Ancient Wisdom

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— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) June 1, 2021

There was this rich man, who wore clothing fit for a king and who dined lavishly every day.  This poor man, named Lazarus, languished at his gate, all covered with sores.  He longed to eat what fell from the rich man's table.  Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.  It so happened that the poor man died and was carried by the heavenly messengers to be with Abraham.  The rich man died too, and was buried.

From Hades, where he was being tortured, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off and Lazarus with him.  He called out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in torment in these flames.'

But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you had good fortune in your lifetime, while Lazarus had it bad.  Now he is being comforted here, and you are in torment. And besides all this, a great chasm has been set between us and you, so that even those who want to cross over from her to you cannot, and no one can cross over from that side to this.'

But he said, 'Father, I beg you then, send him to my father's house--after all, I have five brothers--so he can warn them not to end up in this place of torture.'

But Abraham says, "They have moses and the prophets;, why don't they listen to them?'

'But they won't do that, father Abraham,' he said.  'However, if someone appears to them from the dead, they'll have a change of heart.'

[Abraham] said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead.'

Luke 16:19-31, SV.

Or fly down from space?

(I think the connection to Lazarus over whom Jesus wept, and who Jesus resurrected in John's gospel, is hardly an accidental one.  But that's another exegetical matter entirely.)