One of the most well-known narratives in the New Testament is the story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31. Many Christians have understood this passage as offering a glimpse into the afterlife and the realms of the dead. However, upon closer examination, it appears that Jesus likely did not intend to reveal details about life after death by telling this story.
I have previously written about Jesus’s story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. I will provide an overview of my understanding of the story below. However, to get the broader background I recommend reading the original posts:
- Were The Rich Man And Lazarus Real People?, Part 1
- Were The Rich Man And Lazarus Real People?, Part 2
Were the Rich Man and Lazarus Real People?
Many people have interpreted this story as a real, historical event involving an actual rich man and poor man named Lazarus. Defenders of this view point to Jesus referring to “a certain rich man” and calling the poor man by name – something he didn’t do in other parables.
However, a few key observations call into question the idea that Jesus had specific individuals in mind. First, he uses phrases like “a certain man” to begin some of His parables. So, that phrasing doesn’t necessarily indicate a real person. Secondly, giving the poor man the name “Lazarus” (a Greek form of the Hebrew name meaning “God helps”) serves a symbolic purpose, perhaps commenting on his destitute state.
More convincingly, this story shows striking similarities to ancient Jewish and Egyptian tales that describe a reversal of fortunes for a rich man and poor man after death. The Jerusalem Talmud contains a similar story featuring characters called the poor Torah scholar and the wealthy tax collector, Bar Maayan. I have placed the full story from the Jerusalem Talmud in the footnotes.1 It’s likely Jesus adapted a well-known cultural narrative to make his point.
What was Jesus actually teaching?
To grasp Jesus’s intended meaning, we must examine the surrounding context in Luke. The story fits into a sequence of parables in chapters 15-16 that all deal with the theme of material possessions – the prodigal son who squandered his wealth, the dishonest manager who wasted money, and now the rich man who failed to be a good steward of his riches.
Additionally, the structure of chapter 16 forms a chiastic pattern, with the rich man and Lazarus story bookending a centerpiece statement that “the Pharisees were lovers of money” (v.14).2
a: Parable of the dishonest manager (vv. 1-8)
b: Various sayings (vv. 9-13)
c: Pharisees, who were lovers of money, ridicule Jesus (v. 14)
b’: Various sayings (vv. 15-18)
a’: Story of the rich man and Lazarus (vv. 19-31)
This highlights money and possessions as the focal issue Jesus is addressing.
Luke 16:16-18, while seemingly unconnected, provides helpful imagery which supports the surrounding context. References to the law, prophets, final judgment, and divorce for status hint at the Pharisees’ willingness to disobey God and unethically pursue wealth and honor. This sets the stage for Jesus’s story.
The real point of the Lazarus story
When viewed in this context, Jesus’s core message becomes clear – wealth and social status are not indicators of righteousness or God’s favor. The shamed and destitute Lazarus receives honor after death, while the rich man who had status ends up in torment. In the Jewish honor/shame culture that equated riches with righteousness, this story radically inverted those assumptions.
Jesus aimed to confront the idea that money proved one had God’s approval. Material blessings might impress others but count for nothing in terms of true piety. The story calls its audience – then and now – to value God’s approval over human honor and to generously use our resources to care for the poor.
Jesus was not describing the afterlife
Jesus was not revealing what happens to people in the afterlife. Furthermore, just as Jesus did not endorse the dishonest business practices of the unjust steward in the preceding parable, He did not necessarily endorse every detail of the borrowed folk narrative. Understood in the proper cultural context, Jesus’s core message emerges: worldly wealth and status are not measures of true righteousness before God. Therefore, the story of the rich man and Lazarus offers no commentary about the immortality of the soul. Likewise, it does not teach a conscious existence of the soul during the intermediate period between death and the resurrection.
Jesus took a well-known folk tale and adapted it to undermine assumptions that wealth is evidence of righteousness. Rather than describing the afterlife, he repurposed a familiar fictional story to correct His listener’s values.
