That Time, When Jesus Told a Ghost Story…

Hey. Sorry it has been a while since my (first and) last post. I just haven’t quite been able to manage everything I want to do quite as well as I’d like. I am going to try to write more cause I do miss it. Just a matter of having an idea/inspiration when I am free or trying to remember one I had a week or so ago when I do have time. Luckily, I had this idea earlier tonight.
Remember when Yeshua (Jesus) told that ghost story? You know, the one about the two dead guys? No? Let me give you a brief summary, or at least the reference. This is a total paraphrase (and maybe not even a good one) of Luke 16: 19–31
“There was a rich man who had a lot. And there was a beggar named Lazarus, who was sick but had faith. Some might say his faith was all he had. Both of them died. Lazarus goes to Abrahams Bosom and is finally taken care of. The man who had everything….well…he went to hell. The rich man cries in torment and begs for some measure of mercy to be shown to him…but none is. Arguably, in this agony, he pleads for Lazarus to be sent to his family so that they may change their ways. Sadly, the response he got, offered him no comfort. ‘If they don’t hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
I know we are to let scripture interpret scripture, so may I make a suggestion or thought, letting a parable interpret part of this parable. In the parable of the sheep and goats, (Matthew 25:31–46) the goats are sent away because they didn’t help others. A little earlier in Matthew (Matthew 7:21–23) there are those who will try to boast bout what they did for G-d, but He will say “Away from me I never knew you.” What I am trying to get at in these verses, is the rich man does know who Abraham is…in fact calls him “Father Abraham.” He does know who Moses and the Prophets were as well. I don’t think its to far out of the box to assume the Rich man in this story, was a believer, or at least a Jew.
Only if Lazarus could raise from the dead….wait, didn’t Lazarus raise from the dead? Ok, maybe not the Lazarus from the parable, but didn’t Yeshua (Jesus) have a friend named Lazarus that did in fact, get raised from the dead? I dunno, somewhere round John 11 or so? And yeah, many Jews believed. But read on, in Chapter 12 and the Pharisees were plotting to kill Lazarus due to many people believing him. (I’ve heard some traditions / stories that have Lazarus as a martyr.) So maybe not all will believe if one comes back from the dead…
It is prolly a little obvious what my next thought is. That there was someone else who came back from the dead that many people don’t believe in. Yeshua (Jesus) himself was resurrected. And one of my biggest fears or concerns is that there are way to many “Rich men” in the church today. Sure they have head knowledge of who Christ is. Yeah they know the scriptures. They prolly even give their 10%. But I wonder, if we were to “judge a tree by its fruits,” would we see the fruit of the Spirit in their lives? (Side note, that line is found just prior to what I cited in Matthew 7) Yeshua (Jesus) often spoke out against the Pharisees for having head knowledge of who G-d is but not much heart knowledge. And for their vain traditions. Sadly, I see a lot of Christians in the church being in a very similar state. I see a lot of Rich men and not enough people like Lazarus. Maybe I am being overly critical. Maybe I am judging based out of my own experiences with people. But it is what I see in the modern church. And it scares me. Much more than any ghost story.