y that
would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may
cross over from thence to us. 27 And he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's
house; 28 for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them,
lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 But Abraham
saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the
dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one
rise from the dead.

The parable of the Unrighteous Steward was intended to teach the
possibility of the right use of wealth. The parable of the Rich Man and
Lazarus was designed by our Lord to warn his hearers against its abuse.
Between the two parables Luke records a number of sayings, the connection
of which cannot be determined beyond question but they seem to have been
quoted by him as an introduction to the second of these parables, vs.
14-18. They contain a rebuke of the Pharisees for their besetting sin of
avarice and a statement of the unfailing authority of the Law, the letter
of which they observed, but by the spirit of which they were condemned.

These Pharisees ridiculed our Lord for teaching the absolute necessity of
generosity and benevolence and the unselfish use of wealth. Our Lord
replied that while these enemies of his might receive the approval of men,
God read their hearts and many who received human praise were but
abominable in the sight of God. Jesus stated that while the gospel message
did differ from the Law and while many were eagerly accepting its blessed
privileges, it did not set aside the Law, but only showed how its demands
could be met. When he stated that "one tittle of the law" could not fall,
he referred to the minute projections which distinguish Hebrew letters,
and meant that the slightest requirement of the Law was sacred and
abiding. He illustrated these truths by a reference to the Seventh
Commandment, and insisted that adultery did not lose its sinful character
because of any interpretation of the Law such as was put upon it by those
who were teaching lax theories of divorce. It was still sinful, even when
justified by civil enactment. Thus Jesus was reminding the Pharisees that
the Law might abide and be sacred even when legalists who observed its
letter were condemned