If They Hear Not Moses

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus ends with a dialogue between the rich man and Abraham.

Luke 16:27 NRSV— “... [the rich man] said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” 

Jesus puts these words in the mouth of Abraham, but let us not forget that they are his own words— it was Jesus who was speaking and this was the message that he was giving in the parable.

They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them... If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

Indeed, someone has risen from the dead— Jesus himself.  And yet, how many among his "followers" listen to— obey— Moses?  Somehow, after the resurrection of Jesus, "Moses"— the Torah or law— is not seen as important.  Yet apparently, as we read in the following text, "Moses" will the accuser in the judgement.  How can this be?

John 5:45 NRSV — Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 

Just to be clear, in these texts Jesus is talking about the Pentateuch or Torah.  The following texts, especially Luke 24:27, make this clear.

Matt. 8:4 NRSV — Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 

Mark 7:6 NRSV — He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;  7 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ 8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” 9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 

Luke 24:27 NRSV — Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.  

Luke 24:44 NRSV — Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”  

John 1:45 NRSV — Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 

Moses [the Torah] seems to have been important to Jesus.  Was it still important to his followers in the decades following his resurrection?

Acts 26:22 NRSV — To this day I [Paul] have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: 

Acts 28:23  NRSV — After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him [Paul] at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses [Torah] and from the prophets.  

Now, back to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus as translated in several modern versions.

Luke 16:27-31 CEV — But the rich man said, "Abraham, then please send Lazarus to my father's home. 28 Let him warn my five brothers, so they won't come to this horrible place." 29 Abraham answered, "Your brothers can read what Moses and the prophets wrote. They should pay attention to that." 30 Then the rich man said, "No, that's not enough! If only someone from the dead would go to them, they would listen and turn to God." 31 So Abraham said, "If they won't pay attention to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even to someone who comes back from the dead."

Acts 16:27-31 GWT — The rich man responded, ‘Then I ask you, Father, to send Lazarus back to my father’s home. 28 I have five brothers. He can warn them so that they won’t end up in this place of torture.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets. Your brothers should listen to them!’ 30 The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! If someone comes back to them from the dead, they will turn to God and change the way they think and act.’ 31 Abraham answered him, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone comes back to life.’  

Luke 16:27-31 KJV — Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest 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 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto 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, though one rose from the dead.

What is the message here?  Jesus is calling for us to "repent"— turn to God, change the way we think and act.  He says, through the parable, that we will not be persuaded— that we will fail to repent— if we do not "hear"— listen, pay attention to — the Torah (Moses).  We have someone— Jesus— who has come back from the dead.  Could it be that we still need the Torah (Moses) in order to be persuaded to repent and "change the way" that we "think and act"?  How did the early followers of Jesus relate to the Torah?

Acts 21:20 NRSV — When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers [followers of Jesus] there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law [Torah]. 

Acts 22:3 NRSV — I [Paul] am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law [Torah], being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 

Acts 22:12 NRSV — A certain Ananias [a follower of Jesus], who was a devout man according to the law [Torah] and well spoken of by all the Jews living there,  

Acts 24:14 NRSV — But this I [Paul] admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law [Torah] or written in the prophets. 

Acts 25:8 NRSV — Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law [Torah] of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.” 

Acts 28:23 NRSV — After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses [Torah] and from the prophets.

When Jesus was asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?", he responded, "What is written in the Torah?"

Luke 10:25 NRSV — Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the law [Torah]? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he [Jesus] said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”  

Jesus points us to the Torah— all the Scriptures— and said "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."