19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.’ 25 “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. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
The gospel continues, in an even more pointed way, this Sunday’s theme: condemnation of rich people’s indifference to the poor. This parable tells the story of two men: an unnamed rich man and Lazarus whose poverty is intense. The contrast between them is huge: one lives in luxury, wearing the finest clothes and eating the best foods (very much like the rich man criticized in the first reading) while Lazarus is always hungry and covered in sources. One’s life is given over to pleasure, the other’s to misery. Jesus rarely names characters in parables so the fact that he does so for the poor man shows the latter’s importance, as does the fact that the name “Lazarus” means “God has helped”.
Indeed, only God seems to want to help Lazarus for the rich man completely ignores his existence. Lazarus lies at his gate, so the rich man probably saw him every day (and the fact he later names him proves that the rich man noticed Lazarus). He could easily view Lazarus’s suffering, but it never seems to have occurred to him to help the poor man. Lazarus dreams of eating scraps from the rich man’s table, a simple enough thing for the latter to organize. So, he could easily have helped Lazarus, but he has no desire to do so. This goes against the teaching of Moses and the prophets (as we see from today’s first reading from the prophet Amos).
In case anyone might have missed the point, Jesus tells us about what happened after the two men died. Lazarus rests in Abraham’s bosom which shows how loved and cared for he is. It also suggests a banquet and that Lazarus is lying on the same couch as Abraham. The rich man, however, finds himself in hell, but he can still see Lazarus in heaven. Notice, though, that his attitude hasn’t really changed: he still ignores Lazarus, speaking only to Abraham and views him as a servant. Note that Abraham calls the rich man “child”, thus recognizing that he is one of his descendants, but, in spite of this, rejects all three of his requests. In the first one, he asks for Lazarus to comfort him in his torment while in the second two, the rich man tries to help his family. He argues that they will believe and repent if someone comes back from the dead, but Abraham dismisses such a suggestion. The reading ends ominously with Abraham’s comment: “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” The stage is being set for the next stage of Jesus’ journey.
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