___

JOKE-OGRAPHY:

1. In this Bible story, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man lives luxuriously while the poor man, sickly and starving, wastes away just outside his gate. When they both die, the poor man is comforted by Father Abraham in paradise while, just across an impassable chasm, the rich man is trapped in a place of fire and torment. The parable doesn't say the rich man did anything overtly evil in his life. His only implied sin is that, for all his wealth and feasting, he failed to show charity to the poor man right outside his home, and for this, he's condemned. It's a harrowing reminder that failing to do the good we're capable of can be just as bad as doing evil.

--- 1a. By the way, I think Lazarus is the only named character in all of Jesus's parables. Makes you wonder why Jesus bothered naming him... especially when He has a friend that shares that very name. (Thank you, sam, on Patreon, for pointing this out!)

--- 1b. Also, it's interesting that the rich man calls Lazarus by name once they're both dead. Is this just a case of characters in old stories growing in knowledge at the same pace as the reader, rather than having separate awareness? Or could Jesus be implying the rich man was so familiar with the poor sickly man on his step that he knew him by name? (Thank you, sam, for pointing this out as well!)