The Rich Man and Lazarus

A Parable:

Speaking to the multitudes in these chapters and he said, Matt. 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

Parables and metaphors are not necessarily literally possible, both by definition and by usage.

Matt. 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matt. 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Does that mean that false prophets are ACTUAL farm animals in costume? If we are to take this metaphorical language (such as in the rich man and Lazarus) as a factual dictation, then it must be.

OT Parable of the talking and walking trees. Is that actual or parable of something that couldn’t possibly be to illustrate a truth?

If it is not a parable, then we must conclude that:

Salvation is related to being poor, not accepting Christ or even being good!

The Bible is wrong when it says that all will be judged at the end of the world. Judgement occurs immediately upon death, again based on financial status.

The Babylonian myth about the levels of the afterlife are correct in that one goes to either purgatory, Abraham’s bosom or paradise.

The righteous will spend eternity listening to the wails of the damned in their painful state, regardless of the scripture that says there will be no more crying or pain.

This parable must be read in the context of the preceding two chapters which have a number of additional parables that relate certain truths about the kingdom.