8/28/19 

Luke 16:31

³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

These are the last words in the tragic story of the Rich Man and Lazarus the Beggar.  There is a rule about the understanding of parables that is useful to us here.  Incidentals in the story are to be understood as what they are.  They make the story understandable and interesting and are to be no more than that.  We do not need to make them important in themselves. For the beggar to be at the rich man’s door means no more than that he had a presence that was recognized and he and his need were ignored.

This verse, 16:31, gives a major issue in the story.  The Law and the Prophets testify to the need for a radical change in the life of everyone.  The rich man did not have this renovation.  He recognized the need too late.  He had died.  His time of trial had passed.  He had failed and was experiencing the consequences.

Even under these circumstances he wanted a special dispensation.  He wanted a witness from beyond the grave.  He gets a two-fold answer.  First there is not going to be any such witness.  Secondly there is an adequate witness at hand, The Scriptures.