All about Jesus [Trinity 1; St. Luke 16:19-31]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus says,

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.”

Jesus is the rich man.

Listen to verse 22 and 23 again and tell me if it sounds familiar: “…he died, and was buried. He descended into hell.” Jesus is God, so naturally, He is the rich man. He has no needs and no wants. He is life itself. All that He has is from Him and to Him. Beginning and ending, He is the perfect Triune God.

And He is rich. Rich with wisdom, rich with knowledge, and rich with life. He has no lack. He is a King and there is perpetual celebrating in His Kingdom forever and ever. He is clothed with clothes that are not found on earth and eats food produced in the heights of heaven.

He is the one Who has it all and needs not one thing from us or anyone, or anything, else.

It is “The Lord [who] makes poor and makes rich;” (1 Samuel 2:7).

King David is preaching and he says, “Both riches and honor come from [The Lord], and [He] rule[s] over all” (1 Chronicles 29:12). Thus, Jesus is the rich man who has shut up His riches in heaven, away from all prying hands and eyes. He is rich, we are poor. And the gate to heaven is shut.

Jesus is Lazarus.

He has been cast aside by the very people he has come to help. He is burdened with the heavy yoke of sin and violence of His own people. His is alone to fend for Himself and to carry on His impossible cause. There is none to help.

He is tossed in front of the gate to heaven and is rejected to death. Carrying the weight of all sin, all death, and the devil, He is brought to the locked entrance and the only path left for Him is death and a decent to hell.

All this goes on despite how you feel about things. If every rich man truly cared and believed, there would be no rich men in the world, because they would be giving away their wealth as it came. If every poor man truly cared and believed, they would not hold the rich in contempt and begrudge him his riches.

Jesus is both the holier-than-thou man that no one likes and wants to be around and He is also the poor, weak God that no one wants to care about, Who allows Himself to be man-handled and die and no one wants such a one-sided relationship with such an unbending person.

But, Jesus is also the rich-poor God Who does all this for someone else’s sake: yours. “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches”( Jeremiah 9:23)

Jesus has nothing to boast about if His wisdom does not create salvation by His words. Jesus has nothing to boast about if He can not take on flesh, suffer, and die and still be mighty God. Jesus has nothing to boast about if His treasury does not include the redemption of every single person that has or will exist.

Repent. One of the grievous evils King Solomon witnessed in the world was that “…riches were kept by their owner to his hurt…” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). We keep our riches, God does not. We leave the poor in the streets, God does not. We condemn to hell, but Jesus preaches to those in prison.

Really, Jesus is neither the rich man nor Lazarus, but better than both. Jesus is the rich man Who also opens the gate, not just to one poor Lazarus, but to the entire human race of all time. Jesus is the poor, fatally ill man Who suffers and dies, but rises again, because death can’t hold Him.

And it is in death, that roles are reversed. The rich man, blessed in life, turns out to be destined for hell. Lazarus, rejected completely, turns out to be favored completely.

Jesus, Who is rich beyond measure and will not share; Who suffers and dies an abandoned, criminal’s death, turns out to be the loving, compassionate, long-suffering Creator of the universe; Who also happens to point out that the way of heaven was not shut, but has always been open to the true Son of God.

Heaven’s riches belong to the rightful heir. No one else will inherit them or even handle them. Likewise, heaven’s greatest work, the redemption of mankind through suffering and death on a cross, will be accomplished solely by heaven’s greatest champion. The Man Who can be poor, yet rich. The Man Who can be dead, yet alive.

This is the exclusionary, one-sided relationship God has with you. This is the way holy Scripture reads with Jesus at its center and focus. This is what it means when people say: it’s all about Jesus. It is all about Jesus, not about you.

You must be able to find yourself in Christ, if you want to read any part of the Scriptures and it have something to do with you. If you want to participate; if you want communion with any of these heavenly treasures, then you must become a part of Christ, otherwise the door remains shut.

This power, to grant communion with the one, true God, is given to Christ’s Church on earth. This power to call and enlighten with the Gospel is given to the Holy Ghost Who only works through means; tools that God has foretold.

The primary tool is the Word, preached in its purity, and that purity is Christ on the cross. That work that Jesus alone can accomplish, to the exclusion of you, includes you by His declaration of fellowship.

The poor are included with the rich, and vice versa, much to both party’s chagrin. Much more to the point, you are included. From a single Word from Jesus, you are declared adopted sons. And from His sacraments, He continues to work that in you, giving you confidence and comfort in that promise, that now in Him, you are rich, you are poor, and you are redeemed as a son of God.