He Has a Name

The scripture for today is a parable Jesus tells of a rich man and Lazarus, men at the extremes of wealth. The rich man feasts daily while poor Lazarus lies at the house gate, dogs licking his sores, and longs for even a crumb. The parable changes scenes until after both characters have died, and Lazarus is with Abraham while the rich man suffers in Hades and begs for Abraham to send Lazarus with water to cool his tongue. It is a reversal, a theme that surrounds Jesus in the Gospels. One clue to the resolution of the situation is that the parable names the poor man, but not the rich man, in a sense giving the poor man identity. What does the parable call us to do?