Scripture Daily

Context No. 1948 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 16:25-31: in context

25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted and you are in anguish. 26Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ 27“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ 29“But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30“He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”

In the parable, the rich man, now in torment, begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers, lest they too come to this place. But Abraham answers: they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. The rich man protests: no, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. And Abraham gives the final word: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.

Abraham's closing words hold a profound truth about faith and unbelief: if they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. The rich man assumed that his brothers' problem was a lack of evidence, that if only they had a dramatic sign, a visitor from the dead, they would surely repent. Abraham corrects him: they already have what they need, the word of God in Moses and the prophets; and if they will not heed that, no miracle will persuade them either. The problem is not a lack of evidence but an unwillingness to heed the word they already have. This is a searching truth about unbelief. We often think that unbelief is a matter of insufficient evidence, that if only people had more proof, a more dramatic sign, they would believe. Abraham says otherwise: those who will not listen to God's word will not be persuaded even by a resurrection. And this proved true in a striking way, for one did rise from the dead, Jesus himself, and many still did not believe. Unbelief, finally, is not for lack of evidence but from an unwillingness to submit to God, a hardness that no amount of proof overcomes. The heart set against God will find reasons to reject even the clearest evidence. There is also a word here about the sufficiency of Scripture. The brothers had Moses and the prophets, the word of God, and that was enough for those willing to hear; they did not need a special sign. And we, too, have God's word, the Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation; those willing to hear have what they need. The sufficiency is in the word, and the deficiency, where there is one, is in the will to heed it. This calls us to two things: to heed the word we already have, rather than waiting for some further sign; and to recognize that unbelief is a matter of the will, not merely the evidence, so that the answer to it is not more proof but a softened heart willing to hear. If they will not hear the word, Abraham said, a miracle will not persuade them; and the word we already have is sufficient for all who are willing to heed it.

Do I imagine that unbelief, in myself or others, is chiefly a matter of insufficient evidence, waiting for some further sign, or can I take Abraham's word that those who will not heed the Scriptures they have would not be persuaded even by a resurrection, and recognize that the word I already have is sufficient, and that the real need is a heart willing to heed it?

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