“now he is comforted and you are tormented” [Luke 16:25(RAV)]

“now he is comforted and you are tormented”. As the poverty gap widens in our day, these words of Jesus take on added importance to us.
The story was probably based on a similar tale well known in Jesus’ day. The rich man had everything, the beggar nothing. Perhaps he made the same excuses for doing nothing that we hear today. Excuses like – he only lived as is expected of rich men: the beggar did nothing to help himself: the plight he is in was brought on by himself, and so on.
Or the rich man feared that aid given did not get to the needy.
Yet the truth was that he was comfortable and the beggar miserable. Jesus’ teaching is that this state of affairs will one day be changed. It was sad the rich man didn’t act while he had opportunity. Are we taking the message to heart?