
Those that take this story literally point out no other parable gives characters a name ~~ Lazarus. So what! Many healing miracles of Jesus have unique elements different from any other healing miracle like the time he used his spit to make mud and put on the blind man’s eyes. Jesus taught in many ways, wisdom sayings, hard sayings like it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man making it to heaven. This story adds to the depth of Jesus method of teaching. Jesus is using known fictional characters everyone understood. In our culture, if I tell a story about Robin Hood, you now it is a fictional story with a true to life message: a man striving for justice by taking from the rich and giving to the poor. The characters in today’s parable: