Why Did Jesus Tell the Story of the Rich Man in Hell in Luke 16:19-31?

There are many crucial lessons in the story which Jesus told of the rich man who went to hell in Luke chapter 16. The controversy which actually led to the story being told is often overlooked. The things which Jesus had been speaking in the previous verses led to the following words which are also stated in Matthew’s Gospel.

Luke 16:13: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Then we read in Luke 16:14: “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.”

The Pharisees took issue with the statement that you cannot serve God and mammon. It is no different with the Prosperity Gospel believers today. The Prosperity Gospel preachers today also often appeal to the Old Testament to justify their covetousness like the Pharisees did. Jesus is about to address this horrid misconception concerning the Old Testament. The Law of Moses itself testifies that those who are covetous, and those who neglect the needy whom they could help, are wicked and on course to go to hell’s eternal fire.

Jesus had made it clear right at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-18 that He didn’t come to destroy the law or the prophets. He rather vindicated the Old Testament from the abuses of it that the religious leaders in Israel (which included the Pharisees) had taught. They had made such abuses to seem normal and acceptable. There are likewise a multitude of abuses of the Bible now within the realm of professing Christianity which many different groups have caused to seem normal and acceptable in the eyes of multitudes.

Jesus begins His reply to the Pharisees in Luke 16:15-18: “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.”

In preaching the kingdom of God as the forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist spoke consistent with the law and the prophets. Jesus made that clearer yet in Luke 16:17 by saying “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”

Rather than saying that the revelation involved in establishing the New Covenant changes the morality of the Old, Jesus emphasizes here that everything which John the Baptist spoke, everything which He Himself spoke in His public ministry, and everything which His Spirit would inspire going forward would be utterly in line with the morality of the Old Covenant. Amazingly, some erroneously use these verses to try to teach the very opposite.

Jesus taught in His public ministry that the law’s allowance for divorce and remarriage in Deuteronomy chapter 24 did not supersede the clear teaching of Genesis (Genesis is also part of the Law of Moses). Deuteronomy’s allowance for divorce and remarriage is only valid when moral uncleanness in one’s spouse makes it necessary for the other to divorce them so that sin does not reign in their home. The Pharisees who were contending with Jesus’ warning about covetousness were rather commonly putting away their wives specifically so they could marry another. This is totally against the original intention for God allowing divorce and remarriage in the Law of Moses. That is what Jesus was rebuking in the Gospel accounts- not the righteous allowance for divorce and remarriage itself found in the Law of Moses. Otherwise, the principle set forth in Luke 16:17 would be violated.

By inserting this comment about divorce and remarriage in the middle of a controversy related to rebukes of covetousness which He gave, Jesus proved that the covetous Pharisees had twisted God’s law in other ways besides their justifications for their service of mammon. Therefore, they were not reliable teachers nor impartial experts in the Law of Moses like they proclaimed themselves to be.

The story Jesus immediately goes on to tell of the rich man who died and afterward burned in hell is the continuation of His reply to the Pharisees who were justifying themselves before men over their covetousness concerning mammon.

Luke 16:19-31: “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Jesus stresses here that the Law of Moses and the Biblical prophets who had already spoken had made it clear that one cannot serve God and mammon. Being materially rich also does not mean that one is not wicked in God’s sight. Those who do not repent of attachment to riches and neglecting the needy will burn in hell. The rich man had already been warned of these things- right in the Scriptures He would have professed to believe.

Proverbs 11:4 says: “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.”

It’s obvious, right from the Old Testament, that obtaining riches and righteousness inevitably come into conflict. To whatever extent they interfere with righteousness, riches ought to be shunned. We find abundant proof in the Old Testament that being driven by material gain and being faithful to the Lord are inconsistent with each other.

Abraham, though rich, devalued riches in comparison to righteousness and was content to suffer loss in order to make righteous choices.

We also see in Genesis chapter 13 that Lot’s own path to spiritual destruction began because he insisted on choosing to dwell in the place which his eyes told him was the best prospect for increasing his wealth.

Abraham also insisted on dealing with all people respectfully and honestly. He refused to defraud anyone nor did he even want to risk defrauding anyone. He even insisted on paying for land which the owners tried to give him for free. That is seen in how he dealt with the children of Heth in Genesis chapter 23 as he obtained a place to bury his deceased wife.

The Old Testament even has much to say about covetous people becoming rich through wicked deeds. It testifies these are surely cursed rather than blessed (see Psalm 10:2-3 and Jeremiah 5:23-31 for examples).

The Old Testament leaves no doubt that many rich people are children of the devil who should not be admired nor followed nor praised. One obvious example of this is Nabal (see 1 Samuel 25:2-3).

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament were inspired by the same God whose moral principles never change. Being rich and righteous at the same time has always been the exception rather than the rule.

It has always been evil to covet becoming wealthy.

Proverbs 23:4-5: “Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”

Proverbs 28:22: “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”

It has always been exceedingly hard for one to be rich and not put their trust in their riches rather than in the true God.

Proverbs 18:10-11: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit (his own imagination).”

It has always been evil to stop one’s ears at the cry of the poor. The rich man in Luke chapter 16 who was being tormented in hell had already been warned, by what was already written in the Old Testament, about the ultimate judgment he would face if he did not repent of his love of his lavish lifestyle and his neglect of the needy.

Proverbs 21:13: “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

The Old Testament doesn’t justify anyone’s covetousness. The New Testament doesn’t either. They were both inspired by the same God who never changes. Covetous people who seek to honor Him with their lips while their heart is alienated from Him will resort to anything they can to justify themselves before men and to deceive themselves as well concerning their own hearts.

Another clear lesson from these things is that Jesus dying and rising from the dead will not save anyone who does not heed the Bible’s testimony concerning anything which God calls sin and who does not repent accordingly. A large percentage of hell’s vast population will consist of Jews and Christians who claimed to believe the Bible yet did not really heed its counsel and follow its instructions.