One day, our Lord Jesus told a story. He said, “Once there was a rich man. He dressed in fancy clothes and ate big feasts every day. At the man’s gate,  there was a poor man named Lazarus. His body had sores on it that dogs sometimes licked. He wished for food that fell from the rich man’s table.

“One day, Lazarus died. The angels came and took him to be with Abraham. The rich man died, too. He was in Hades, and he was miserable. The rich man could see Lazarus with Abraham. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue.

“But Abraham reminded the rich man that he had many good things when he was alive, but he had ignored Lazarus at his gate. The rich man listened carefully. Since Lazarus couldn’t help him, he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers so they wouldn’t be greedy and end up in Hades, too. Abraham told the rich man that his brothers should listen to Moses and the prophets’ teachings so they could be saved. The rich man did not think they would pay attention to those teachings, but they would obey someone who came back from the dead.

“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they would not stop being selfish even if Lazarus came back from the dead to talk to them.’”

At the beginning of the Lord’s story, what did the rich man wear? What did he eat?

What about Lazarus?

What happened to Lazarus when he died? Was the rich man happy when he died? Why or why not?

Why didn’t Abraham send Lazarus back to warn the rich man’s brothers?

Would you like to be the rich man or Lazarus in this story?