This is best explanation I have ever come across on Luke 16:19 as it deals with the question is it is a literal story or a parable. It is a parable and this commentary proves it. Are you willing to hear the another view on this portion of scripture. It is from Commentary on Luke 16:19 in the Revised English Version (REV). https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Luke/16/19
Luke 16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, celebrating sumptuously every day.
“a certain rich man.” This record of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable, not a literal portrayal of events that were actually occurring. The reason Jesus spoke this parable was that he was trying to reach the hearts of the hard-hearted Pharisees without directly confronting them. The Pharisees “were greedy for money” (Luke 16:14), and they were rich. Also, they treated poor people badly, like the rich man treated Lazarus, which is how they got rich (cp. Luke 20:46-47). So the Pharisees in life were like the rich man in the parable, and the poor people the Pharisees mistreated were like Lazarus in the parable. Furthermore, the Pharisees believed that every person had a soul that lived on after the person died, and the souls of evil people were tormented, while the souls of good people were not, so the parable fit what the Pharisees believed. So by wording the parable the way he did, Christ was “becoming a Pharisee to win the Pharisees,” (cp. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22).
The parable makes several profound points. Perhaps the most important one is the way Jesus ended the parable, that if hard-hearted and rebellious people would not believe Moses and the prophets, they would not change their mind and believe even if someone rose from the dead (Luke 16:31). This was shown to be absolutely correct when both Lazarus and Christ rose from the dead and yet the religious leaders did not believe.
Another point of the parable was that the way that people deal with their wealth and earthly possessions will directly affect what happens to them on Judgment Day. Luke 15 has three parables that show how valuable every person is and that they should be loved and cared for. Those three parables are then followed in Luke 16 by two parables—the parable of the unjust house manager and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus—that shows how important it is for people to steward their material possessions in a godly way. The parables in Luke 16 were stern warnings to these greedy Pharisees that their selfishness would have severe consequences.
In spite of the fact that the record is a parable, just as in every parable, there is some truth in it. Scholars debate exactly how much truth is in the parable. For example, some scholars believe in disembodied souls, while others do not. Of those that do, some believe those souls have fingers that can be dipped in water, while others do not. Some scholars point out that it is very unlikely that Abraham would have the authority to allow someone from Paradise to return to earth to warn the unsaved, so the rich man asking that of Abraham would not be literal. Other scholars doubt that unsaved people in torment can speak to the saved people in Paradise.
When it comes to determining what is true about things such as life after death, our only reliable source is the Bible, and conclusions must be drawn from the entire scope of Scripture, not just individual sections. It is not good exegesis to use a parable as a primary source of doctrine about what happens to people when they die, especially when that parable contradicts other clear verses of Scripture. Many verses of Scripture show us that when a person dies their soul does not live on, but the person is dead in every way until the Rapture or one of the resurrections.
One thing that is true in the parable is that some people will not die immediately in the lake of fire, but will be in torment for a period of time as retribution for their sins. This conclusion can be drawn from many verses of Scripture, and thus the clear message of the Bible is that unless people get forgiveness for their sins they will be punished for the evil they have done (cp. Psalm 62:12; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Jeremiah 17:10; Ezekiel 33:20; Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelations 2:23). Romans 2:5 says of stubborn people, “you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath.” Just as godly people by their good works store up treasure for the life to come, wicked people store up wrath for themselves.
It is important to realize that although many Bible teachers use this parable to teach that there is everlasting torment for the unsaved, the parable itself never says that. Nowhere in the parable is it stated or implied that the rich man’s torment will go on forever. The parable simply portrays him being in torment, and a period of torment for the unsaved is expected, based upon the Scripture. However, from the scope of Scripture we learn that the unsaved in the lake of fire eventually die and are consumed.
People who assert that the record about Lazarus is factual and not a parable argue that Jesus did not say it was a parable and furthermore, no other parable contains a proper name. While it is true that Jesus did not say he was speaking a parable, it is also true that many parables start without Jesus saying he is speaking a parable. A few examples from Matthew include the parable of the Workers in the Field (Matthew 20:1-16), the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-31), the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), and the Talents (Matt 25:14-30; this is a different parable from the parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27 which is specifically said to be a parable).
In answer to the assertion that no parable contains a proper name, we must realize that there is no “rule of parables” that says a parable cannot have a proper name. Furthermore, it is not true that parables do not contain proper names. For example, the parable of the Good Samaritan mentions both Jerusalem and Jericho. While these are not names of people, they are proper names. Also, it is generally acknowledged that Ezekiel 23 is an allegory or parable about Israel and it contains the proper names “Oholah” (“my tent”) and “Oholibah” (“my tent is in her”). In Ezekiel, Oholah and Oholibah are names assigned by God to Samaria (Israel) and to Judah to make the point that He had been personally involved with them, and similarly, in Luke 16, it is likely that Jesus used the name “Lazarus” (“whom God has helped”) to show that no one will be saved and be in Paradise without God’s help. So it is not actually true that no parable in the Bible contains proper names, and many of them contain very specific other details, such as amounts of money or goods, or times of the day.
There are a large number of reasons to believe that this record of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable.
1. There very solid evidence that Luke 16:19-31 is a parable comes from paying attention to the fact that this parable opens in the same way many other parables in Luke open: “there was a certain rich man.” Many of Jesus’ parables in Luke open with “a certain man,” but none of his other teachings open that way; only his parables do. For example, the Parable of the Good Samaritan opens with, “A certain man” (Luke 10:30, YLT). The Parable of the Rich Fool opens with, “Of a certain rich man” (Luke 12:16 YLT). The Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree opens with “A certain one” (Luke 13:6, YLT). The Parable of the Great Supper opens with “A certain man” (Luke 14:16, YLT). The parable of the Prodigal Son opens with, “A certain man” (Luke 15:11). In Luke 16, the Parable of the Shrewd Manager opens with, “A certain man was rich” (Luke 16:1, YLT). Following immediately after the Parable of the Shrewd Manager is the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, and it opens the same way the Parable of the Shrewd Manager does, but starts with the word “and,” marking the continuation of Jesus’ thought and teaching. It opens, “And a certain man was rich” (Luke 16:19, YLT). Going through all the different teachings of Jesus in Luke shows us that when he started speaking and used the phrase, “a certain man” or “a certain one,” he was speaking a parable.
2. Another reason to understand what Jesus said about Lazarus and the rich man as a parable is that, as was already pointed out, the scope of Scripture reveals that once a person dies, he is dead in every way—body and soul—until he is raised at one of the Judgments. No one is alive in heaven (or Paradise) or hell immediately after they die. Of course, someone reading this parable and thinking it is literal would take the position that this parable proves that theology false, but every text of Scripture must fit into the scope of the rest of Scripture. Scripture teaches via many clear verses that dead people are dead and in the grave, not alive in heaven or hell. For example, Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV) says, “…for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Yet the rich man and Lazarus had knowledge and wisdom despite the fact that they were “dead.” Luke 16 and Ecclesiastes 9 cannot contradict one another, because they are both God’s Word, and, as we have said, there are many other clear verses in the Bible that, like Ecclesiastes, teach that when a person dies he is dead in every way until he is raised.
What happens to dead people is that they will be raised in one of the resurrections (dead Christians will be raised in the Rapture). Dead people who are resurrected in the “first resurrection” (Revelations 20:5-6), also called the “Resurrection of the Righteous” (Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15), and “the resurrection of life” (John 5:29), will live forever with Jesus. Dead people who are resurrected in the second resurrection, the Resurrection of the unrighteous (Acts 24:15), and who are judged unworthy of everlasting life will be thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death (Revelations 20:14) and people who are thrown into it will die and their bodies will be totally consumed.
3. Another reason to view this record as a parable is that it is set with four other parables, and it flows well with them. Still another reason is that the information in this parable was not the kind of factual information that Jesus could have known. How could Jesus have known about a conversation that was going on between two dead people? The traditional answer is that Jesus was God so he knew everything, or he could have known it by revelation. However, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, and if they thought he was recounting to them an actual incident of a man who had brothers living among them, and that somehow Jesus knew who had gone to Paradise and who had gone to Gehenna, and furthermore he knew what these dead people were saying to each other, they would have thought he was insane or had demons, and he would have had no credibility with them whatsoever. In contrast, by presenting his teaching as a parable with a valid point, he had the opportunity to make a big impact on the Pharisees, who already believed the basic premises in the parable.
