The rich man and Lazarus is about compassion, mercy, the afterlife, reaping and sowing, wealth and repentance. The rich man was not able to secure a place in heaven through his ancestry or his wealth. The Pharisees were known for their love of money, pride, and status. Jesus draws a direct comparison between the rich man and, the Pharisees, both refused to see themselves, show compassion, learn from the Torah, or repent.
The rich man had no compassion for Lazarus, who lay at his gate day after day. This lack of compassion—not his wealth—was what sent him to Hades. He tasted the bitterness of what he sowed. The message appears to be directed toward the Pharisees and scribes.
The rich man who ironically leaves behind nothing more than what he valued in life “rich” opposed to lazerus who while in earth was a nobody his name is known throughout the world and history- he seems to view Lazarus as a servant, not simply a beggar. Perhaps Lazarus had once been his servant—why else would he be laid specifically at the rich man’s house? And how else would the dogs show such tenderness toward him, as they likely would not toward a stranger?
Consider the demands the rich man makes even after death: “Send Lazarus to give me water… send Lazarus to warn my brothers.” The rich man continues to think only of himself—his comfort, his needs, his desires and continues to think of himself as powerful —even in death.
At first, we may think the rich man has changed when he begs for his brothers to be warned. This seems “compassionate”, but has he truly changed? He places more faith in the spirit world than in the Word of God and the truth spoken through the prophets; the very truth that speaks of compassion and repentance and charity. This mirrors King Saul, who sought out the spirit of Samuel, trusting in witches and the occult rather than God’s revealed word.
Although the rich man appears to acknowledge the need for repentance for his brothers, he never repents himself. He begs for comfort as that is what he is accustomed to but never forgiveness.
Abraham essentially tells the scribes, the Pharisees, and the rich man: You are not listening to the Torah, which leads to repentance, and you will not listen even to the resurrected Christ, the Torah in the flesh.
At this point in the parable, the script is flipped—the rich man becomes the beggar, longing for the “crumbs” from Abraham’s table. Not the crumbs of bread, but the crumbs of mercy, yet as Jesus taught in other places those who are merciful shall receive merciful and those who have none on earth will receive in death.
The rich man calls Abraham “father,” indicating he was Jewish. This is ultimately a story about mercy and compassion, directed at religious leaders who believed their prosperity in this life proved they were blessed by God, that their Jewish lineage proved their security in heaven, just as the rich man assumed his wealth in life would secure his comfort in death and his power here would somehow carry over to having authority there.
The final symbolic elements in the story are the bread and the water, both of which are used in Scripture to refer to Jesus. The rich man’s request for a finger dipped in water to relieve his thirst parallels Lazarus’s longing for a crumb of bread. Jesus is described as both the Bread of Life and the Living Water. In life, Lazarus needed only a crumb to be sustained, while the rich man, even in torment, desired only a drop of the life that Jesus offers.
In conclusion this rich man did not secure a place in heaven through his ancestry or his wealth, nor leave behind the memory of a name. The Pharisees were known for their love of money, pride, and status. Jesus draws a direct comparison between wealth, the Pharisees, and their inability to show compassion, learn from the Torah, or repent,
Written by Kim Blenkhorn from Luke 16:19–20
Edited with the use of AI
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