What’s in a Name?

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

In the Biblical story names are very important. Naming, like blessing, was a way of transferring one’s power for life to another. So in our reading of the Biblical story we ought to pay attention to those instances when characters are named. Of all the parables that Jesus told in the gospels, only one character is ever named. Lazarus. You probably remember him. He was the very poor, sick man who was left (literally ‘cast down’) at the rich man’s gate. The one who ‘longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table’ (Lk. 16:21), the one who was so helpless that he couldn’t even keep the dogs from licking his sores. You know the guy. Lazarus. The only character ever named in Jesus’ parables.

The name Lazarus means ‘helped by God’ or ‘God has helped’. The name begs the question, of course. Looking at this man Lazarus one can’t help but wonder how exactly God has helped him. But I’ll leave that question aside for the time being. The Hebrew translation of the name Lazarus is Eliezer and there aren’t too many of them in the Hebrew Scriptures. The most famous is the son of Aaron the High Priest. But there is at least one other. In Genesis 15 we read that Abram is anxious over the (im)possibility of God ever fulfilling God’s promise of an heir for Abram and Sarai. He asks God, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (a Gentile)? You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir” (Gen. 15:2-3). Of course, God assures Abram that he and Sarai will have a son and then God confirms it with a covenant.

In the parable of Luke 16:19-31 Abraham and Lazarus (Eliezer) are together again for the first time since Genesis 15. But now there is a third party, the (unnamed) rich man, a man who takes on the role of Abraham’s son (he calls Abraham ‘father’ and Abraham calls him ‘child’, vss. 24-25). People have long seen the great reversal that takes place in this parable. But it’s clear that this reversal works on a number of levels. It’s not just a matter of role reversal for the rich and the poor. It’s also a blood reversal; the son is excluded while the slave is included. Eliezer of Damascus finally gets his due. Like so many of his parables (the lost son, the good Samaritan, the Pharisee and the tax collector) Jesus has once again changed the boundaries of the kingdom. Those who assumed that they were ‘in’ suddenly discover that they’re ‘out’.

Boundaries aren’t evil. They’re necessary, required even. Hospitality assumes that people are being invited to a particular place, a home, a church, or a community. What Jesus’ parables often remind us of is that our boundaries ought to be flexible, permeable even. Our boundaries always have to be open to scrutiny, particularly by those on the outside.

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