Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man
Jesus told many parables during His three and half years of ministry. There is no telling how many; but more than three dozen of His parables were recorded. He spoke of a man sowing good seed into a field, a grain of mustard seed, and leaven hidden in three measures of meal . He also spoke of a barren fig tree, a man who planted a vineyard, new wine in old wineskins, ravens, lilies, and many, many more. A PARABLE is a short, fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle. Parables are never meant to be taken for the letter of their word. When taken literally, at face value, the entirety of its meaning is lost. The Greek word for parable is parabole and means, something similar, symbolic, a fictitious narrative of common life conveying a moral (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance) . The Hebrew word, mashal , is not unlike it, meaning, a sense of superiority in mental action; a maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile, or figure of s