Is Jesus’ Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man Literal or Figurative?
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Jesus hardly ever taught without telling a story. We call them parables, and Christ used them along with his direct teaching.
“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 13:34-35).
Christ told stories for a reason: to expose deep, complex, and eternal truths through simple, relatable parables. The truths were so deep, people often didn’t understand them, even Jesus’ closest disciples. When we approach the parables with the Spirit (Jesus’ guidance), we find amazing, heavenly lessons.
Jesus used common items and types of people to tell these stories — a woman lost a coin, a merchant wanted a pearl, a shepherd lost one of his sheep.
When we look at the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the story has fantastical elements about the afterlife. Did Jesus use literal elements in this parable like the others? How literally can we take this parable?
Where Can We Find the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man?
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells this parable to a group that included his disciples and the Pharisees. Just before Jesus tells the story, the Pharisees had mocked his teachings about money and the Kingdom of God. Christ had been instructing how no one can serve both God and money, directly challenging the Jewish leaders’ idea that wealth meant God’s favor and blessing. However, Jesus pointed out the deeper sin of greed.
The parable describes two different men. A rich man lives in luxury. Outside the gates of his house lay a poor man (named Lazarus). Lazarus is covered in sores, and he only wants to eat scraps from the rich man’s table. Jesus gives disturbing details, like dogs licking Lazarus’s wounds, highlighting the man’s unclean suffering.
When both men die, the afterlife tells a different story. Angels carry Lazarus to Abraham’s side or bosom. The rich man ends up in a painful version of Hades. The rich man sees Lazarus far away, a gap between them, and he begs Lazarus for a drop of water, any relief from the heat and agony. But Abraham points out how the rich man got good things in his earthly life, while Lazarus suffered. Their fates are now opposite, and fixed. No relief is available.
The story takes a profound turn. The rich man begs for Lazarus to warn his brothers. Abraham says that the rich man’s family already has Moses and the Prophets (the Old Testament) as truth to believe and change. If they won’t regard the Old Testament, then they won’t listen to someone rising from the dead to get them to repent.
The parable confronts the Jewish leaders and their love of wealth. At the same time, since they felt money and luxury was a sign of God’s favor, poverty and sickness meant sin and a curse, keeping them from showing a poor man mercy. Jesus uses his story to reveal how God sees the heart. It implies that God holds the wealthy accountable to be generous and see the less fortunate as worthy of their time and effort. As Jesus ministered among the marginalized, he calls for the Pharisees and others to repent in light of eternal judgment for how people treat one another.
What Were the Old Testament Views of the Afterlife?
Jesus uses common ideas about the afterlife in this parable. The Old Testament uses the word Sheol for the realm of the dead. This dark, underground place held all the dead, righteous and wicked, after death (Genesis 37:35, Job 7:9). Sheol was seen as a place of silence, forgetfulness like sleep, and darkness. No praise of God could be heard there (Psalm 6:5). In some ways, Sheol didn’t mean punishment, but it did separate the living from the dead and the joy of God.
While not our modern idea of hell, sometimes Sheol would seem negative, especially when called a pit, associated with a form of destruction (Psalm 30:3, Isaiah 31:18). The Old Testament described the wicked going down to the pit, implying dishonor and judgment.
At the same time, a more blessed afterlife was called being “gathered to one’s fathers” (Genesis 25:8, 49:33), suggesting peace and rest in a community of faithful ancestors.
The later prophets started developing a more distinct afterlife. Isaiah and Daniel introduced a later resurrection of the dead, a blessed thing (Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2). The dead in sleep would rise to an eternal reward or shame. The resurrected righteous would live in a new, restored, and immortal Jerusalem (Isaiah 65:17-25). The wicked would go to Gehenna, once a place of idolatry and child sacrifices, symbolizing eternal punishment.
Is the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man Literal or Figurative?
While we may not be as familiar with the Old Testament worldview around the afterlife, Jesus certainly was. Like his other stories, the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was a fictional narrative used to express spiritual truth. The characters symbolize different elements to challenge the Jews of Jesus’ day.
We might interpret the parable figuratively, but the imagery aligns with the Old Testament concepts of the afterlife, especially the later prophetic ideas of conscious punishment and blessings for people after death. The Jews of Jesus’ day had further developed these ideas, as well. In the parable, Lazarus and the rich man live in different places, with a wide and impassable gap between them.
