In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus taught the account of the rich man and Lazarus, who went to Hades. The rich man went to a place of torment. Lazarus went to a place of comfort, also called Abraham’s bosom (or Abraham’s side in the ESV). We can learn much from these two and what happened with them.

Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideSermon NotesLesson One: The Rich Man and Lazarus were actual people versus a parable.Lesson Two: Wealth and poverty are not signs of God’s favor or disfavor.Lesson Three: The Rich Man and Lazarus encourage us to focus on the next life.

https://youtu.be/iYyuj7ooakg
Luke 16:19-31 contains the rich man and Lazarus. They went to Hades, which has a place of torment and comfort (Abraham’s bosom).

Family Worship Guide

Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions:

Day 1: Luke 8:4, 12:16, 13:6, 14:7 cf. 16:19, Matthew 12:40, John 20:17, Acts 2:27, John 3:13: why is the rich man and Lazarus more than likely an actual account versus a parable? Where was Jesus between His death and resurrection? Where does it seem like the prophet Samuel went when he died?

Day 2: Luke 6:20, 24, 16:19-23, Matthew 5:3, Proverbs 22:2: what reveals the rich man’s selfishness? How do we know wealth and poverty are not signs of God’s favor or disfavor? Explain Luke 6:20 and 24.

Day 3: James 5:5, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: how do the rich man and Lazarus both encourage us to focus on the next life? Why are all our trials called light momentary afflictions? What allows us to view our trials as light momentary afflictions?

Sermon Notes

The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Learning from the Rich Man and Lazarus.”

On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse and we find ourselves at Luke 16:19.

A few things before we get into the verses…

First, last week’s sermon on Hades laid the foundation for these verses, so let me review a few points:

Hades and Sheol are the same. Hades is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Sheol.

Hades is the temporary abode of the dead and it contains two compartments:Believers find themselves in the place of comfort also called Abraham’s bosom or in the ESV Abraham’s side

Unbelievers find themselves in the place of torment

Believers were removed from Abraham’s bosom, the place of comfort, at Christ’ ascension

Unbelievers will be removed from the place of torment to appear before the great White throne judgment before the new heavens and the new earth are established

If any of this sounds confusing, please go back and listen to last week’s sermon.

Second, you might remember a few weeks ago I told you that money is one of the themes of this chapter. This sets up the account of the rich man and Lazarus. Notice the theme:

In verse 11 Jesus said, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” Unrighteous wealth is not immoral or sinful, but it is called unrighteous because it is earthly.

In verse 13 Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In verse 14 Jesus says the Pharisees, were lovers of money.

Then in verse 15 Jesus said they justify themselves before men.

Verses 14 and 15 can look unrelated: Jesus condemns the Pharisees for loving money and then condemns them for justifying themselves.

But the criticisms are related because the Pharisees used money to justify themselves. They taught that money was a sign of divine favor and poverty was a sign of divine disfavor.

So, the wealthier they looked, the better they looked. This caused them to flaunt their money and act extravagantly. They would say…

“We have so much money, because we have been so good, and God has rewarded us. Why would God give us so much if He wasn’t pleased with us?”