Question?

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is an interesting parable not just because it the only parable that uses a name, but also because of the style, subject matter and implications. There are some out there (see comments from previous posts) who believe that since a name is used this must be an authentic story rather than a parable. Though it is interesting that this is the only story with the subject named, the literary style and some story elements mitigate against this being a factual, literal account. Since this apparently is in contention (although even in the fairly conservative, literal interpretive framework that I grew up in I was always taught that this was in fact a parable) I will attempt to lay out the reasons why this story demands to be interpreted as a parable.

1. If one looks earlier in the same chapter in Luke (16), the middle of the first verse has the exact same wording in my English translation (the Greek is near identical as well.) The preface to both stories is translated: “There was a rich man who . . .” If we look at the parable at the beginning of Luke and see its structure, content and message, a couple of things jump out at us. First of all, in the first story Jesus is commending someone for being shrewd with worldly wealth. And using their shrewdness as a metaphor for how we should use our own wealth and influence. Though this is not directly contradictory to the story of Lazarus, at least the main themes are quite different. Yet the literary structure and flow is near identical.

Though we could easily see these two stories as held in irreconcilable tension, the Jewish Scriptures and tradition are filled with this seemingly contradictory style of writing. If we look at the Psalms, the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, we see one thing emphasized and then seemingly the opposite. This literary technique is not simply confusion on the authors’ part, but rather a way to make sense of this seemingly contradictory world. Within our own mindset we often try to deal with the inconsistencies of the natural world in other ways. Yet, this holding of contrasting ideas has a strong Jewish literary tradition. If nothing else, these two parable show that Jesus was speaking, thinking and living within the continuity of this Jewish literary tradition.

2. See next post.