To believe this is foolish
I am happy to be a fool for Christ and the truth of the gospel…
Luke 16 is a parable, based upon Jesus Christ forgoing words, and can easily be proven to be such, without a lot of effort, would you care to see and debate this?
Sure, if you want to lose…
1) Nothing is called a parable within the text itself. And the only account in chapter 16 that follows the format of a parable is the account of the shrewd manager.
2) Parables illustrate a principle of truth. The shrewd manager created a positive atmosphere with the master’s debtors so he would have someone to help him after he got fired. He was creating a ‘plan B’ scenario if he needed it.
3)
10“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
16“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.
17It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
These are not parables.
4) The account of the rich man and Lazarus, has been traditionally called a parable, but if it is, it is the only one of its kind.
Parables never mention actual people’s names. Lazarus and Abraham are specifically called by name, which indicates a narrative format rather than a parabolic illustration.
Parables are always set in an earthly context. This is set in both the present tense and in eternity. Specific places are named, Abraham’s side (in paradise) and Hades (Hell, or the place of the unrighteous). Such specificity is not germane to parables, and it again indicates a narrative account not a mere illustration.
5) Finally, there is no summary statement by Jesus to explain the point of the story, such as in the account of the shrewd manager, which ends with vs 9 which says
“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
In the end, whether this is a “parable” or not does not change the message of the account, but for God the Son to tell it, is it unreasonable to assume that he could be privy to such an event occurring? I certainly don’t think so. There is enough oddity of information in this to warrant questioning it to be a mere illustration. If it is real, the force of the message is much more poignant and cutting.
Doug