the covenant was between G

There is a parable in the New Testiment about a man named Lazarus and the Rich Man. The Rich man had everything he needed and Lazarus was poor and begged for scraps. When both died, Lazarus was in Abraham's bossom and the Rich Man was in Hell being tormented.

I always thought it was about the rich going to Hell for abusing the poor, but it has deeper meanings apparently:

[link|http://www.whereisgod.info/English/Lazarus_parable.htm|http://www.whereisgo...zarus_parable.htm]

Lazarus is a Gentile, and the Rich Man is Jewish according to this translation.

So we see that the Jews were "rich" because they had a covenant with God, with promised blessings. Who does Lazarus symbolize in the parable? Lazarus symbolizes the Gentiles, who were excluded from the covenant. The Gentiles were in poverty, relatively speaking, owing to the fact that God's covenant and blessings were not available to them... yet. They were outside the rich man's "gate," so to speak, "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man\ufffds table." The covenant and its blessings were only available to the "rich man" - the Jews - to whom Jesus addressed the parable.

When Lazarus died in the parable, he next appeared at Abraham's bosom, meaning that he became a very close or special friend of Abraham. To lean on another's chest or bosom was, in their time, indicative of a close friendship. An example of this was the relationship between the apostle John and Jesus: John 13:23 recounts that "Now there was leaning on Jesus\ufffd bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved."

Now, what was the significance of the death of Lazarus, and his appearance as a special friend of Abraham? Lazarus' death signified a change in the Gentiles' status with God: a covenant was made available to them, made possible by the sacrificial death and resurrection to eternal life of Jesus. The terms of the new covenant are summarized in John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Why are the Gentiles (those who are true Christians) shown in the parable to be bosom friends of Abraham? Because they have the same belief or faith in God that Abraham had. Through faith the Gentiles can attain the righteousness of Abraham; they spiritually have bosom closeness with Abraham as indicated in the parable. The apostle Paul described Abraham's faith, and showed that Christians are righteous because they have faith like Abraham's:

It gives a twist on things, Jesus was trying to teach something here. Jesus is Jewish himself, yet he talked about his own people falling out of favor with God. But I don't think that the original covenant was revoked, just that a new one was added and things got changed a bit and some roles got reversed.

Just something to think about, I had recently found this out myself while surfing for Lazarus on Google. It just hit this topic we were discussing.

Post #104,762 by boxley 6/4/03 8:52:07 AM Reply	the covenant was between G_d and Abraham concerning his decendants, the Jews and Beduins and their decendants today. The covenant is G_d's to keep, not people for people are useless at such things. If as you say that JC brought a new covenant, it would have only applied to the folks that were the receiptiants of the OLD covenant. No gentiles allowed. Now in no way am I trying to disabuse christianity as a faith for without faith and belief we are meaningless, just explaining why it doesnt work for me. thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org] "I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
Post #104,837 by orion 6/4/03 1:10:55 PM Reply	Jesus included gentiles he even healed Romans, one Roman soldier was sick and bedridden and Jesus healed him, another had his ear cut off and Jesus healed him. Jesus spread his word and healing power for everyone, not just the receiptiants of the OLD covenant. Jesus said that we are all his children. *"If you're going to cheat, cheat fair. If there's anything I hate it's a crooked crook!" -Moe Howard*
Post #105,269 by orion 6/7/03 11:26:29 PM Reply	Lazarus and the Rich Man There is a parable in the New Testiment about a man named Lazarus and the Rich Man. The Rich man had everything he needed and Lazarus was poor and begged for scraps. When both died, Lazarus was in Abraham's bossom and the Rich Man was in Hell being tormented. I always thought it was about the rich going to Hell for abusing the poor, but it has deeper meanings apparently: [link\|http://www.whereisgod.info/English/Lazarus_parable.htm\|http://www.whereisgo...zarus_parable.htm] Lazarus is a Gentile, and the Rich Man is Jewish according to this translation. So we see that the Jews were "rich" because they had a covenant with God, with promised blessings. Who does Lazarus symbolize in the parable? Lazarus symbolizes the Gentiles, who were excluded from the covenant. The Gentiles were in poverty, relatively speaking, owing to the fact that God's covenant and blessings were not available to them... yet. They were outside the rich man's "gate," so to speak, "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man\ufffds table." The covenant and its blessings were only available to the "rich man" - the Jews - to whom Jesus addressed the parable. When Lazarus died in the parable, he next appeared at Abraham's bosom, meaning that he became a very close or special friend of Abraham. To lean on another's chest or bosom was, in their time, indicative of a close friendship. An example of this was the relationship between the apostle John and Jesus: John 13:23 recounts that "Now there was leaning on Jesus\ufffd bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." Now, what was the significance of the death of Lazarus, and his appearance as a special friend of Abraham? Lazarus' death signified a change in the Gentiles' status with God: a covenant was made available to them, made possible by the sacrificial death and resurrection to eternal life of Jesus. The terms of the new covenant are summarized in John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Why are the Gentiles (those who are true Christians) shown in the parable to be bosom friends of Abraham? Because they have the same belief or faith in God that Abraham had. Through faith the Gentiles can attain the righteousness of Abraham; they spiritually have bosom closeness with Abraham as indicated in the parable. The apostle Paul described Abraham's faith, and showed that Christians are righteous because they have faith like Abraham's: It gives a twist on things, Jesus was trying to teach something here. Jesus is Jewish himself, yet he talked about his own people falling out of favor with God. But I don't think that the original covenant was revoked, just that a new one was added and things got changed a bit and some roles got reversed. Just something to think about, I had recently found this out myself while surfing for Lazarus on Google. It just hit this topic we were discussing. *"If you're going to cheat, cheat fair. If there's anything I hate it's a crooked crook!" -Moe Howard*
Post #105,270 by orion 6/7/03 11:51:21 PM Reply	Re: Lazarus and the Rich Man I wanted to add that the Rich Man hadn't listened to Moses and the Prophets and apparently hadn't followed Mosaic law because of that. It was a warning from Jesus that God didn't like those who disobeyed him, even if they were covered by the Covenant, and they could have their place replaced by gentiles. It was like Jesus was teaching some sort of Reform, saying to obey God or else. A very powerful message in those times and these times. *"If you're going to cheat, cheat fair. If there's anything I hate it's a crooked crook!" -Moe Howard*

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