It's a parable. If we want to take any aspect of it literally then all of it has to be taken literally. The parable explain how the Jews (the rich man) had it all..the promises of God, the covenants, the commonwealth of faith. And how the gentiles were shut out by the Jewish religion. They were outside the gates of the temple...we're allowed in unless they went through extraordinary measures with the Jewish religious system. The jews gave them scraps, but that was it.
That's not what God intended or put down in scripture.
If we want to use a parable as the literal interpretation of a concept of an idea then the kingdom of God is pearl. A literal pearl. We should go looking for it.
If we want to take the parable of Lazarus and the rich man as literal then we're forced to think that Abraham is God because in the parable Abraham has God like powers. In fact God isn't even mentioned. And if this is literal how could one drop of water on a fingertip assuage any type of suffering? Look at the elements of the parable and apply them to the lesson being taught. It's not a statement about heaven and hell...but like all parables it uses imagery to get across a point.
RE: The Rich man and Lazarus
Is it a parable?
First, the story is never called a parable. Many other of Jesus’ stories are designated as parables, such as the sower and the seed (Luke 8:4); the prosperous farmer (Luke 12:16); the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6); and the wedding feast (Luke 14:7).
Second, the story of the rich man and Lazarus uses the actual name of persons — Abraham and Lazarus
Such specificity would set it apart from ordinary parables, in which the characters are not named.
Third, this particular story does not seem to fit the definition of a parable, which is a presentation of a spiritual truth using an earthly illustration. The story of the rich man and Lazarus presents spiritual truth directly, with no earthly metaphor. The setting for most of the story is the afterlife, as opposed to the parables, which unfold in earthly contexts.
And even, for arguments sake, if it is a parable, surely it is a picture of what happens to people who are like the rich man...
The important thing is that whether the story is a true incident or a parable, the teaching behind it remains the same. Even if it is not a “real” story, it is realistic. Parable or not, Jesus plainly used this story to teach that after death the unrighteous are eternally separated from God, that they remember their rejection of the Gospel, that they are in torment, and that their condition cannot be remedied. In Luke 16:19-31, whether parable or literal account, Jesus clearly taught the existence of heaven and hell as well as the deceitfulness of riches to those who trust in material wealth.