Luke 16:19-21
By Jerome J. Sabatowich
The rich man in today’s Gospel must have been extremely wealthy because he dressed in purple and fine linen. Purple dye, which ancient civilizations made from a gland secretion of a certain mollusk was so rare and expensive that only royalty and the very rich could afford it. Fine linen was also a luxury item.
The Gospel tells us the rich man feasted lavishly every day. People in Jesus’ day ate their meals with their fingers because tableware didn’t exist. They usually wiped their hands clean with pieces of bread which they then tossed on the ground for the dogs to consume. These pieces of bread are the scraps Lazarus, the beggar, would have been happy to eat.
The rich man died and went to the abode of the dead, a three-layer place under the earth the Jews sometimes called Hades, She’ol, or Gehenna. All who died went to the top layer and waited there for eleven or twelve months until their judgement was complete. If God determined they had lead evil and sinful lives, he sent them to one of the two bottom layers (the layer depended on the nature of their crimes) where flames surrounded them and worms ate them.
Because the rich man asked for just a drop of water to quench the flames, we can conclude he ended up in one of the two bottom layers.
Those God judged as having lived righteously stayed in the top layer to await their reward. The rabbis argued whether this reward would come at the end of the world or immediately after death. The later seems to be the case in today’s parable because it tells us Lazarus was with Abraham, the Father of the Jewish people. Some Jews believed God would honor the righteous by inviting them to a banquet with Abraham in the heavenly kingdom.
The fact that God punished the rich man and rewarded the beggar surprised the people in Jesus’ audience because many of the believed wealth was a sign of God’s favor and suffering was a punishment for sin. With this parable, Jesus teaches that earthly wealth does not guarantee status in God’s kingdom if the rich individual uses the wealth selfishly and ignores the needs of the poor.
For Reflection
How do you use what you have? How much of your wealth do you share with those in need?