16:19-21
We then return to a more conventional parable. There was a rich man dressed in purple and fine lined, both symbols of wealth. The man lived a life of luxury. A beggar was laid at his gate each day. Rather unusually in a parable, the beggar is given a name. Perhaps this is to signify that he is considered to be important by Jesus. The beggar was in great need. It doesn’t say so explicitly, but the implication seems to be that the rich man did not give him anything.
16:22-24
Both the rich man and the beggar died, the beggar was carried up to “Abraham’s side”. The Talmud mentions “Abraham’s side” as a term for heaven. Note the implication that Abraham is alive. The rich man is buried and resides in Hades. Note also that he was in torment. Now there are debates about whether hell means eternal conscious torment, or whether there is a period of punishment followed by annihilation, or some variation on this theme.This parable would seem to lend support to the conscious torment view, though one must be careful of reading too much into parables. At least one aspect of the torment was that the rich man saw Lazarus at Abraham’s side, while he was suffering in hell. So he called out to Abraham to have pity on him, and send Lazarus to help him. Note that he still sees Lazarus as somehow inferior to himself! One might have thought that the fact that he was in Hades, while Lazarus was in heaven might have given him a clue as to the true nature of things, but apparently it didn’t.
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