the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

parallel ideas in the parable in consonance with references to the intermediate state in
contemporary Jewish literature, it is untenable that “Jesus speaks in this account of
disembodied existence in a place and time that stands between this life and the next.” 49
In
order words, the parable is not designed to offer a precise schedule or details about what
happens after death, but rather to provide instructions concerning the use of wealth, the
sufficiency of Moses and the prophets, and repentance. If we are forced to teach about the
afterworld from the parable, there is not much to say except that the afterworld certainly
exists, and that life in the afterworld is unconditionally fixed, unchangeable.
Regarding the use of the word , Forbes goes so far as to say that the rich man has
thought over contrary to the teaching of John the Baptist, that a circumcised descendant of
50
Abraham is not enough to be delivered from eternal punishment. It is not, however, so
much that when in trouble, he, as part of Abraham’s family, deserves some help. 51 He
appears to have accepted his fate, since he does not protest the judgment rendered on him. He
requests just a little water to make his tongue cool. His request through Abraham seems that
he still looks down on Lazarus as a servant to do his bidding rather than appealing to
Abraham who is the model of hospitality (Gen. 18:1-15). 52 Lazarus is quiet while the rich
man requests the water from him through Abraham, yet it is a mere excessive conjecture that
Bailey finds the virtue of forgiveness in Lazarus’ silence. 53
Acknowledging his relationship to the rich man with the word , Abraham uttered
the classical cry of the prophets: “Remember!” ‘in your life, you received your good things
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and Lazarus likewise evil things. Now he is comforted, and you are in torment.’ The
question that arises instantly in one’s mind concerning v. 25, is what is the basis of the
judgment? Some commentators try to search for a tenable rationale in Egyptian, Jewish and
Greco-Roman folk-tales that parallel the parable, in which the rich man finds himself in the
Luke-Acts,” IBS 9 (1987), 115-30.
49. Joel B. Green, “Eschatology and the Nature of Humans,” Science & Christian Belief 14 (2002), 33-50, 44-45.
50. Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 191-92.
51. Bailey, “The New Testament Job, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern
New Testament Studies,” 25.
52. Scott, Hear Then the Parable, 153-54; Herzorg, Parables as Subversive Speech, 123; Metzger, Consumption
and Wealth in Luke’s Travel Narrative, 142; Bailey, “The New Testament Job, The Parable of Lazarus and the
Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern New Testament Studies,” 25.
53. Bailey, “The New Testament Job, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern
New Testament Studies,” 25.
54. Bailey contends that “now he is comforted” means that Lazarus’ deepest wounds were just psychic anguish
because of the rich man’s neglect, not because of his hunger or his sores. Bailey, “The New Testament Job, The
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man An Exercise in Middle Eastern New Testament Studies,” 27-28.
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