Aug. 17, 2025

Last week we ended in chapter 16:18 with Jesus teaching that the Law would not be abolished, but be fulfilled. Today we will pick up in verse 19 with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

Luke Lesson 31 Study Questions

1.    A certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs: Not far from the rich man – at his gate was a desperately poor and sick man. The rich man didn’t do anything against Lazarus, except ________ and _______ him.

2.    We should not think that Lazarus was saved by his poverty, any more than we should think that the rich man was damned by his wealth. Lazarus must have had a true _____________ of faith with the true God, and the rich man did not. Their life circumstances made that faith easier or more difficult, but did not _______ it.

3.    And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom: The rich man was not far from Lazarus; yet he was a _____ apart. His place was full of _______ and pain, while Lazarus enjoyed the comfort and care of Abraham.

4.    Hades is technically not _____, or what is also known as the Lake of Fire. That place is called ________, a Greek word borrowed from the Hebrew language. In Mark 9:43-44, Jesus spoke of hell (gehenna), a Greek translation of the Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom,” a place outside Jerusalem’s walls desecrated by Molech worship and human sacrifice

5.    Hades is something of a _______ place until the day of final judgment (Revelation 20:11-13). Yet since Jesus’ finished work on the cross, there is no waiting for believers who die; they go directly to heaven, to the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians

6.    Father Abraham, have mercy on me: The rich man was definitely a descendant of Abraham, and the great father of faith did not disown him. Yet having Abraham as _______ was not enough to escape his torment in the life to come. Now the rich man was the ________, pleading with Abraham. 5:6-8). 

7.    Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue: Even in the afterlife the rich man thought of himself as _________ and as Lazarus as his servant. This shows that death did not take away his sense of ____________ and station in life.

8.    Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things: Through his earthly life the rich man enjoyed all the _____ things of life; yet did not share them or use them to ________ for the life to come.

9.    Send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may ________ to them: It is again seen that the rich man still thought of Lazarus as a ________ to him. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus on another assignment (perhaps in a dream or vision), this time for the benefit of his five brothers.

10.    They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them: Abraham pointed out that the rich man’s brothers had all the _________ information to _______ the torment of Hades. Listening to Moses and the prophets and doing what they said to do was enough.

11.    Then He said to the disciples: Jesus, through the account of Lazarus and the rich man, has made it clear that ________ is for real, and no one from beyond will come back to warn us. It is all the more imperative how we live and show Jesus to others on this side of _________, because right now counts forever.

12.    The ancient Greek word used here for offenses is skandalon, and it comes from the word for a bent-stick – the stick that ________ the trap or sets the bait. It also was used for a __________ block, something that people trip over.

13.    If your brother sins against you, _______ him: When someone sins against you, you should not pretend that it never happened. You need to rebuke that brother in _____.

14.    As a mustard seed: The faith that we must have is a faith that has more to do with what _____ of faith it is than with how ______ faith there is. A small amount of faith – as much as a mustard seed (a very small seed) – can accomplish great things, if that small amount of faith is placed in a great and mighty God.