In my opinion what is notable in this parable is that the rich man was an active member of church, he likely paid his tithes and gave alms but was then unaware of those in need, this would be an easy situation to be in.
In society today it is easy to ignore the plight of many, they don't live near us, they have drinking and drug problems that they brought upon themselves and they seem to spend the day wasting time instead of being in the pursuit of taking care of themselves and their families. Some because they have managed to do well in life feel that they are better than others, that is the heart of socialism. Leaders think they are so much better than the masses that they are qualified to run the lives of the underclass.
It would be easy to fall in the trap of believing then that Socialism is not a bad thing since it takes care of people who cannot take care of themselves, but, I totally disagree. Socialism relieves people from having to make choices, from having to work or be responsible. When Adam and Eve were in the garden they made the decision to get off Socialism. They determined that it would be better to know good from bad in order to be like God. Christ has told us that we are indeed to be like God. We must make and be responsible for our decisions.
Don't misunderstand the parable, it does not mean that Heaven will be filled only with poor beggars, it does not mean that the rich will be in Hell but in this case it means the rich man was not a good man and that perhaps ignored in life Lazarus was a good man. You can be rich and good, you can certainly be poor and bad.
The parable makes a number of assumptions we should all note but the purpose of the parable was to show that there was a great gulf between Lazarus and the rich man and that though He (Christ) were to come back from the dead those who don't hear now would not hear then either. I think it is very instructive that the person The Lord raised from the dead in Bethany was named Lazarus. It was the raising from the dead of Lazarus in Bethany that really set the Chief Priests on edge and made them start plotting Jesus’s death.
Now I will get to the point that many will throw rocks at me, Grace. It is by the Grace of Christ Jesus that we are saved, nobody, no matter how wonderful they are will earn their way to Heaven. There are many who say they are “saved” because they have believed on the name of Jesus. I fully suspect that the rich man of the parable was in this class although he believed in Abraham I think it was told by Christ to be instructive. The doctrine of once saved, always saved is wrong. Like the rich man we can say we have been saved, perhaps we were but we go through life like the rich man not caring for others, we will end up like the rich man, the closest we will get to Heaven is looking up to it.
My wife is Mormon, they have an expression I like, “Endure to the end”. I really believe that is what Christ requires of us so that we will be eligible for His Grace.
Endure.
The whole point of this story was to ridicule the teachings of the Pharisees. In other words this is not a parable, but a biting satire.
The Pharisees taught that the poor were in disfavor with God, and the rich were favored of God. To help the poor would therefore be going against the will of God.
A great gulf was fixed between the two classes and no one could cross over from the bad side, and of course no one wanted to cross over from the good side.
I do not see Jesus condemning the Rich Man, nor does He praise Lazarus.
This satire hit the mark precisely, because the Pharisees seethed with rage against Jesus.
Consider the context, the setting and the audience and you might agree with me.