“Who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the
living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?” What is the answer to that question? Moses.
He had heard this same thing hadn’t he?
Because he heard that voice from the burning bush and lived, he had come
to lead them out of slavery to freedom, out of death to life. The Lord knew the hearts of the people, that
they were not a faithful people and they would turn away. His desire was that they would indeed always
have this same fear and dread of Him and His judgment, that they would be
careful to obey the commandments, statutes and rules He would give them. He knew, however, that this would not
last. In fact, it wouldn’t last long at
all, just over a month, and they would forget while Moses was doing exactly
what they asked him to do, meet with God and get the rest of the law.
The first question to be asked of this reading is, is it a
parable or not? Luke doesn’t tell us it
is a parable and Jesus tells it as though it were a true story, not a
parable. The truth doesn’t change one
way or another but it does tell us that Jesus has knowledge that is unavailable
to anyone else concerning eternal life.
Lazarus, whoever he may be, is in the bosom of Abraham while the rich
man who ignored the needs of Lazarus in life is in a place of torment, in
Hades. The rich man is concerned first
for himself, asking that Lazarus be sent to help quench his thirst and, when
that is denied, is concerned for his family, that they not suffer as he does,
asking that Lazarus be sent to his father’s house to warn them of
judgment. Both requests are denied, the
second with the statement, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither
will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” All will not believe the Gospel of the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That,
however, does not mean we should not preach it because, indeed, some will
believe. The Good News is Good News
whether believed or not.
“So we do not lose heart (because of faith in the one who
resurrected Jesus from the dead).” I
wish that were true of me. I lose heart
all the time, I get discouraged, I doubt and I want to just go away somewhere
and hide. Somehow, the Holy Spirit is
able to pick up the shattered and tiny little thing that still remains of faith
and breathe new life into it and here we go again, back into the battle. The thing that keeps me going sometimes is
nothing more than the reality of the resurrection and the knowledge that in the
end there is no question who the victor will be no matter how it goes day to
day. I can’t say that I am “always” of
good courage but I have my days. My hope
is in the one who had courage enough to die on a cross. I am nothing without Him.
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