Luke 16:21

and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

Although, for the lesson of this story, it is immaterial whether it is a parable or the account of an actual happening, as Luther remarks, yet the manner of presentation points to the correctness of the latter assumption. The connection between this narrative and the previous conversation is evident. The servants of mammon, by their misuse of the gifts of God, by their misapplication of the funds entrusted to them, earn for themselves the tortures of damnation. The vivid contrast which runs through the entire description should be noted: A certain rich man that made it a habit to appear always in dresses of the most expensive kind, purple and silky linen, that lived splendidly and yielded himself fully to the delights of feasting every day; on the other hand, a poor man, whose name, Lazarus (trust in God), has been preserved, living in the squalor of the utmost poverty, lying at the entrance gate of the rich man's estate, with his ragged clothes insufficient for covering the ulcers which had broken out on his body due to unhealthy conditions of living and improper food, satisfied with, and eager for, the scraps which were thrown out from the table of the rich man. The dogs were more merciful than the men that saw him in his misery, for they at least came and licked his ulcers. The one lived only for himself and for the delights and luxuries of the body. He may have seen the beggar whom someone had deposited at his door, as he went in and out, or as he rode by in his fine carriage, but he paid no attention to him nor to his condition. Unpleasant facts interfere with the enjoyment of life. "If we look at this rich man according to the fruits of faith, we find a heart and a tree of unbelief. For the Gospel rebukes him that he daily fared sumptuously and dressed splendidly, all of which reason does not regard an unusually great sin. But this rich man is not reproved because he had fine food and splendid clothes, for many saints, kings, and queens formerly wore fine dresses, as Solomon, Esther, David, Daniel, and others; but because he set his heart upon it, he sought, he clung to it, he chose it, he had all his joy, desire, and pleasure in it, and made it his idol."