“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he…
THE WEDDING GARMENT A crucial point in the parable is the absence of a wedding garment. There has been much speculation as to the source of the wedding garment. Some declare it was the custom in Jesus’ day to present wedding guests with garments. However there is little evidence to support such a claim. The parable leaves the source (of the wedding garment) in the background, and simply indicates that a suitable robe was necessary, however obtained. Adding to…
“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come…
Luke 16 (NKJV) “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am…
Luke 16 (NKJV) “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am…
Luke 16 (NKJV) “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.” VERSE 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for…
Luke 16 (NKJV) Having now considered Verses 23-26 from a literal perspective we would now like to consider them as they were intended from a figurative or parabolic perspective. “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the…
Luke 16 (NKJV) We continue now with Verses 24-26 of the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. For the sake of argument we are taking a look at this parable from the prospective of those who insist that it is to be taken literally to determine whether it be sound and scriptural. Thus far in our study the literal viewpoint has proven to be neither, nevertheless it seems only right that we examine the feasibleness of the whole parable…
Luke 16 (NKJV) As stated we believe our Lord’s statements in regards to the Rich man and Lazarus to be a parable, a FIGURATIVE portrayal of events, however some are still insistent upon believing it to be a LITERAL portrayal of events. With this in mind we should like to consider our next verse from the literal perspective and note its inconsistencies. Here we will disregard the sound scriptural teachings (some of which we noted in our last post) in…
Luke 16 (NKJV) Having in our previous posts taken a look at the first four verses of our parable (Verses 19-22) both from the literal perspective as well as the parabolic perspective we are now ready to examine Verses 23-26. Once again in order to prove that this is a parable we must first show that if interpreted literally it would be an absurdity, one which anyone in possession of “the spirit of a sound mind” would quickly denounce as…