The rich man suffered torment for his lack of mercy while alive. While Hades originates with Greek mythology, here Jesus describes it much like the negative images of the “pit” while combining elements of the burning of Gehenna, a common term for a tormented afterlife. The rich man languishes in a place of despair and separation. Lazarus had traded his earthly suffering for comfort in Abraham’s bosom, clearly referencing the Old Testament idea of being gathered to “the fathers,” a peaceful rest for the righteous and faithful. The parable doesn’t mention Lazarus’ righteousness, but it’s suggested with where he ends up.
Context matters, and Jesus’ primary point was moral, to show kindness and mercy to the poor and sick, a central theme of Christ’s ministry. Jesus wasn’t explicitly teaching about what hell and heaven would look like.
Further, Jesus adds a powerful statement at the end of the parable. Abraham states how if people won’t listen to the truth of Moses, then they wouldn’t heed the truth told by a man who rose from the dead. Of course, Jesus would be that very man in the future. And we see the rejection of his resurrection and the Gospel by the Jews, in the Jerusalem council, and as Paul engaged synagogues all around the empire.
The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man wasn’t meant to be taken literally, although Jesus rooted it in Old Testament theology enough to give it an air of reality. The point, however, was for people to repent and care for the needy, because eternity would be judged by these things. Jesus taught something similar in Matthew 25:31-45, dividing the righteous and wicked (sheep and goats) with how they treated the poor and marginalized.
How Did Luke’s Gospel Highlight the Poor?
It makes sense that Luke’s gospel would have the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Luke’s gospel emphasizes generosity to the poor more than the other three. Matthew, Mark, and John all mention care for the needy in teaching and narrative, but Luke gives even more special attention to the poor and the outcast. From the beginning, Luke presents Jesus as the one who fulfills prophecy, quoting from Isaiah 61. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me … to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18-19). While we can include our spiritual lack, reading through Luke’s writings, Jesus primarily means the financially poor.
Luke includes other parables along the same theme as the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) takes personal responsibility and shows mercy to a wounded man, a stranger, showing real love for a neighbor. Only Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector who sees Jesus and repents, giving half his possessions to the poor (Luke 19:1-10).
The Beatitudes in Luke 6:20-26 differ from Matthew’s version. Luke writes Jesus saying, “Blessed are you who are poor,” while Matthew’s says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Like James says the poor are rich in faith (James 2:5), Luke’s gospel teaches how financial poverty will be reversed in God’s Kingdom, where the Lord will lift the lowly and bring down the proud and wealthy. Mary’s song praises God for this (Luke 1:46-55).
Luke, a doctor, conducted thorough research for his gospel. In his introduction, he writes how he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” to provide “an orderly account” (Luke 1:1-4). Luke became a regular ministry companion of Paul, and Luke would have learned doctrine from the apostle while being able to gather primary accounts. Paul also focused on generosity to the poor in his church planting efforts (Galatians 2:10).
Luke’s gospel truly champions the poor, calling Jesus disciples to a generous and compassionate life toward the marginalized, also a major theme in the New Testament.
What Does the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man Mean for Us Today?
First, the story places our earthly life in context of a real afterlife. How we treat others, primarily those less fortunate, will resound in eternity, whether one of comfort or judgment. Jesus reveals only two possible outcomes. This is consistent with his other teachings, where he says the righteous will be resurrected to eternal life and the wicked to judgement (John 5:29). For us today, we must remember we live in the moment, but our actions have eternal consequences. We must use our resources to love others, especially those in need.
Second, the parable calls us to care for the sick and the poor. Generosity and compassion aren’t optional for us. It’s easy for us to live with blinders on, not seeing the needs around us. We must learn to be intentional, to notice and bring relief and empowerment to others. When we do so, we reflect the coming Kingdom, both here and in the future, where poverty and injustice can’t happen. Acts of service bless others and preach the Gospel, revealing how God loves all people and seeks to heal and give.
Finally, Jesus promises that by participating in these Kingdom principles, God will reward us. Jesus tells us in Luke 14:13-14 to invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind to our parties. “You will be blessed … for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” The Kingdom of God operates by different rules and values than the ones of this world. As a pastor friend once told me, generosity is the currency of heaven. We get more when we give. Hoarding makes us spiritually and eternally poor.
Peace.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Romolo Tavani
