Son, Remember
In Luke 16 Jesus told an account of a rich man who died and went to a place of torments. He did not go there because he was rich. Jesus took the opportunity to tell this account because of the members of the Pharisees who were present and listening (Luke 16:14). They were lovers of money and thought that wealth, even if unscrupulously gained, was the approval of God. A scriptural case can be made for that idea but it did not necessarily mean that God approved of his life.
This rich man was nameless in this account. We will see why this was important later.
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:23)
Looking across an immense chasm, the rich man recognized Lazarus, a poor beggar, now also dead, who had been placed at the rich man's gate regularly. The rich man also recognized Abraham. That is strange because Abraham lived some 1,800 years earlier. The rich man also remembered that he had 5 brothers. He begged Abraham to send someone to warn them about coming to this horrible place. The rich man understood who Moses was and who the prophets were. It seems that he remembered everything, including things that were unknown to him during his lifetime.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luke 16:25)
Abraham told the nameless rich man to remember. Remember your earthly lifetime. Remember every detail and every event. Remember everything, good and bad. Hell is a place of remembering.
God wants us to remember His powerful workings in the past. God had his ancient people establish memorials so that future generations would ask and be reminded of the great works of God. Today, there is great benefit in remembering the goodness of God and giving testimony of His kindness in providing for us and for His protection.
I believe that the future, however, will be a time of forgetting for the believer. We will not remember our sins, except to know that Jesus has saved us. We will not remember the evil and abuse of others toward us. We will not remember the concept of earth-time or the physics of this life.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Rev 21:4)
We will not remember the way that things used to be done. That will seems like a very long dream.
My father used to question, “How can we possibly enjoy heaven knowing that a family member or a loved one is lost?”
We could not. With the great knowledge we will have and the nearly incredible understanding that we will experience regarding all things, there are some things which must be blocked from our awareness.
That is why the rich man in Luke 16 was never named. We cannot remember his name today and we will never remember the name of any lost person. This is part of the horror of condemnation, to be truly forgotten in an absolute sense.
The lost must remember everything. Their memories are the only thing they will have. The memory of rejecting Christ will forever play on an endless loop as they realize there is no reason to be separated from good things forever. Jesus paid it all. Hell will be filled with people who want to be there over Jesus' “dead body” (at the cross).
The Redeemed will know everything that God wants them to know. They will not remember the evil of this natural life.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Rev 21:5)
Dec. 13, 2023