International Sunday School Lesson June 24, 2018

Summer Quarter Lesson #4

Luke 16:19-31  “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  (20)  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,  (21)  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  (22)  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,  (23)  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  (24)  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  (25)  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  (26)  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’  (27)  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—  (28)  for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’  (29)  But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  (30)  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  (31)  He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Notes

Is the rich man and Lazarus a parable?

• If it is, it is the only parable with a named character
• It is never called a parable in the Bible like many other parables
• It doesn’t fit the form of using an earthly story to tell a spiritual truth

Can people in hell and people in heaven see each other and speak to each other?

Ephesians 4:8-10  Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”  (9)  (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?  (10)  He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Purple – the color of royalty

• Dives and Lazarus – Dives is taken from the Vulgate “wealthy”
• Proverbs 28:6  Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
• Genesis 26:12-14  And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him,  (13)  and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.  (14)  He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.
• Deuteronomy 15:11  For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
• Proverbs 17:5  Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
• James 2:2-7  For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,  (3)  and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”  (4)  have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  (5)  Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?  (6)  But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?  (7)  Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

Hebrews 9:27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

• Proverbs 11:30  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.
• Matthew 24:36-39  “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.  (37)  For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  (38)  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,  (39)  and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.