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Luke 16 · a question people ask

Does what Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus show what happens after death?

In the text

Jesus tells it (16:19-31). Luke doesn't call it a parable, and these notes don't either; they say no more about life after death than its words. Here are its words. "The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." (16:22). "In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom." (16:23). Abraham says, "Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us." (16:26). Christians read what these words show of life after death in more than one way. These notes quote them as they stand and choose no reading.

The verses

“The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.”
Luke 16:22-23 · World English Bible
“Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’”
Luke 16:26 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Luke 16

Luke 16: A certain rich man

Both of the tellings in Luke 16 begin with "a certain rich man" (16:1, 16:19). And Jesus's "they may receive you into the eternal tents" (16:9) has some of the manager's own words, "they may receive me into their houses" (16:4): in Greek, the same words for so that when and they may receive.

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Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions