Lk 16:19–31 · Luke
The Gate Between
The person at your gate already has a name
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Context
Jesus tells a parable where only one person gets a name: Lazarus, the sick, starving man left outside a rich man's gate. The rich man stays unnamed, dressed in purple and eating daily feasts while the need at his doorstep becomes background noise.
Story
Lazarus lies there covered in sores, hoping for scraps. The rich man walks past him over and over, not because he is loudly cruel, but because he has made not noticing feel normal.
Then both men die. Lazarus is carried to Abraham's side, while the rich man opens his eyes in torment and still tries to manage Lazarus like staff.
"Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue."
Abraham tells him the reversal is fixed. When the rich man asks for Lazarus to warn his brothers, Abraham points back to Moses and the Prophets: if they will not listen there, even resurrection will not convince them.
What We Learn
The danger in this story is not cartoon villain cruelty. It is comfort that gets so practiced at stepping around pain that a person becomes scenery.
There is probably a gate somewhere in your week. The question is whether you will let the person there stay blurry.
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Get the app freeRead the original: Lk 16:19–31 in any Bible translation. This retelling is for Feeling Anxious days.
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