Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Tuesday July 21 2026
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Luke 16:19-31-There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'”
The Bible teaches us about a realm called “Sheol.” This Old Testament Hebrew word is translated in the Greek Old Testament and in the New Testament with the word “Hades.” It has reference to the realm of departed spirits, or the world of the dead. Much of our understanding of this realm comes from this passage of Scripture. One of the questions that arises from this passage is worthy of deep consideration:
What Is Abraham’s Bosom?
Let’s study.
The Bible tells us here that this man who suffered so terribly in life ended up after death in a place called Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:22). Abraham was a godly man who is actually called the “friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). He was greatly revered among the Jewish people, and Jesus teaches us that he still lives today in the Presence of God (Matthew 22:31-32).
The Bible here gives us many clues as to what “Abraham’s Bosom” signified. This is identified as a place where there is comfort (Luke 16:25), and it is set in contrast to a place of “torments” where the wicked rich man ends up after he dies. Furthermore, we are told that the angels carried Lazarus to this place of joy (Luke 16:22), signifying that this place is in the Presence of God.
When we go back and study in the first century context, we learn that Abraham’s Bosom was actually a reference to the place we know as Paradise (the “good” part of the realm of Hades).
He was destined for a pauper’s grave at best, but, contrary to all expectations, Jesus says that he was carried away to the bosom of Abraham by angels. God is never explicitly mentioned in the story, but the readers of Luke know that these angels are God’s angels (see 1:11; 2:9; 12:8; Acts 5:19; 8:26; 12:7, 23) and are sent by God (Luke 1:26; Acts 12:11). The translation of the verb “to be carried back home” ( ) is based on van der Horst’s argument that the compound verb with the preposition “from” ( ) often connotes the notion of “back to where it belongs” or “deservedness” or “of what is due.” He argues that Luke uses the verb here to mean more than that poor Lazarus was “carried away” but to convey that he was taken to Abraham’s bosom, where he belonged and where he was entitled to be. Lazarus’s conveyance to Abraham’s bosom becomes confirmation of the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor, because yours is the reign of God” (6:20). 6 According to a legend in T. Ab. 20:10–15, the archangel Michael stood with multitudes of angels beside Abraham when he died, and “they bore his precious soul in their hands in divinely woven linen” and “escorted his precious soul and ascended into heaven, singing the hymn of the thrice holy to God, the master of all, and they set it (down) for the worship of the God and Father.” God then orders: Take, then, my friend Abraham into Paradise, where are the tents of the righteous ones and where the mansions of my holy ones, Isaac and Jacob, are in his bosom, where there is no toil, no grief, no moaning, but peace and exultation and endless life and the abodes of my holy ones, Isaac and Jacob, in his bosom, where is not toil, neither grief nor mourning; but peace, and exultation, and life everlasting [cf. T. Ash. 6:4–5]. Lazarus gets the same royal treatment when he dies that Abraham was imagined to have received. (David E. Garland, Clinton Arnold, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary On The New Testament:Luke, 15668-15688 (Kindle Edition): Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan)
Thus, the phrase “Abraham’s bosom” was a designation for this realm of Paradise where the saved dead go when they pass from this mortal world. The description is beautiful, suggesting the way that a person is embraced and welcomed in a hug (i..e., being taken into someone’s bosom).
In our next lesson, we will go deeper into our studies of this realm called Sheol or Hades.
Father, help us to live wisely in this world, remembering that our days are numbered. You have set eternity in our hearts. Guide us through this world so that we will be welcomed into Abraham’s Bosom. Amen.