Jesus spoke this parable to Pharisees who loved money and justified themselves before others. A rich man lives in luxury every day while Lazarus lies at his gate covered with sores. Both die, and their places are reversed: Lazarus is comforted at Abraham’s side and the rich man is in torment. The lesson notes that this is the only story in which Jesus gave a character a name. It also stresses that salvation is always by grace through faith, not by poverty or wealth, and links the reversal to the promises of the Beatitudes.
Between the two a great chasm is fixed that no one can cross, and in eternity that separation is final. Christ is the only bridge, the one name by which we must be saved. The rich man’s two requests are refused. He is told that if his brothers will not hear Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.