What does Luke 16:26 mean?
This passage contains the famous story of the rich man and Lazarus. The wealthy man's home, clothes, and food were comfortable and luxurious. Lazarus was a beggar, probably crippled, who was placed outside the rich man's gate. Instead of fine robes, Lazarus was covered in open sores. Rather than fine meals, he was starved enough to wish for crumbs (Luke 16:19–21). Lazarus died and was taken by angels to paradise. Abraham greeted him warmly. The rich man died and found himself in fiery torment. The rich man looked up and asked Abraham to send Lazarus with a drop of water for his burning tongue. Abraham is explaining why this isn't possible (Luke 16:22–24).The rich man was told that he had all the good things he was going to get in his mortal life. It is time for Lazarus to experience the good (Luke 16:25). Now, Abraham mentions that it's not possible for Lazarus to go to Hades. A great chasm separates them.
This isn't written like a typical parable: a story set on earth with a subtly hidden spiritual application. Neither does it have to be a literal narrative of history. Even so, Jesus seems to describe the afterlife in metaphorical terms meant to emphasize the change in circumstances faced by the rich man and Lazarus. Some details of the story are explicitly supported in other Scriptures, others are not. Do angels take God-followers to paradise? Does Abraham greet them when they arrive? Can those in Hades see into paradise? Only the last seems to be corroborated (Luke 13:28).
This description, however, is consistent with those aspects of theology which matter. Once someone has died and arrived in paradise, there is nothing anyone can do to send them to Hades. Once someone has died and gone to torment, there is nothing anyone can do to get them to paradise. There is no chance for salvation after death. Nor is salvation universal: not everyone goes to heaven. The fact that the rich man asks for only a drop of water and not restoration shows that he knows this.
