Luke 16 verses 19-31 Role Reversal

In Luke 16:19-31 we see a powerful situation of role reversal. The world is turned upside-down-or rather, right side up. Mary sang about a situation like this in the Magnificat. The poor are filled with good things and the rich are sent away hungry. The powerful are brought down and the lowly are lifted up. The Pharisees thought they were entitled. They had the strange idea that money was deserved. Money was a sign that they were blessed by God, and poverty was the result of God’s curse. Jesus said that this idea was false. All of us are stewards of what we have, and we are to use it to bless others, to bring life, to bring health and hope and joy. In contrast, the mention of crumbs, sores, and dogs made Lazarus a nobody in the eyes of the Pharisees. They saw such things as proof of divine disfavor. They saw such people as not only unclean, but also hated by God. Jesus didn’t question how the rich man got his money or that he had it. The rich man wasn’t even necessarily a bad man. The rich man might have been a deeply caring man who was dismayed by unemployment and inflation figures, or he might have been a generous donor to charitable causes. Regardless of whatever else he was, in this story he was blind to the person in need who was sitting outside his gate. He was sentenced to eternal damnation for his casual indifference to the person right at his door.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.