watch, read or listen the simulcast here).
On the other hand, my mind is like, 'Wait a minute, send Lazarus...?' It seems like his view of Lazarus is finally revealed... a servant, a means to his advantage. While on Earth, the rich man never intentionally ended Lazarus' suffering, because Lazarus was "longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table" (verse 21 - italics is mine). And now, on the 'afterlife', somehow he expected Lazarus to do for him what he hadn't done for Lazarus in his lifetime! If you read the second part of Abraham's response in verse 26, it even feels like Lazarus wanted to help him ("And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." - italics is mine.).
I don't know about you, but there is so much going on in my mind right now! First of all, WOW! Leave heaven to go to hell for someone who did not care about you in the first place? That, indeed, is an indication of love right there. And, if Lazarus really did want to go there to ease the rich man's suffering, wouldn't he get hurt too? And would the rich man care if that was the case? For me, it all indicates that the rich man could not see anyone's suffering but his own. He was suffering, he needed water, Lazarus was supposed to serve him, no matter what.
But let's back up a minute, let's go back to the first part of Abraham's response: "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.". Is it just me or does this part of Abraham's answer sound like he is talking to a child? I feel the warmth and patience of a father talking to his son in that tone. He is explaining the new situation to him, how their lives got reversed. At this point, I am still looking for answers. I still can't figure out why things got reversed. What about you?
Again, I am going to bid you goodbye and let you digest those ideas - I love how Americans use the analogy of food in everything hehehehe ;) .
The Brazilican Learner