Lazarus and the Rich Man Luke 16

The Beggar named Lazarus and the Rich Man
Luke 16:20-31

Another day Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and he told them this story:

There was a certain rich man who wore beautiful clothing, and ate wonderful meals every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at the gate of the rich man's house, and his body was covered with sores. A beggar is a very poor person. And all he wanted was to have to eat the food which fell from the rich man's table. And the dogs came and licked his sores.

Now one day, the beggar died, and the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom. That is paradise, where the people who believed in God went before the Lord Jesus died on the cross. And the rich man died also, and he was buried. But the rich man was in hell, and he looked up and saw Abraham far off, and the beggar Lazarus was with him.

And the rich man cried and said "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, for these flames are very terrible. But Abraham said "Son, remember that you in your lifetime received good things, but Lazarus did not receive good things, and now he is comforted, but you are tormented. And besides this, there is a large separation between us, so that no one can come to where you are, and no one where you are can come to us.

And so the rich man said "I pray then for you to send Lazarus to my father's house because I have five brothers; so that he may tell them about this place so that they might not come here too. But Abraham said "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." And the rich man said "No father Abraham, but if one who was dead went to see them, they would repent."

And Abraham said to him "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, than they will not believe, even if someone rose from the dead."

Memory Verse: Luke 16:22 "...the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom....."

Questions:
1. What happened to the rich man when he died?
2. What is the most wonderful thing that happened to Lazarus when he died?
3. Do you think that the rich man was sorry for how he treated Lazarus when they were both alive?
4. What is a good thing about the rich man.
5. How did Abraham say that the brothers could avoid going to hell when they died?

Answers:
1. He went to the place called hell.
2. The angels carried him to Abraham's bosom...isn't that wonderful? That means that when we die, if we have received the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, an angel will carry us to be with him...
3. No, because he still wanted Lazarus to serve him
4. He didn't want his brothers to come to the same place when they died.
5. They had Moses and the prophets whose writings they could read and believe.

Vicki C. Gross/Nov'02

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