Emphasis Preaching Journal

When I read this passage I am reminded of Lazarus the beggar sitting at the gate of the rich man. Lazarus represents all those in the history of the universe who have spent their lives in extreme poverty. Their clothes are dirty, unmended rags. Illness plagues their bodies and their minds. They are prevented from "pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps" because of disability, prejudice, oppression, lack of land, or are otherwise trapped in the downward spiral of so many of our world.