The Rich Man and Lazarus, Part 3: The Real Tragedy
The real tragedy in this story (Luke 16:19-31) is not simply that the rich man finds himself in misery. We all find ourselves in misery at some stage or at various stages in our lives. I don’t believe hell is one particular place. I think it is many places, conditions, and experiences that we all have to live through in order to grow, to learn, to become more than what we are. We all have our “hells” to live through. As the Apostles Creed says, Jesus “descended into hell.” We all descend into hell. What is more tragic is living through these “hells” and failing to learn and grow. Now that is tragic. This story talks about a chasm that is fixed, where one can’t pass from one sphere to the other, but one can see across it. It’s important to see where we are, where we have been, and where we are going. Taking a good honest look at our past, our present, and where we are headed into the future is very important to real transformation and moral development. ...