The Rich Man and Lazarus: A Warning on Wealth (Luke 16:19-31)
Jesus is still speaking to the Pharisees, who love money and have been sneering at what He said about serving two masters. He answers them with a story that has no comfortable resolution.
There is a rich man. He dresses in purple and fine linen and feasts sumptuously every day. At his gate lies a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, longing to eat what falls from the rich man's table. Dogs come and lick his sores. Both men die. Lazarus is carried by angels to Abraham's side. The rich man ends up in Hades, in torment.
The rich man looks up, sees Abraham in the distance with Lazarus beside him, and cries out: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." He still treats Lazarus as someone who exists to run errands for him. Abraham refuses. He reminds the rich man that he received good things in his lifetime and Lazarus received bad things. Now the positions are reversed. And between them is a great chasm that has been fixed so that no one can cross from one side to the other.
The rich man tries a different request: send Lazarus to warn my five brothers, so they do not come to this place. Abraham answers: "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." The rich man insists: if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. Abraham says: "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead."
Those final words are not a hypothetical. They are a prophecy about Jesus Himself, whose resurrection will be rejected by those same leaders who refuse to listen to the Scriptures.
A Curious Question
The rich man in the story knew exactly who Lazarus was. He even called him by name when he was asking for help. That means he had seen Lazarus at his gate every day and chosen not to help him. After both of them died and everything was reversed, the rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus on an errand to warn his brothers. Abraham said: they have Moses and the Prophets. If that is not enough, nothing will be. What do you think Jesus is saying about the relationship between how we treat people we can see right now and whether we are really listening to God?
Old Testament Connection
The prophets of the Old Testament hammered one theme harder than almost any other: care for the poor is not optional for God's people. Isaiah 58:6-7 defines the fast God chooses as sharing your food with the hungry and sheltering the wanderer. Amos 6 thunders against those who lie on beds of ivory, eat the finest food, and do not grieve over the ruin of the nation's poor. The rich man in Jesus' story is not accused of a dramatic sin. He simply lived as if Lazarus did not exist. That invisibility is the sin.
Abraham's closing line carries enormous weight in the context of Luke: "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead." Jesus is already on His way to Jerusalem. He knows what is coming. The resurrection He describes as hypothetically unconvincing to the Pharisees is His own. The story is a prophecy: even after Jesus rises from the dead, those who have not listened to Scripture will find reasons to disbelieve. This is one of the most sobering lines in all of Luke and it connects directly to the empty tomb. The Scriptures point to Jesus. Jesus is the one who rose. The question is whether we will listen.
Discussion Questions
- The rich man's sin in this story was not that he was rich. It was that he had a person suffering right at his gate every day and acted like that person was invisible. Who are the people that are easy for you to act like they are invisible? What would it look like to actually notice them?
- Abraham told the rich man that his brothers already have Moses and the Prophets, meaning the Scriptures, and if they will not listen to those, even a miracle will not change their minds. Do you think that is true? What makes someone able to hear the Bible and actually let it change them?
- After both men died, the positions were completely reversed. Lazarus, who had nothing, was at Abraham's side. The rich man, who had everything, was in torment. What do you think Jesus wants us to understand about the difference between what we have in this life and what actually matters forever?
"So What?" What Can I Do?
This week, look for your "gate." Lazarus was right at the rich man's front door every single day and the man walked past him without seeing him. Think about where you go every day: school, home, your neighborhood, your church. Is there someone who is always there, always struggling, always overlooked, that you have been walking past? You do not have to solve their entire problem. Just start by actually seeing them. Say their name. Ask how they are doing. That is the first thing the rich man never did, and it is something you can do today.
Memorize God's Word
Luke 16:31: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
Hand Motions:
- If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets: Cup one hand behind your ear as if straining to hear, then shake your head slowly.
- they will not be convinced: Cross both arms firmly in front of you and shake your head once more.
- even if someone rises from the dead: Start low with both hands flat at your sides, then raise both arms upward slowly with palms facing up, looking up as you rise.
Praying with Kids
Lord, thank You that we have Moses and the Prophets, and thank You that we have Jesus, who rose from the dead, just as Abraham said would not be enough for those who refused to listen. Help us to be people who actually listen. Help us to see the people right at our gate that we have been walking past. Give us eyes to see, hearts to care, and hands to do something about it. And remind us today that what we do with what we have in this life matters forever. Amen.
Craft: The Two Doors Sign
Children will create a two-sided door sign representing the choice placed before the rich man every day: to open the door to Lazarus or to keep it closed. The craft is a physical reminder that the people we notice or ignore today have eternal significance.
Materials Checklist
Instructions
- Cut the cardstock into a door shape: a rectangle with a rounded top, approximately 4 x 6 inches.
- On the front side, draw a closed door. Label it with the words: "Who is at my gate today?"
- On the back side, draw an open door with light coming through. Label it: "Open your eyes. Open your hands."
- Below the open door, write the memory verse reference: Luke 16:31.
- Punch a hole at the top and thread ribbon through to create a hanging sign.
- Encourage children to hang it somewhere at home where they will see it every day, as a prompt to notice who might be at their "gate."
Effective Teaching Techniques
This is one of the most serious lessons in the entire Luke series, and it deserves to be taught with honest weight. Do not rush to the comfort of application before children have sat with what Jesus is actually describing. A man who had every opportunity to show mercy, every day, for what appears to have been a long time, did not. And the consequences are permanent.
The most important teaching decision you will make in this lesson is how to handle the afterlife imagery. Children will have questions. Be honest: Jesus is describing a real separation between those who are with God and those who are not, and He describes it as fixed and final. Do not soften it into vagueness, but do not sensationalize it either. The point of the story is not to frighten children into behavior change. The point is to show that how we treat people in this life is deeply connected to whether we are truly listening to God.
One effective dramatic moment: bring a sign to class that says "GATE" and tape it to the door. As children arrive, sit a stuffed animal or a simple paper figure outside the door, labeled "Lazarus." Ask children at the start: did anyone notice what was outside? Walk through the lesson, then return to it at the end. Who saw it and walked past? Who stopped? That experience makes the parable tangible without judgment.
The most likely question: "Is the rich man in hell?" Answer carefully: Jesus describes a place of torment after death for those separated from God, and the great chasm that cannot be crossed. The point is not to map out the geography of the afterlife. The point is: the choices we make now about who we see and whether we listen to God's Word are not small choices. They echo into eternity.