Why Lazarus is Silent

“Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.   In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house– for I have five brothers– in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’  But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’  But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'” (Luke 16:22-31 NASB)

Have you ever thought about why the only character named never says anything in this parable?  I have (shocker).  I’m not sure I’ve figured it out, but I suspect it has do with Jesus (another shocker – can your heart take it?).  Okay, duh, of course it has to do with Jesus, He’s the One telling the parable, but I mean beyond that.  I think it has to do with the role of Jesus in our lives as believers.

What drew my attention to that possible explanation was the last statement of Abraham which obviously refers to Jesus’ resurrection.  That reference to resurrection is more than the event, it’s the meaning.  The reference is to the role it plays in increasing our faith, or at least the faith of those who already have faith.  Did you catch that element?  The brothers won’t believe someone rising from the dead if they don’t already believe Moses and the Prophets.  Part of what the resurrection of Jesus does is increase the faith of His followers.  I know, duh again.

What that got me thinking about was my own desire to justify myself (which is what Jesus accuses the Pharisees of earlier).  Jesus justifies does He not?  So I don’t need to justify myself.  In this parable, Abraham fills that role.  He justifies Lazarus to the rich man who ignored him his whole life.  So Lazarus doesn’t say anything in this parable because he doesn’t need to.

What if I let God defend me?  What if I followed the pattern of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, before Herod, and just refused to defend myself?  Not very American of me is it? (and there was applause in Europe)  I like to defend myself.  I feel competent to defend myself.  I waste my time defending myself!  Think about it, I have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus!  What am I going to do to top Him?  Better arguments, better understanding of the people involved, situation leading up to and following, what?  I waste my time.

Lazarus is at peace.  Perhaps he wasn’t at peace as dogs licked his sores.  But in the bosom of Abraham he’s at peace.  What would be the danger of living my life like that now?  People would accuse me of pride and arrogance, but I’m silent.  I’d be accused of baseless groundless belief, and I’d be silent.  I’m a bad leader, and I simply take their shoes off and wash their feet.  No PowerPoint slides, no graphics or charts, no clever bullet points, just silence.  What if?

I used to live about an hour from the school I attended in Texas back in the 90’s.  My wife and I would jet out of the house early and try and beat the rush-hour traffic into town to get to class.  One day, the stress of it was particularly bad, I wasn’t able to drive my desired 65 in a 55, or whatever, and I just decided to drive 55…exactly 55.  In fact I may have been a smidgen below that.  Stress gone.  I’m no longer competing for the next spot on the off-ramp, I’m no longer trying to keep someone from getting between me and the person in front of me I’m tailgating.  Peace.  Okay, I had to leave earlier to make it work, but not much earlier.  As it turns out, 55 makes a pretty good average speed when the freeway is crowded.  My point is this, once I stopped trying to make my own way, God made a way for me.

So I’m learning the lesson of Lazarus: There’s no need to contend for your own justice.  This frees me up to do stuff like forgive others.  I see my forgiven state much more clearly when I stop trying to cover up or explain what needs to be forgiven.  Funny how that works.  It’s something I need to repent of or actually repent toward.  Stop defending myself.  Go ahead and attack me.  My Defender is my Master.  I stand, or fall, because of Him, not my own ability to reason my way out of my predicaments.  It’s scary to trust Him with that, but there’s so much peace that goes along with it.  It’s kind of nice really.

So if you’re looking for me, I’ll be resting in the bosom of Jesus.  You’ll have to talk to Him if you have any issues with me; He’s handling my personal “complaint department” today.

That was my view today, what do you learn from this parable?

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Why Justify?

 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”  But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:26-29 NASB)

There had to be something about Jesus that drove the religious elite up the wall.  I’m guessing it had to do with His attitude, demeanor, or perhaps His refusal to show off how much He knew what others knew.  He seemed to only quote Scripture.  He never referred to any known scholars of the day.  He only used His own interpretation of Scripture.  Or maybe it was that being anywhere close to Him made one acutely aware of how unholy and unrighteous one was.

This lawyer stands to “test” Jesus.  It’s a test that desires to see the quality of what is tested.  I infer from the context that the lawyer asks without any assumption as to the expected outcome.  I think he really wants to know who this Jesus person is.  When he stands, the lawyer is in the “driver seat” directing the conversation to his desired outcome.  Yet that lasts two sentences into the conversation.  He asks, then Jesus asks, and the lawyer is now the “occupant.”  Something about Jesus’ question, his answer, and Jesus’ response leaves the lawyer wanting.  I wonder if this feeling of being “undone” was the expected outcome of the test.

The lawyer desires, wishes, wants to be justified.  He wants to justify himself.  So, he’s looking for validation from Jesus.  Why?  What is it about Jesus’ response that has this legal eagle so bugged?  Jesus gave the expected response.  When asked, it’s a teacher’s normal process to ask a question in response.  The lawyer gives a good answer, one Jesus will use later on in the Temple with other lawyers.  Jesus affirms the answer.  So what’s the problem, why the need to justify himself?

Jesus heals lepers.  Jesus speaks with and stays with Samaritans.  He travels to Gentile regions, and even heals someone there.  Jesus seems to accept women, even ones with dubious histories.  It’s a fairly safe bet this lawyer does none of this, or rather accepts no one in any of these categories.  To be near Jesus and talk with Him is to throw into sharp relief the distance between the love Jesus lives out and the love this lawyer lives out.  He needs this validation because he has just subordinated himself to the teaching of One who loves the unlovable.  That was not what was supposed to happen.  It left the lawyer undone, needing justification.

Me too.  Seriously, me too.  How can anyone read and really study the Gospels, sift through the life of Jesus, and not be undone?  How can we be confronted by this One accepting the unlovable, touching the unclean, taking the time to speak with women, holding up a child as an example of greatness, and then feel justified?  It’s not possible.  Even if the deeds match, something in the attitude would leave us undone.  Unless we don’t care.  Unless we really are not that interested in Jesus’ life and seeing where we fall short.  We can even justify ourselves by skipping parts.  But when we don’t skip, when we allow ourselves to be confronted by the Teacher who lives out perfect love, we feel the need for justification.

It’s the desire to justify ourselves that holds the danger.  The whole parable was designed to remove the option of self-justification.  The lawyer may have wanted to justify himself, but the Teacher was not going to give him that option.  It was necessary for the lawyer, and for us, to feel the need for justification.  We need it.  It’s part of why Jesus came, part of why He went to the cross, and part of why He needed to rise from the dead.  Justification is the result of knowing Jesus and submitting to Him as Lord of our lives.  Justification is available because Jesus suffered, died, and rose again.  Justification happens because our “defense attorney” is the Son of the Judge who has already paid for our crimes.  The court is rigged, the trial is predetermined in its outcome.  We win.

A fool has himself as his attorney.  The lawyer failed to justify himself.  We fail to justify ourselves.  But we can always take the option left to us by the Teacher.  Would you rather be your own defense attorney before the Judge, being accused by the Satan?  Or would you rather opt for the rigged trial where the Son of the Judge defends you?  The path to that outcome is through Jesus as your Master.  It’s not exactly “free”, it costs your submission and belief.  You declare Jesus is Lord with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.  But God does not believe lies.  Our life and heart are the litmus tests as to whether we have done this.  So, is Jesus your Advocate or are you still trying to justify yourself?

What do you see in the dialogue between Jesus and the lawyer?