Think back about what you believed about Heaven as a child? Perhaps those memories were influenced by conversations with your family or Sunday school teachers as you looked in the Bible together. Other influences probably included cartoons, TV shows, movies, books, and conversations with friends at school.
Jesus gives us a glimpse into the immediate afterlife in Luke 16:19-31. But I’d first like to share the context Jesus gave it in – why He gives us this open-window-peek into “Hades”, the immediate destination for our souls in the New Testament, up until Jesus’ Crucifixion. In the Old Testament, Hades was referred to as “Sheol”.
Everyone has a soul who will spend eternity somewhere, so this does impact all of us and our existence after physical death. Jesus wants to show us the serious nature and consequences of having our own plans for our life apart from God’s plans for our life.
This conversation begins back in Luke 14. Jesus is invited to eat in the home of a prominent Pharisee. The disciples are there, as well as crowds of people following Jesus around. Jesus honors His host and begins talking about who gets invited to banquets and why, and He then urges them all to invite people, as well, who can’t return the favor. Then He escalates it to excuses people make that forfeit their invitation to the banquet in the Kingdom of Heaven. V25 tells us, “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus”, and He turns towards them and begins teaching about being wise, investing your life wisely, and the cost of following Him.
By Luke 15, it says, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” They’re obviously not liking the crowd, especially since it’s not for them. This is when Jesus shares the parables of The Lost Coin, The Lost Sheep, and The Lost Son – words of hope for all who would repent, who would let God change their minds, as well as a strong rebuke against self-righteousness.
In Luke 16 Jesus addresses His disciples among the crowd with the parable of The Shrewd Manager, who changed his ways of cheating his master to using his worldly resources to benefit others and make friends, who he might be used to bring along with him in eternity. After a review of being trustworthy with the truths and resources we have from God, Jesus continues in…
Luke 16:13-18 – 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus [they were basically rolling their eyes at Him, trying to dismiss Him as hopelessly out of touch]. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly [apart from God] is detestable in God’s sight [it’s what keeps them pacified and separated from God].
The word for “detestable” is the same as “abomination” – It’s figuratively a detestable stench, and a moral horror, an illegitimate choice – like choosing your seat cushion instead of a parachute to save your life if you had to jump from a burning airplane – that would disqualify you from surviving!!
16 “The Law [The Law of Moses] and the Prophets [the recorded writings of the Prophets] were proclaimed until John [Jesus is referring to the entire Hebrew Bible, what we now call the Old Testament, which had been available up until John the Baptist arrived on the scene]. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it [violently fighting against it to get in by other ways than trusting Jesus alone]. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. [In other words, you’re not changing God or His will. What He calls good and bad, right and wrong, is already decided. And then He gives an example…]
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. [An example of something they were constantly trying to make socially-acceptable and to legalize – leaving a spouse for someone else.]
And then, here, Jesus gives us this open window into Hades to reinforce the consequences of having your own plans for your life apart from God’s plans for your life.
And notice that there were 3 parts to Hades:
#1. There’s the penthouse, “Abraham’s Bosom”, also called “Paradise”. This is where all righteous believers entered up until the time when Jesus was crucified. But when Jesus was being crucified, and He cried from the Cross, “It is finished,” the final sacrifice for peoples’ sin was paid. God in human flesh accomplished what no animal sacrifice could ever do: Atone for the sins of the whole world to make it possible so that anyone might be able to enter perfect Heaven. So after Jesus was sacrificed and died on the Cross, according to Ephesians 4, He took all those in the paradise part of Hades to Heaven, where they are with Him there now. And from then on, all believers now go to Heaven, where they are joined with the Old and New Testament departed believers, leaving the former paradise section of Hades an empty space. But that hadn’t happened yet at this point, so for those there listening to Jesus tell this story, it’s still just the penthouse.
#2. There’s the basement, “The Place of Torment”, where all unbelievers are gathered until the Great White Throne Judgment, when they will ultimately be thrown into hell, the lake of fire, along with the beast, satan, the false prophets, and the demons.
#3. The third part of Hades is a great chasm fixed between the other two parts.
Luke 16:19-23 – 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side [This is “Abraham’s bosom”, the penthouse-paradise of Hades]. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment [in the basement, “the place of torment”], he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
The first thing we learn about Hades from this picture Jesus gives us is that the rich guy in the basement knows what’s going on with Lazarus in the penthouse!
