Is the story Jesus told about
the Rich man and Lazarus a strightforward parable or is it an enigmatic riddle?
A Parable is a
straightforward story which may be fictional but leaves us with a moral lesson which
is obvious. On the other hand a Riddle
is a story with a velied meaning told in a metaphorical language with an enigma
for us to solve or discover.
As a straightforward moral
parable- ‘The rich man and Lazarus’ it is a Reversal of Fortune story. If you’re poor now, you’ll be rich later, if you
are rich now then you’ll be poor later. A well known example of this is “Cendrillon” written in 1697 by the
French writer Charles Perrault (Little
Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty). Grimm’s and Anderson Fairy
tales will be written 100 years later. Cendrillon is “Cinderella” much like we know the
story from our kiddie years.
Now Cinderella and Lazarus
were both having a poor and suffering life but they will then enjoy a rich and
heavenly existence later. Both were the
only ones who had names in their story, others didn’t have, plus their names
had meanings. Strange because in real life, the names of the rich and famous
are well known, whereas the poor and homeless are unknown. Perhaps it’s because God sees things
differently. In fact Lazarus which in hebrew is Eleazar (El Azar) literally
means: “God helps.” But is it enough to be poor to be helped by God?
In the Cinderella fairy tale
she was persecuted by her evil stepmother and mean sisters even though she did
good things and therefore merited the reversal of fortune. However, Lazarus was not really persecuted by
the rich man who might not have even done anything wrong. Nor was there
anything told about the good things Lazarus might have done. So why the
reversal of fortune? There must be something more to the parable, it must be a
riddle.
You see the rich man in the
parable ignored Lazarus. It was not about something he did, but rather about
something he did not do. Ignoring the reality…. The Ostritch Mentality.
When an ostrich is scared, it
will bury its head in the ground. The ostritch is assuming that because it
cannot see, it cannot be seen. Interestingly it is a way to avoid the problem.
The 'ostrich mentality' is when a person refuses to confront the issues that
are facing him, whatever they may be. In the case of the rich man, he ignored
the plight of the poor Lazarus. This is why we are reminded of the danger of
this mentality by the readings of today.
From the prophet Amos, God
warns us: Woe to the complacent, lying
upon their beds, stretched comfortably eating, improvising to the music, and
yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! Now they shall be the
first to go into exile.
Even today, this Ostritch
mentality is further seen in the Ten Sins
against Humanity
1)
Politics without
principles
2)
Wealth without
Work
3)
Enjoyment without
a Conscience
4)
Knowledge without
Character
5)
Business without
Morality
6)
Science without
Humanity
7)
Religion without
Compassion
8)
Rights without
Responsibility
9)
Power without
Accountability
10)
Development
without Sustainability
*based on Mahatma Gandi’s “Seven
Social sins.” Adapted and
expanded by Anwar Fazal (Malaysia)
To counteract this let us
remember Paul as he advises Timothy not just to enjoy life but also to “pursue
righteousness, devotion, love, gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold
of eternal life, to which you were called.”