4. Another reason to believe that the record is a parable is that it seems inconceivable that saved people could enjoy everlasting life if they were hearing the cries and pleas of people in torment. Could it really be that right now, today, people in everlasting torment are begging people in Paradise for water but are being ignored? And could it be that saved people who were merciful and loving throughout their earthly life and took care of the poor, wretched, and needy, are in their perfected state more hard-hearted than they were in their sinful earthly state? While it is true that God is a God of justice, it seems hardly possible that the everlasting joy that is promised to those who are saved could include purposely ignoring tormented people crying out for help and relief, especially since according to orthodox teaching, those cries of pain go on for eternity. It fits the scope of Scripture and makes much more sense that this is a parable and Jesus was speaking it to the Pharisees who loved their money and believed in a destiny similar to that which Jesus portrayed in the parable.
5. Another reason to believe that the record is a parable is that for it to be literal, it would have to be available for people living in heaven to go to earth and warn the people on earth about the future judgment, which is what the rich man asked Lazarus to do (Luke 16:27-28). It is inconceivable that people in heaven can come to earth and warn the living about the reality of hell. Many dead Christians tried their best to warn their families while they were alive, would they care any less for their families once they got to heaven? If dead people in heaven could do what the rich man asked Abraham to have Lazarus do, the world would be full of dead people making appearances and trying to win the unsaved. This point alone should show us that the record is a parable.
6. Still another reason that supports the record being a parable is that if the rich man really was living in torment in hell, and he could speak to Abraham, would he really only ask for Abraham to send Lazarus with a finger-dip of water to “cool his tongue” (Luke 16:23-24)? Would a drop or two of water really help? If he could talk to Abraham, wouldn’t he ask for more than that, or at least more than just the smallest sip of water? Logical inconsistencies such as that reveal that the record is a parable.
Not only is the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus a parable, but it was also quite possibly one that Jesus used because the religious leaders were already familiar with it. Karel Hanhart did his doctoral dissertation on the parable, and his research uncovered some seven different versions of the parable that were around at the time of the New Testament, and Jesus only had to modify his version of the parable somewhat to make it fit the points he was trying to make. [1]
A large number of conservative and orthodox biblical scholars believe that the record of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable. An exhaustive list is not possible, but the commentators represent many different theological backgrounds and denominations. Bibles and Study Bibles include: The Catholic Study Bible edited by D. Senior and J. Collins; The Companion Bible by E. W. Bullinger; The ESV Study Bible by Crossway Bibles in Wheaton Illinois; The MacArthur Study Bible edited by John MacArthur; The NIV Study Bible edited by K. Barker.
Some Bible dictionaries that recognize the record as a parable are: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley; Holman Bible Dictionary edited by Trent Butler; Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible edited by H. B. Hackett; A Dictionary of the Bible edited by James Hastings; and the Mercer Dictionary of the Bible edited by Watson Mills.
Some commentaries that recognize the record as a parable are: The New International Commentary on the New Testament by Norval Geldenhuys; Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke by William Hendriksen; A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown; The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel by R. C. H. Lenski; A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica by John Lightfoot; Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry; The International Critical Commentary: Luke by Alfred Plummer; Word Pictures in the New Testament by A. T. Robertson.
Some of the other speciality books that recognize the record as a parable include: The Greek Testament by Henry Alford; The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church edited by Cross and Livingstone; The Fire that Consumes by Edward Fudge; All the Parables of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer; The Expositor’s Greek Testament by W. R. Nicoll; Notes on the Parables of Our Lord by R. C. Trench; and The Parables of Jesus in the Light of the Old Testament by Claus Westermann.
Many of the authors listed above believe in the everlasting torment of the unsaved, so the fact that they consider Luke 16:19-31 to be a parable is important support for its being a parable. Many unsaved people will spend time in torment in the lake of fire as retribution for their sins. That point is well made in the parable. This wonderful parable makes many good points, not the least of which is that we need to take our lives seriously. Our life is a gift to us, and God holds us responsible for living in a way that brings glory to Him. If we are disobedient or rebellious, and squander the life He has given us, there will be serious consequences.
For a much longer treatment on the state of the dead, see the book, Is There Death After Life? by Graeser, Lynn, Schoenheit.]
Notes
[1] See Karel Hanhart, “The Intermediate State in the New Testament,” 1996 doctoral dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 192-193. Reference in Edward Fudge, Hell, A Final Word.
Living as a Christian in this World 