There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores.

First, Jesus paints a quick portrait of the rich man, a very, very rich man. Purple dye was extremely expensive, obtained from the shellfish murex. A purple wool mantle was costly. A finely-woven linen tunic was considered the height of luxury. The phrase in the NIV translated "lived in luxury" be glad, enjoy oneself, rejoice, celebrate, Jesus mentions the gate to the rich man's mansion, the entrance was impressive gateways. The rich man doesn't need to work so he feasts like this every day. The rich man is not named.

At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Jesus contrasts the rich man with a beggar, the poorest of the poor. The beggar's name is Lazarus, the only character in Lazarus is short for Eleazar, which means "He (whom) God helps, He is lying at a suitable place for begging, next to the rich man's gate, probably placed there by friends. He is sick, as evidenced by his numerous ulcerated sores. And he is hungry, longing to eat the scraps from the rich man's table, usually reserved for the dogs, that which fell from the rich man's table' as 'crumbs,' but as pieces of bread which the guests dipped in the dish, wiped their hands with, and then threw under the table.

The dogs that lick his sores are not pets. In the First Century Middle East, dogs are considered unclean, wild street dogs that scavenge the garbage, and then nose around the poor man's sores. It is not a picture of comfort but of abject misery.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
Jesus pictures angels carrying Lazarus to Abraham. NIV "side" and KJV "bosom" is Greek kolpos, "bosom, breast, chest." The ancient banqueting practice of recling at the table would have one's head on someone's breast. So this puts Lazarus in the place of honor at the right hand of Abraham at the banquet in the next world. The poor man's fortunes are reversed.

In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.

He is in "hell." The Greek word used here is Hades, the place of the dead, and in Jewish thought, the intermediate place of the dead prior to the final judgment. Though Greek gehenna is usually used to refer to the place of final punishment, in Jewish literature torment can be a feature of the intermediate state as well as of the final state of the wicked.

He is in torment, Greek basanos, "severe pain occasioned by punitive torture, 'torture, torment.' He is parched with thirst, his tongue is hot and dry, and he is suffering. The Greek verb used here is odunao, "to undergo physical torment, 'suffer pain. The source of the suffering is fire.

The rich man asks Abraham to order Lazarus to relieve his suffering (16:24), and later to send a message to his brothers (16:27). He still views Lazarus as a slave who can be ordered around at his whim.
A Great Gulf fixed

"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf fixed has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." (16:25-26)

Abraham explains the situation and describes a great, impassable gulf fixed (Greek chasma) that prevents anyone from passing from either side to the other. In other words, there is no hope of moving from torment to the blessings of Abraham's bosom, or of Lazarus helping the rich man. The die has been cast; the outcome is irreversible.

"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
Jesus concludes the parable in a curious way. The rich man wants Lazarus to warn his brothers of the dangers of hell. But Abraham says that if they won't heed the truth that they have -- Moses and the Prophets (i.e., the Old Testament revelation), then they wouldn't believe even if someone rises from the dead. In the context, the rich man proposes that Lazarus rise from the dead to warn his brothers. But Luke's readers will immediately think of Jesus, and how even his manifest resurrection was not enough to sway the Pharisees from their hardened opposition to the truth that was clearly before them.

The rich man knows from personal experience that his family do not take seriously what the law and the prophets say. Something more is needed.

Jesus is saying that riches don't count for anything after we die.
Wealth without faithfulness to God is great wickedness.
If we close our eyes to the truth we are given, then we are doomed.
We can use our money in a way that secures for us secure eternal damnation, or in a way that secures us friends in eternal habitations who will welcome us.

The punishment of the man who never noticed, Lazarus was at his door. Who is at our door that we don't notice?
They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:41-46)
In the final analysis, the rich man's punishment is not for riches, but for neglect of the scriptures and what they teach.
Jesus thank you for your blessings, give me a burden for the lost. Please let knowledge your blessing for me, not a curse. I pray. Amen.