Alcorn:. Bodies In Heaven?

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Alcorn:. Bodies In Heaven?

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Bodies in Heaven
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS?

Randy Alcorn
"Heaven"

In the New Testament account of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus ascribes physical properties to people who have died (Luke 16:19-31):
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."
But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
He answered, "Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment."
Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them."
"No, father Abraham," he said, "but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent."
He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."

Some believe this story is nothing more than a parable intended to convey a central idea about the after-death consequences of our choices made on Earth. They believe that Lazarus and the rich man were not real people, and that references to fire, thirst, finger, and tongue are not intended as physical realities. I certainly don't believe that every biblical account should be taken literally (for a more complete discussion of this, see appendix B, "Literal and Figurative Interpretation"), and I certainly agree there is much figurative language in this passage. However, I also think it's a mistake to dismiss the parable as strictly figurative based on assumptions that the afterlife consists of disembodied people in a non-physical realm.
Jesus could easily have portrayed the rich man and Lazarus in other ways. He could have said, "When Lazarus died, his spirit drifted without a body into a realm without sin and pain." But he didn't. It seems unlikely that Jesus would have depicted the afterlife in such concrete detail if it had nothing to teach us concerning the nature of Heaven and Hell.
Did you know that this is the only parable Jesus told in which he gave a specific name to someone in the story? Naming Lazarus suggests that Jesus was speaking of a real man who had that name. Furthermore, if the events in this story didn't actually happen, if Jesus made up the name for the poor man, why would he choose the name Lazarus—the name of his close friend, who was actually a rich man, not a poor man? Jesus knew that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, would die and Jesus would raise him from the dead. Using Lazarus's name would inevitably create confusion—two different Lazaruses who die and live again, one in Paradise, the other on Earth? When Jesus could have chosen from hundreds of other names, it seems doubtful he would have invented a name that would unnecessarily confuse. The best explanation for why Jesus called the man Lazarus may be this: He was a real man, and that was his name. If so, it increases the probability that Jesus was telling us about what actually happened to two men after they died.
Consider the story's major components:
• When Lazarus died, angels carried him to Paradise.
• The rich man died and went to a place of torment.
• Lazarus is with Abraham (and, by inference, others); the rich man is by himself (no one else is mentioned).
• The intermediate Heaven and Hell are separated by a fixed chasm. But in this case, people on both sides could see and communicate with each other, at least on a limited basis. (It's possible this was granted to Abraham and the rich man as an exception, not the norm. We shouldn't build a doctrine on it because it's not supported by other references.)
• Both the rich man and Abraham reasoned and communicated, and they maintained their distinct identities from Earth (as did Lazarus), indicating direct continuity from their earthly lives to their afterlives.
• The rich man and Lazarus are depicted as having physical forms. The rich man had a tongue and a thirst that he wished to satisfy with water. Lazarus had a finger, and there was water available to him in Paradise, into which he might dip his finger. Of course, these references may be entirely figurative. But they might also suggest the possession of transitional physical forms, existing in a physical Paradise, to sustain and manifest human identity between death and resurrection.
• The rich man certainly remembers—and possibly sees—his lost brothers. He expresses concern for their welfare and asks that Lazarus be sent to warn them. This indicates consciousness after death and clear memory of Earth and people on Earth.
• Abraham says that no one can cross the gap between Heaven and Hell.
The problem with a strictly literal interpretation of this passage is that it presses too far, suggesting things that are unlikely and not taught elsewhere, such as that people in Heaven and Hell talk to each other. The problem with a strictly figurative interpretation is that it makes it difficult to know what, if anything, to take seriously. If no real conclusions can be derived from the story, what is the value of all its details?
Perhaps we should consider an interpretive position that doesn't insist that every detail is literal but also recognizes that Jesus intended for us to picture people in the afterlife as real humans with thoughts and capacities (and perhaps even forms), and with the same identity, memories, and awareness from their lives and relationships on Earth. Surely Jesus intended us to envision both Heaven and Hell as real places where there are real people who came from Earth. Every one of these teachings is directly or indirectly suggested in other passages—but none as graphically or memorably as this one.
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