The Perfect Teacher - Part Six

There is still so much to talk about on this series (catch it from the beginning - read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here) so I better get started without delay:

Quick recap for those of you who just got this and don't have time to go back to the other posts: We are talking about life, death, 'afterlife', suffering, heaven, hell and how God, the Perfect Teacher, is teaching us about those things through the lives of Job (Job 21:23-25) and Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). The never-ending length of this series indicates how such a complex topic it is so I strongly recommend reading the Bible verses and other posts to follow the discussion.

Quick recap from last post: I am trying to find an answer to the question why things get reversed in the 'afterlife' for Lazarus and the rich man. Maybe a much more valid question would be why did things start the way they started for Lazarus and the rich man in the first place? And, again, no answer here.(Sorry!)

But let's get back to the answer I think I found for things getting reversed. Remember the book I quoted on the last post, Erasing Hell? Well, the book is talking about hell - can you tell by the title? ;) - and they mention Bible passages with specific stuff that could lead someone to hell. Here is what they say: "Racism, greed, misplaced assurance, false teaching, misuse of wealth, and degrading words to a fellow human being—these are the things that damn people to hell? According to Scripture, the answer is yes." (Chan, Francis; Sprinkle, Preston (2011-07-01). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up (p. 124). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.)

I know that passage is tough and there is so much polemic stuff there, but let's direct our attention to 'misuse of wealth', which is the category where I think the rich man's actions fall into. To talk about 'misuse', one has to see wealth as a tool. So, what is this tool 'wealth' designed for? I guess most people would agree that the ideal use of money would be to bless other people, to ease people's suffering even though it is not the usual way this tool ends up being used for.

I think by now you have figured that the rich man did not use 'wealth' as he could. The Bible tells us that he used it for his own luxury instead of using it for easing Lazarus' suffering. And also according to the Bible, I think that is why things got reversed. ("But Abraham replied, ‘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." Luke 16:25)

I guess it is now fair to say we finally have an explanation of why the nameless rich man went to hell. The fact that he was nameless still intrigues me, and it recently occurred to me that perhaps Jesus did not name him because he wanted to show us that anybody could be that man. The irony of being "rich" and going to hell is also very real: What were possessions good for in that instance? That reminds me of another Bible verse in which Jesus asks: "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Matthew 16:26.

Even though we have an answer for the rich man's situation, one question remains: What about Lazarus? Why did things get reversed for him? Does being poor and suffering in this world mean you will automatically be in heaven in the next one??


And that is where I will stop today. ;)

What do you think about that?

The Brazilican Learner