921) I grew up learning about the men and women of the Bible. I could retell their stories with details because I was so familiar with them. As I entered my teens, that rebellious streak rose that often does at this age, and I remember thinking that these people in the Bible had it a lot easier when it comes to matters of faith. After all, if the miracle happened to you or where you witnessed it, you would believe. What I did not consider is the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Parables were stories Jesus taught to illustrate one main point. In this story, there was both a rich man and a beggar who died. The beggar (named Lazarus) went to where the angels took him and the rich man went to Hades.

The story continues with the rich man pleading with Abraham in the end to send someone to his family, warning them to take God’s word seriously and Abraham answers with what I believe the one main point of this parable is. He says, in verse 31 of Luke 16:19-31, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets (the teachings of the Old Testament), they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

I had the mistaken idea that seeing automatically meant believing, but my adult brain understands that we learn to rationalize and explain away things we do not fully understand. Seeing isn’t necessarily believing.