1. Those who go to hell will probably know what they missed out on in Heaven…forever! They will always be aware of the cost of dying spiritually dead. They will always be aware of what they missed. And they will always remember every opportunity they were given to trust Jesus, but didn’t…as depicted on the ceiling of the Sisteen Chapel (man being dragged to Hades, recalling every opportunity He had to trust Jesus, but didn’t).
Luke 16:24 – 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Our second observation comes when the rich guy yells out a demand to the penthouse, “Send Lazarus down here to comfort me.” He’s still trying to boss Lazarus around! Here’s what’s going on:
2. He still has his personality intact, but all the good parts have been removed! Only the negative elements remain.
Can you imagine spending forever with a bunch of people who have their unrestrained sin natures turned loose? Or even worse, how about enduring eternity alone and isolated with only your own rottenness to contemplate, forever?
Then the rich guy says, “Have Lazarus touch my tongue with a drop of water; I’m in agony in this flame.” Notice – he’s suffering!
3. There is flame, and he’s in the middle of it! Pain and anguish are characteristics of the basement of Hades and of hell.
Luke 16:25-26 – 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
The fourth point of the passage is the great chasm that exists between Heaven and hell.
4. Once you’re in hell, you are there forever. The gap can never be crossed. No possibility of purgatory. No penance.
Luke 16:27-31 – 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
When this rich guy understood the eternal nature of his fate, he begged the guardian of Heaven to tell his 5 brothers about the reality of hell so they wouldn’t have to go there.
I led a funeral for a guy who had a heart attack while hosting a party for youth, providing all kinds of drugs and alcohol. He was a good ole’ boy who everyone knew, a nice guy who would help anyone, in his own way. He scoffed at anything of God, and everyone knew. No one realistically pictured him in Heaven. I didn’t dishonor him. I even recognized a few ways he had helped people in the community. Then I said, “I believe right now he would want you to know…(I shared the GOSPEL)”. 2 youths trusted Jesus from that, one who was there with him at that party.
Abraham reminded the rich man: “We’ve told them already; we gave them the Bible; they wouldn’t read it.” The guy said: “No, do something spectacular, like bringing somebody back from the dead. Then my brothers will believe.
Abraham could have said, “We did that, too”. Jesus had already raised several people from the dead. “That didn’t work – you still didn’t believe Him. They haven’t either. Like you, if they won’t listen either, your brothers will have no excuse.” The rich guy was burning. There was no escape.
5. Like the rich man in the place of torment, or his 5 brothers still living, No one will have any excuse.
Lack of knowledge was not his problem. He had made his decision while physically alive, but he found no opportunity to change it in eternity. “He had sunk to a death beyond prayer, a condemnation beyond forgiveness, and a doom beyond the reach Jesus extends.”
Q: What barriers do you think kept the rich guy from placing his faith in Jesus, which resulted in condemnation? His great wealth? His luxurious self-indulgence? His lack of concern for Lazarus or other people – he just wouldn’t risk breaking the cycle? The hardness of his heart towards God? His apathy towards people’s needs? His lack of belief? His refusal to listen to and submit to Scripture? All Jesus wants from you is whatever you’re holding back from Him. Q: Are you allowing anything to hold you back?
Q: If you were Lazarus and could warn your family, what would you tell them?
• Don’t be so focused on the world and its’ system of substitutions for God, focus on God.
• Repent (seriously consider reality from God’s view – which He gives us in His word, stop fighting His Truths and reality that would change your mind) and believe!
• There really is life after death!
• Be sure to share what you have with those around you…Care!
That was a snapshot picture of hell. It is not good in any way. And yet some people think life on this earth is more important than their existence afterward. Hell is a terrible price to pay for such distorted values. It’s an awful consequence for such a God-less bet on life. Are you gambling that you are right and God is wrong? If so, you’re trying to be God, and that leaves you…apart from God.
Here are some lessons from Jesus’ preview in Luke 16:
• There is life after death.
• How we live has eternal consequences.
• We need to listen to God.
• Share all this with others.
• Keep re-evaluating your priorities and values in light of God’s along the way.
• Live with eternity in mind, not just for today.
Q: How much does your relationship with Jesus affect your values and the way you live your life right now? Very little? A whole lot?
Develop the friendship with God and real life now that He extends that only comes by way of Jesus’ death and resurrection! All those who die in Christ, who are spiritually alive at the time of their physical death, will spend eternity with Him!
John Wesley said…“Give me one hundred men who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart and we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation.”
I believe that can be you, but you have to choose. It definitely won’t just happen.
