Luke 16:19–31
The name Lazarus is a Greek version of the Hebrew name, Eleazar, which means ‘God will help’. The most famous Lazarus in the Bible is a friend of Jesus in the Gospel of John. He is the brother of Mary and Martha. He becomes ill and dies before Jesus cane arrive. Jesus weeps. Jesus grieves. And then Jesus calls him and he lives again.
Another Biblical Lazarus is the subject of this parable of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. In these twelve verses, Jesus covers a lot of ground: poverty, wealth, class, death, eternal life. At the beginning of the parable, the rich man lives richly, and Lazarus, the poor man, is sick and hungry, laying at the gates of the rich man. They both die and there is a great reversal. Lazarus is carried to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man goes to Hades for torment. And yet both locations (Abraham’s bosom and Hades) are visible to each other and the rich man cries out about his pain, to which Abraham responds.
As I said, Jesus covers a lot in this parable. It is rich with meaning. But what I want to focus on is the last verse and how this call directly connects to abolition. The rich man asks Abraham for permission to go warn his family about the consequences of their actions. Eventually, Abraham says the following: ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’
Because of how our modern world is structured towards the violence of the state and the separation of humanity through jails and prisons, it can feel like we need an extra word from Jesus to convince people of the error of their thoughts. We may think, “if only Jesus could tell the governors and the legislators and wardens, then they would really know.”
And yet, Moses and the prophets already speaks to abolition. The Gospel of Jesus Christ already speaks to abolition. Someone rising from the dead is not going to add anything to what is already present in the Bible. The word of God for freedom and humanity is already there. Hope is not found in the extra thing but in carrying out faithfully the words God has already put on God’s people to break the chains of this world. We don’t need to wait for a new message to act.
Wilson Pruitt is a Methodist pastor and translator in Spicewood, TX.