Is the story of the rich man and Lazarus a parable?

Some believe the story of the rich man and Lazarus is just a parable. However, there are several things that distinguish it from parables. For one, it uses specific names and mentions real people that have lived (Abraham and Moses). If it's a parable, it would be the only parable in the Bible to use specific names. It would also be the only parable to mention the afterlife. Second, Jesus never prefaces the story by saying it's a parable. Usually, but not always, it will say if it's a parable or not. But there's another reason that lends credence to the idea that it's not a parable, and it ties in with Abraham's bosom. Recall what scriptures tell about what happened to Jesus between the crucifixion and the resurrection: 

He descended to the lowest parts of the earth (Eph 4:8-10)

He went to the heart of the earth (Mat 12:40)

He went to Sheol/Hades (Psa 16:10, Acts 2:27)

He went to paradise (Luk 23:43)

He preached to the spirits in prison (1Pe 3:18-20). These spirits were associated with the antediluvian world prior to the Great Flood and were likely the fallen angels who sinned and are being held in chains until judgment that Jude 1:6 talked about.

Scriptures tell us Jesus descended to the lowest parts of the earth (Sheol/Hades/hell), but that he also went to paradise. So, which is it? It seems like a contradiction unless we take the story of the rich man and Lazarus as true, and it also makes the most sense.

Prior to Jesus' resurrection, the Old Testament saints who died couldn’t automatically ascend to heaven because their sins had not yet been atoned for. Still, they had hope God would provide a means for them. David said, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” (Psa 16:10).

It would have been necessary for God to partition off a part of hell as a temporary paradise for the pre-Christian saints to reside (i.e., Abraham's bosom). He then placed a gulf between them and the lost souls so that it could not be crossed. Jesus, however, in his divinity, was able to cross the gulf, as he holds the keys of Hades and of Death (Rev 1:18). After he descended to hell and went to paradise (aka Abraham’s bosom), he was able to cross the gulf to preach to the spirits in prison. The Jewish Historian Josephus, who was also a priest, described Abraham's bosom, confirming it was an accepted Jewish belief (apart from the Sadducees who believed the soul dies with the body.):

“These (the righteous) are now indeed confined in Hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust are confined… but the just are guided to the right hand, and are led with hymns, sung by the angels appointed over that place, unto a region of light in which the just…ever enjoying the prospect of the good things they see…while they wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region…This is the discourse concerning Hades, herein the souls of all men are confined until a proper season, which God hath determined, when he will make a resurrection of all men from the dead…raising again those very bodies, which you Greeks, seeing to be dissolved, do not believe…And to every body shall its own soul be restored.” -Josephus’ Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades, Ages Software, Christian Library Heritage Edition

After Jesus was resurrected, what happened? The tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who died were also raised from the dead (Mat 27:52). Who were they, and where did they come from? They were the saints that were in Abraham’s bosom (Sheol). After Christ ascended to heaven and shed his blood on the mercy seat, the pre-Christian saints were able to vacate Abraham's bosom and ascend to heaven with Christ. Thus, the story of the rich man and Lazarus is more than just a parable.

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