Luke 16:19-27
"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...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 torment in Hades, he lifted his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. The 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 in torment in this flame.
But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime, you received good things and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all these, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us"
Introduction - Jesus saw the lost quite differently from His disciples:
Characters
1. Samaritan woman -
Disciples regard her as living in sin & untouchable but Jesus regard her as someone who needed to know the truth.
2. Adulterous woman -
Disciples regard her as someone who has to be stoned?? Jesus regard her as someone who need to know forgiveness
3. Blind man -
Disciples regard him as someone who has sinned or his parents have sinned. Jesus regard him as someone chosen to reveal the works of God.
4. Tax collector - Zacchaeus
Disciples regard him as a corrupt person but Jesus regard him as someone ready to repent and make restitution.
5. Mary Magdalene
Disciples called her a sinner and a prostitute but Jesus regard her as someone in need of love and forgiveness.
Seeing the lost like Jesus in 4 areas:
1. Jesus saw the great Divide (great gulf fixed)
2. Jesus saw the Depravity of sin
3. Jesus saw their Destiny in hell
4. Jesus saw their Despair without a shepherd
Jesus saw the great Divide
The rich man may have been indulgent all his life and shut out his eyes and ears to the needs of Lazarus but that was not the main reason he was in hell. It could be that an indulgent lifestyle made a person selfish and hard but the main thing that separated him from God was his sin.
It is sin that separates us from God. We cannot hope to bridge the great gulf by our own good works, money, religion or by just being a good person. We need Jesus - the only way, the truth and the life. It is a gift of God not of our own works lest any man should boast.
Jesus saw the Depravity of sin
During the times of the Lord Jesus just as it is now, sin has its consequences.
Characters
1. Samaritan woman -
She lived in adultery, that was her depravity. She was looking for love in the wrong places (Luke 4:48)
2. Mary Magdalene -
She was a prostitute. She became possessed by 7 demons as a result of her sexual depravity (Luke 7:47)
3. Rich man -
He idolized money and self indulgent lifestyle as his god (Matt 6:26). His depravity was fleshly indulgence. He was not a seeker of God.
4. This generation -
Drugs, alcohol, partying, hedonistic, social media bullying, same sex relationships, broken marriages, adultery, rebellion, murder, violence, debauchery.....
Jesus saw their Destiny in hell
The rich man asked Abraham to send prophets to his home to tell them about hell (Luke 6:27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they come to this place of torment"
Even people in hell are concerned about the lost. What more we who are alive and can tell others about Jesus. God wants us to do this while we have breath as death means the end of all evangelism!
Jesus saw their Despair without a shepherd
Matt 9:36 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd"
Despair means to be totally at lost, no more hope in life, tough to go on living and can lead to suicide.
Young and old, there are times when we are weary or scattered. There are times when work becomes ritualistic and without meaning or purpose. Life becomes and endless toil of working and struggling to put food on the table. However if we allow Jesus to guide us lovingly like a shepherd, we will find true meaning to life - to reach out to others and tell them the Good News!
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