Tag Archives: hell

THE GOSPEL PF LUKE – THERE WAS ONCE A RICH MAN

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THERE WAS ONCE A RICH MAN

“‘There was once a rich man, expensively dressed….wasting his days in conspicuous consumption….A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived on was…scraps off the rich man’s table…Then he died, this poor man….The rich man also died….In hell and in torment, he looked up….He called out…”Send Lazarus…”…But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember…'” Luke 16:19-31.

A familiar story to Bible-readers, but what is the point of this parable? Hebrews read for identification. Who am I in the story? How often Jesus directed His stories at the Pharisees as a wake-up call! If God’s word is a seed, then Jesus sowed lavishly into the ears of the religious leaders, but to no avail.

This is quite a shocking story for several reasons:

Firstly, it uncovers the heart of this rich man. Jesus had no issues with his being rich. In fact, the Apostle Paul stated categorically that Jesus Himself was rich. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV). He had issues with what the rich man did with his riches.

In this case, he spent it all on himself, not just on his needs, but on a sumptuous and lavish lifestyle that made him blind to the need of the poor man at his gate, a simple but graphic description of what was known as the ‘yetzer harah’ – the evil eye or the eye of darkness – the inward-looking eye that sees no-one but self.

Secondly, Jesus shows us the destiny of greedy and selfish people. Hell is not about God getting people back for not listening to Him. It’s a consequence of a life squandered on self instead of fulfilling God’s higher purpose. The Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna- translated “hell”) was the garbage dump of the city where worthless stuff was burnt – a terrible tragedy and sorrow for the God who gave us the freedom to choose, knowing that that freedom could cost us our eternal destiny.

Thirdly, it smashed into the Hebrew philosophy that wealth was equal to God’s blessing and poverty a curse on people who were out of favour with God. How could this rich man land up in hell if his wealth was a token of God’s favour? This must have shocked both the Pharisees and the disciples. On one occasion, a rich man came to Jesus to ask what he needed to do to have the assurance of eternal life. Jesus told him to get rid of his wealth because it stood between him and following Him. The young man refused.

Jesus’ comment puzzled His disciples. ‘How difficult it is,’ He said, ‘for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ The disciples blurted out, ‘Who, then, can be saved?’ That was a shock to them. If rich people, who were supposed to be the blessed ones, could not enter the kingdom, what hope was there for the rest?

Jesus’s story reveals something much deeper than wealth=blessing=salvation. It was not having wealth but what you did with it that revealed your heart. Wealth is a good servant but a terrible master. What we do with is it the measure of our love for God.

Fourthly, not even torment in hell changed the heart of this man. O yes, he thought about his brothers but only because he did not want them to experience the terrible end of a worthless life, which presupposed that they were living just as he had lived. But his attitude to the poor man had not changed. He still regarded him as less than himself. ‘Send Lazarus,’ he instructed Abraham, as though Lazarus were his servant to dispatch as he chose.

Jesus was not, for one moment, advocating good works as a way of salvation. His blood alone can forgive the guilt of our sin and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness, but He presupposed that our hearts will also be transformed so that we do not continue living self-indulgent lives. Generosity is a sign that our hearts and lives have been changed, If not, we need to re-evaluate so that we do not land up where the rich man did because he assumed…

It Had To Happen!

Christian Life, ,

IT HAD TO HAPPEN!

“At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls, whistles and invective. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed — he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all His glory with Jesus standing at His side. He said, ‘Oh I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God’s side!’

“Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of the town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them.

“As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, “Master Jesus, take my life.” Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘Master, don’t blame them for this sin,’ — his last words. Then he died.” Acts 7:54-60 (The Message).

It had to happen! The crazed mob, led by men who had long since made their choice and sealed their judgment, turned on Stephen and carried out their “sentence” with the same vicious hatred that had driven them to sentence his Master to the cross.

But when we read the story from Stephen’s perspective, as Luke so masterfully describes it, Stephen was in a realm no other human being had ever experienced. Not even Moses, the greatest of the Old Testament characters, had been welcomed into the presence of Jesus with a standing ovation! Before he even stepped over the divide, he had seen them, both Father and Son, waiting to receive him into their eternal presence.

This was too much for the howling mob. Without even so much as considering their verdict, they sentenced and executed their sentence with extreme viciousness. Just as surely as Stephen glimpsed heaven, so the mob which was stoning him was experiencing hell.

In Hebraic thought, hell is a boundary-less place, and here we have evidences of the horrors of hell. So great was the vehemence of their hatred of this godly man and the God he represented that they dropped all boundaries of justice and decency and let rip with the venom of hell itself.

The contrast between Stephen and his tormentors is glaring. As with Jesus versus the Sanhedrin, so with Stephen, it was the same situation. Who was on trial? The Sanhedrin again, and again they were found guilty. It was Stephen’s scathing indictment that tipped them over the edge. It was his verdict that cooked his goose. But what did it matter? His future was secure and his entrance into it glorious.

Eugene Peterson’s version of this incident in The Message highlights the grace that Stephen experienced as he slipped out of his earthly tent into his permanent eternal dwelling. This was his coronation day and we are privileged to catch a glimpse of it.

But we have to ask: Is it possible to live our ordinary lives in a realm where we are unaffected by the ups and downs of everyday life? When we watch Jesus, we have to conclude that it is possible. But He was the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul said something that alerts us to the possibility for us ordinary humans. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV).

Just as Stephen was oblivious of what was happening to him because his eyes were on Jesus, so can we be in the rough and tumble of living if we set our vision on Jesus who went before us to show us the way and is utterly reliable to keep His promise to see us through every dark valley.