Scripture – ““He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 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.’ ””
Luke 16:27-31 NIV
Observation – Jesus tells this story – A man was in hell and asked Abraham to send another dead man that was with Abraham to warn his five brothers that hell was a real place so that they could repent and not end up there. Abraham told him that his brothers had the scriptures and if they didn’t believe what God communicated to people through Moses and the prophets then they still wouldn’t believe even if someone rose from the dead and told them.
Application – This is a parable and Jesus was prophesying that he would rise from the dead and the religious leaders still wouldn’t accept him. This is true today, if Jesus appeared in the clouds and spoke to all humanity about their need to repent, have their sins forgiven and surrender their lives to him the vast majority of people would reject him. They would say it was AI or CGI. It would be a popular story for about 3 days and then everyone would go about their lives again. What are you going to do with what the Bible says about Jesus?
Prayer – Lord, thank you for this great life and for the many convincing proofs that you died on the cross and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins and for the opportunity to be with you in heaven when we die. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 