In this way, Jesus upended conventional cultural wisdom using a well-known story. By adapting a recognizable folk narrative, He drove home his teachings on wealth and judgment in an impactful, memorable way.
With the rich man and Lazarus set aside as evidence for the immortal soul, we can now turn our attention to the remaining New Testament passages most commonly cited in its defense.
References
- Yerushalmi Hagigah 2:2
[V.A] He who says Simeon b. Shatah was patriarch finds support in the following incident about Ashqelon.
[B] There were two holy men in Ashqelon, who would eat together, drink together, and study Torah together. One of them died, and he was not properly mourned.
[C] But when Bar Maayan, the village tax collector, died, the whole town took time off to mourn him.
[D] The surviving holy man began to weep saying, “Woe, for the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel itself] will have no merit.”
[E] [The deceased holy man] appeared to him in a dream, and said to him, “Do not despise the sons of your Lord. This one did one sin, and the other one did one good deed, and it went well for [the latter on earth, so while on earth I was punished for my one sin, he was rewarded for his one good deed].”
[F] Now what was the culpable act that the holy man had done?
[G] Heaven forfend! He committed no culpable act in his entire life. But one time he put on the phylactery of the head before that of the hand [which was an error].
[H] Now what was the meritorious deed that Bar Maayan, the village tax collector, had done?
[I] Heaven forefend! He never did a meritorious deed in his life. But one time he made a banquet for the councillors of his town, but they did not come. He said, “Let the poor come and eat the food, so that it not go to waste.
[J] There are those who say that he was traveling along the road with a loaf of bread under his arm, and it fell. A poor man went and took it, and the tax collector said nothing to him so as not to embarrass him
[K] After a few days the holy man saw his fellow [in a dream] walking among gardens, orchards, and fountains of water. He saw Bar Maayan the village tax collector with his tongue hanging out, by a river. He wanted to reach the river but could not reach it.
[L] R. Eliezer bar Yose said that he saw Miriam, the daughter of `LY BSLYM [Jastrow-the leeklike sprouts of onions], hanging by the nipples of her breasts. R. Yosé b. Hanina said, “The pin of the gate of Gehenna was fastened to her ear.”
[M] He said to him, “Why are things this way?”
[N] He said to him, “Because she fasted and told people about it.”
[O] And some say that she fasted one day and had blood drawn on two.
[P] He said to him, “And how long will it be this way for her?”
[Q] They said to him, “Until Simeon b. Shatah will come, and we shall remove it from her ear and set it in his ear!”
[R] He said to him, “And what is his crime?”
[S] They said to him, “Because he vowed, ‘If I am made patriarch, I shall kill off all the witches, and lo, he has been made patriarch, but he has not killed off the witches. Lo, there are eighty witches in a cave of Ashqelon, doing destruction to the world, so go and tell him.”
[T] He said to them, “I am afraid, for he is the patriarch, and he will not believe me.”
[U] He said to him, “If he will believe you, good. Now if he does not believe you, do this as your sign before him: Put your hand in your eye and remove [your eye], and hold it in your hand.” He took out his eye and put it in his hand. They said to put it back, and he put it back.
[V] He went and reported the incident to him. He wanted to do the sign for him, but he would not allow him to do so.
[W] [Simcon] said to him, “I know you are a holy man. Furthermore, I did not say publicly [that I would uproot witchcraft], but I only thought about it [so I know that your knowledge comes from Heaven]” Forthwith Simeon b. Shatah arose.
[X] Now that day it was raining. Simeon b. Shatah took with him eighty young men and dressed them in eighty clean cloaks. He took with them eighty new pots, with covers. He said to them, “When I whistle once, put on your garments. When I whistle a second time, all of you come out at once. When each one of you comes out, lift up one of the [witches], and hold her off the ground, because the witchcraft [of those women] does not work if their feet are not touching the ground.
Jacob Neusner, The Talmud of the land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 57-58.
- Bart B. Bruehler, “Reweaving the Texture of Luke 16:14-18,” Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research 5 (2013): 55.