My Struggle with Luke
For some period of time, I tended to believe that these two stories were errant material that should be excluded from Luke. It certainly would have been the easy way out, and I could make a pretty strong case in support of the position:
- Where else in the Bible does it say that angels escorted anyone anywhere upon death?
- Hades is the Greek translation for Sheol, and the Old Testament consistently refers to all souls going to Sheol upon death, good or bad. Here Luke calls the place of agony “Hades”, and the place of comfort “Abraham’s bosom”.
- When did Hades become a place for only the unrepentant?
- Where is “Abraham’s bosom”?
- Christ went to Hades upon death, according to Peter (Acts 2:27). So is Hades a place of agony or is it Paradise?
- If the rich man is already in agony, then why bother with a resurrection and judgment in the future?
- Likewise, if Paradise is such a cool place, where one is already “with the Lord”, then for what purpose is there a later judgment for the believer?
If I were to exclude these two passages, my understanding of the afterlife would be as follows:
Sheol is simply a container for souls… an emotionless, quiet place where time is suspended until the resurrection. After the resurrection, rewards and punishments would be handed down accordingly. I could post an almost endless series of Scripture references to support this view.
But Luke paints quite a different picture… an immediate afterlife of at least two kinds, “comfort” and “agony”.
Did Luke Believe in a Future Resurrection and Judgment?
Apparently so:
"But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luk 14:13-14 NAU)
Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (Luk 20:34-36 NAU)
"The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Luk 11:31-32 NAU)
This is clear evidence that Luke was not a victim of Hellenization.
So if Luke’s description of the afterlife is correct, we must look for confirmation in both the New Testament and the Old.
Still more to come,