Now, it’s true that this is a parable, and so we shouldn’t press the details too far. Jesus uses the parable in this context of Luke to confront the social structures of the day, not to teach us about the afterlife. On the flip side, parables do convey truth—real things about real life for real people. And given the fact that at least some first-century Jewish people believed that there would be real pain and torment in hades (and not just in gehenna or “hell”), Jesus was probably assuming this view here as well. According to Josephus, the Pharisees believed that the righteous receive rewards
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