Richman And Lazarus

The parable that our group chose is The Rich Man and Lazarus. This parable takes place in the Gospel Luke where it is found in Luke 16:19-31. This parable stood out to our group, as it highlights the actions and words of individuals who have everything they need and more versus individuals who have almost nothing, but still hold faith in their Lord. By studying this parable and learning more about the context for which it occurs in the bible, allows us, as individuals, to further deepen our understanding of God works for the betterment of those less fortunate. For many of us, it is easy to say that we will always extend a helping hand to those who may not be able to help themselves, but experiencing it first hand may alter those thoughts. However,

The parable of the “Rich Man and Lazarus” is located in the Gospel of Luke in Chapter 16 verses 19-31. This location is quite significant for the parable, as it comes after the parable “The Shrewd Manager”. The parable of “The Shrewd Manager” is in the gospel of Luke Chapter 16 verses 1-18. The parable talks about how the manager was losing his job, but enlisted the workers to be dishonest about what they owe the rich man. The lesson taught through this parable is that one is unable to be faithful to two “masters” (“BibleGateway”). This is the idea that an individual is unable to serve God and money and even if think they are acting right, God truly knows their heart. Looking at the parable in the eyes of serving God or serving money, it relates to the parable of “The Rich Man and Lazarus” because the rich man was so caught up in the lavish of money, that he was unable to serve the poor, or, serve God. While understanding the passage before “The Rich Man and Lazarus”, it also helps to look further into the Gospel of Luke and learn more about the passage that follows our parable. Luke 17:1-7 focuses on the idea that even with the smallest amount of faith, you are able to do more than you think. During this passage, Jesus said to his disciples, “If you have

We had thought that this parable was simply about the rich not helping the poor, while the poor suffered, but Levine made us see it in a new light. Levine had highlighted the idea that the rich man was not condemned because he was “rich”, but rather because he was exploited the poor to become rich (Levine, p. 249). While a lot of Levine’s opinions may seem radical to people, they do make everyone look at the parables through a new lens. In our presentation, we wanted to highlight the many translation misconceptions that are included in the parable. The first translation that we took the time to study was at the very beginning of the parable in verse 20. In the New International version, they use the phrase “At his gate”, however, after reading Levine’s book, it became clear that it is translated as “And some poor person” when taken into context with the Greek language (Levine, p. 254). While this may seem very trivial to many, it actually changes the whole “feeling” of the parable. When the NIV uses “At his gate”, it really dilutes the severity of Lazarus’ condition, while the Greek translation tries to highlight how much Lazarus is suffering. Another translation we found to be very important to this parable is that of the term