“And Lazarus came to the rich man’s courtyard, thinking, ‘Maybe there are some scraps of food left over from this rich man.’ But Lazarus was unable to get any scraps because the rich man’s dogs had eaten everything up. They also licked Lazarus’s wounds.
“And they both died—Lazarus and the rich man. And now, in hell, the rich man saw far, far off that Abraham was seated with the scab-covered Lazarus at his side.
“And the rich man said, ‘Lord Abraham, there the scab-covered Lazarus sits with you. He used to wallow at the gate in my courtyard. I do not dare disturb you. But please send scab-covered Lazarus to me and let him dip one finger in water and give me a drop for refreshment. Because I am burning in the fire.’
“But Abraham said, ‘Why should I send Lazarus to you in the fire? In the other world, whatever you wanted, you got. But Lazarus saw only sorrow, so now he must rejoice. And of course he would want to do this, but it is impossible because there is a big pit between us and you, and it is impossible to get around it. We are the living, but you are the dead.’
“Then the rich man said, ‘Well, then, Lord Abraham, at least send scab-covered Lazarus to my home, please. I have five brothers and I feel sorry for them. Let him tell them everything and show them the dangers of wealth. Otherwise they may fall into this same torment.’
“But Abraham said, ‘They already know that it is dangerous. Moses and all of the prophets have also told them this.’
“And the rich man said, ‘Everything would be better if someone from among the dead was resurrected and went to them, they would repent more fully.’
“But Abraham said, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will still not listen, even if the dead are resurrected.’
“All people know that one must share with his brother and do good to people. But the entire law of Moses and the writings of all the prophets speak exclusively about this very thing. You know this, but you cannot do it because you love wealth.”
And a wealthy leader of the orthodox came to Jesus and said to him, “You good and blessed teacher, what should I do to receive eternal life?”
Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? Only the father is good. But if you want to have life, then keep the commandments.”
And the leader said, “There are many commandments. Which ones, specifically?” And Jesus said, “Do not kill, do not be promiscuous, do not steal, do not lie, also honor your father, do his will and love your neighbor as yourself.”
And the orthodox leader said, “I have been keeping all of these commandments since childhood, but I am asking what else I must do, according to your teaching.”
Jesus looked at him, at his clothing, smiled and said, “There is one little thing you have not done, you have not actually fulfilled what you said you had. If you want to keep these commandments—do not kill, do not be promiscuous, do not steal, do not lie, and the main commandment love your neighbor as yourself—then go, right now, and sell all your property and give the money to the poor. Then you will be doing your father’s will.”
The leader heard this, frowned, and walked away, because he did not want to part with his property.
And Jesus said to his students, “Now you see that there is no way to be rich and to fulfill your father’s will.”
The students were horrified at these words. But Jesus repeated them again and said, “Yes, children, it is impossible for him who holds his own property to be within the father’s will. A camel will sooner make it through the eye of a needle than the man who relies on his riches will perform the father’s will.”
And they were even more horrified and said, “But what happens next? Doing this would make it impossible to keep yourself alive.”
But he said, “To man it seems that it is impossible to keep oneself alive without possessions, but God can save man’s life without possessions.”
Once Jesus was walking through the city of Jericho. And in this city lived the chief of the tax collectors, a rich man, and his name was Zacchaeus. This Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus’s teaching and had come to believe in it. And when he discovered that Jesus was in Jericho, he wanted to see him. There was such a large crowd around that it was impossible to get close to him. And Zacchaeus was not very tall. So then he ran ahead and climbed into a tree in order to see Jesus as he walked past the tree.
And Jesus saw him in this position as he walked past, and realized that the man believed in his teaching, so he said, “Climb down from the tree and go home, I will come to you.”
Zacchaeus climbed down, ran home, prepared for the meeting with Jesus, and received him joyfully.
And the people began to judge Jesus and say about him, “Now he has gone to the home of the tax collector, a crook.”
And at that time Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “Look, Lord, at what I am doing. I am giving half of my property to the poor, and from the rest I will repay my debt four times over to those that I have offended.”
And Jesus said, “And you have been saved by these acts. You were dead, but now you are alive. You had gotten lost but now you have been found, because in your actions, like Abraham, when he intended to stab his own son, you have shown your faith. Because this is what man’s entire life amounts to: seeking out and saving the thing that is perishing within one’s soul. A sacrifice cannot be measured by its size.”
It happened once that Jesus and his students were sitting opposite a poor box. People offered all their possessions into the box for God. Wealthy people as well came up to the box and put large amounts in. But one impoverished widow came up to it and deposited two mites.
And Jesus pointed toward her and said to his students, “Now, you see that this widow, a poor woman, deposited two mites; she has deposited more than all the others.”
It happened once that Jesus was in the home of Simon the Leper. And a woman entered the home. And this woman had a jar of expensive, fine oil worth three hundred rubles. Jesus told his students that his death was near. The woman heard this and felt reluctant to part with him and wanted to demonstrate her love and anoint his head with oil. And she forgot all about how much the oil cost and broke open the jar and anointed his head and feet, spilling the remaining oil. And the students began to discuss among themselves what an evil deed she had done.
Judas, the one that would later betray Jesus, said, “Look how much potential good has been lost in vain! One could have sold that oil for three hundred rubles and clothed so many poor people!” And the students began to scold the woman, who then became embarrassed and did not know whether she had done a good or bad thing.
Then Jesus said to them, “You are embarrassing the woman for nothing. She truly did good, so you are referring to the poor in vain. If you want to do good to the poor, then do it. They will always be available. Why talk about them now? If you feel bad for the poor, go and have mercy on them, do good to them; but this woman had mercy on me and did some actual good because she gave away what she had. Which one of you can know what is needed and what is not needed? How do you know that anointing my head with oil is a superfluous act? She poured her oil on me as if to prepare my body for burial, that is why her act was necessary. She truly fulfilled the father’s will, she forgot herself and had mercy on another. She forgot about accounting in terms of mortal life and gave away all that she had.”
And Jesus said, “My teaching is to fulfill the will of the father, but one can only fulfill the will of the father with actions, and not with words. If any son responds to his father’s commands by saying ‘I will, I will,’ but does nothing that the father has required, then obviously he is not fulfilling the father’s will.
“But if the other son so much as says, ‘I do not want to obey,’ but then goes and fulfills his father’s commands, then he is, after all, fulfilling the father’s will. With people, it is just the same. The one who speaks out and says ‘I am within the father’s will’ is really not. No, the one who does what the father wants is within his will.”