This morning I engaged some people in YouTube comments. As I’ve said before, once you engage you will not convince the commenter because their pride will prevent them. Also many will fight to the death to have the last word because that means in their eyes as “they’ve shown you and silenced you.”
But many years ago I realized that sometimes you are silent or cannot continue because the other person is not in a place to hear.
That’s what Jesus was up against. It didn’t matter what he did, they refused to hear. He could heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead and point to the fulfillment in the prophets. It didn’t matter. So he told them a parable to illustrate this.
nd lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 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.’
“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. 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.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“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.’”
There are a number of interesting things in this parable. We see that there is a chasm fixed between heaven and hell. So no purgatory, no going back and forth, no going to hell then going to Paradise. As the Scriptures say elsewhere, judgment happens once and that is it.
Something else that I find disturbing is the plea of the brother to warn his family. It’s disturbing on several levels. I’ve heard some people say that they want to be in hell if that’s where their family is at. But hell is not a place of connection, love and togetherness. It is not a family reunion. It is suffering and separated and absolutely no connection.
And then there’s the hard hitting reality of our responsibility to give people the opportunity to hear and make a choice. The other day I was talking with someone who did not know the Lord and whose son had died in a car accident several years previous. I wish I would have talked to him about eternal matters. After I returned home I thought of this parable and wondered if his son was pleading from a place of eternity to share the gospel with him.
But here’s the heart of the parable. Some people will not believe until it’s too late. Jesus says some will not even believe if someone rises from the dead, which he would do. So what was the basis of belief Jesus speaks about here?
Moses which represents the Law, and the Prophets.
Why these?
Moses and the Prophets testify to the Messiah.
First, there’s Moses. He spoke of the Messiah to come. We see this in Genesis 3 at the garden where a redeemer would come, in Abraham when he spoke of “the Seed” that would come (Gen 12, 18, 22; Gal 3), specific prophecies of the Messiah (Deut 18:17-18), and more.
And then there are the Prophets who made the more specific prophecies. And Jesus fulfills those prophecies.
In fact, there are over 300 specific prophecies that he fulfilled. These are prophecies that he could not control such as the place of his birth, where he would live, how he would die and more.
If for thousands of years specific prophecies can be made about exactly what the Messiah is going to look like and be and do, and if someone still will not believe that, then typically they don’t want to believe. They will refuse to believe anything.
When Jesus said this, he was confronting the Pharisees and religious leaders. But what he says still applies. Some will never believe.
It’s up to those who know the truth of the gospel to make sure others know it. That is our commission. But ultimately, it’s up to them to choose whether they believe it or not. Because many did not even believe Jesus himself with all the prophecies, the words of Moses, the miracles and even raising from the dead.