“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. (Lk 16:19-22)
I will never forget the New Testament class in seminary when we discussed this parable. Our professor said, “In the ancient world, only the rich had tombs.” So we asked, what happened to Lazarus. And he answered, “The dogs ate him. They had already had a taste when they licked his wounds.” Thank goodness, the gospel writer left out some details!
