"The Fullness of the Gospel and the Eternal Punishments", by E.J.Ekman (1903) (Part 23: About Hades)
If we now consider the particular parts of the parable, we must first of all realize that this is a question about what is occuring in hades, in the intermediate state, and that it is thus not a question of any once-and-for-all finished state. This we understand from the fact, that it was here, where the Lord preached the gospel to those who did not believe in the days of Noah (1 Pet. 3: 19, 20), although their condition was not forever concluded. And the apostle Peter says in 1 Pet. 4: 6: »For that is why the gospel has also been preached for the dead, that they may be condemned according to the flesh like men but live according to God in the spirit." Thus: the rich man finds himself in an area where there is the possibility of salvation, of course provided that he from the painful experience, which he now has to live through, when his past life "has exposed its hidden innermost root", and when earthly wealth and pleasures no longer delight him, allows himself to be brought to a change of mind. But to get there it must be made clear to him, that all yearning for human aid boated to nothing. Therefore, he is also denied each such help. He must learn to realize that between the state of the converted and the state of the dead in sins is an insurmountably great chasm, which cannot be exceeded by anyone, or, in other words, any union between them is absolutely impossible. Remaining in an unconverted state is a great chasm and remains so, as long as this state continues. But what is impossible for men, it is possible for God, as Christ said on another occasion, when he was conversing with another rich man. Also on this occasion the Lord speaks about a "great chasm", saying: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” It is in other words absolutely impossible. But when the disciples asked: »Who can then be saved?”, Jesus answered: "For men it is impossible, but not for God, because for God all things are possible (Mark 10: 27).»
So also in our parable. The rich, now unhappy Jew must learn to realize that his ancestry and external position were useless, and that over the chasm, which now separates him from the father of faith Abraham, God has built a bridge in and through the sending of the only son, whom he had hitherto despised and mocked. As long as man mocks the Lord's word and despise him, whom God sent to the world as a savior, the chasm remains, and nothing can change that fact. But if he lets himself be humiliated through the judgments God sends, and through the experiences of the bitter consequences of sin, which he may make, then Christ is his savior even in the realm of the dead.
