“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.“ Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ (24-25, 27-28)
Systemic privilege and arrogance create blind spots that even the fires of hell cannot illuminate. Many refer to this story to illustrate the terrible reality of hell, and it definitely does that. I use the term “story” intentionally because most commentators agree that this was not a parable but a story from Jesus about an actual rich man and an actual beggar named Lazarus. We don’t know for sure if his hearers knew these people or if there was some other connection between the rest of the chapter and this story, but we do know that Hell is a real place to which we never want to go.
However, another striking aspect of this story is the continued blindness and arrogance of the rich man. He apparently mistreated Lazarus in life and, true to Jewish culture, he perceived the blessings he had in life as a sign of God’s favor and the plight of Lazarus as a sign of Lazarus’ innate sin. Yet, when he awoke in hell he realized the grim reality that his life only merited eternal punishment in hell and Lazarus had somehow found the grace of God. Even in the light of that revelation, he continued to treat Lazarus as second class. Notice his requests to God… “Send Lazarus to cool my tongue”… “Send Lazarus to warn my family”… as if Lazarus was somehow still beneath him and subject to his beck and call, even in the afterlife.
We must be careful to make sure we don’t secretly think we are better or somehow above other people. The grace of God changes people’s lives and can set us free from our prejudice and the hidden pride in our hearts. The judgment of God, however, only serves to amplify and more clearly illuminate our sinful hearts. This rich man was not sorry for his sin, and he was not sorry for the plight that Lazarus had endured on earth. Instead, he still felt like God (and Lazarus) owed him something, and his arrogance and superiority complex persisted even amid torment. Join me in asking God to show us how He really sees us and how others see us. May we serve everyone around us, regardless of their station in life, and may we never think we are somehow better than “the least of these.”
