Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25-37

25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

It is somewhat amazing how often people came to Jesus and asked Him what they needed to do to inherit eternal life.  It is the most important question anyone could ask.  Perhaps, what is even more amazing to us is the way that Jesus answers the people who ask these questions.  We might expect Him to say: “Believe that I am the Son of God.  Recognize that you are a sinner and repent of all of you are trusting to save you from that sin.  Place your faith on Me alone as I will be crucified to pay for your sin. The Father will accept my sacrifice on your behalf and He will raise Me up from the dead.  One day you too will rise from the dead and be welcomed into eternal life in the presence of the Father.”  The reason Jesus does not respond in this way was that He knew the lawyer was testing Him.  Instead of answering the lawyers question directly, Jesus answers the question with another question.  The questions asked and the answers given to those questions are the means by which Jesus chose to reveal to this man his desperate need of eternal life.   

WHO SHOULD WE LOVE? Jesus asked the lawyer to give his interpretation of what the law says to do.  The lawyer gives an excellent response in saying that one must love God with all your heart, soul and strength, and love his neighbor as yourself.  This is the summery of all the commandments that Jesus has taught His disciples.  Loving God is what we were created to do.  We love God by worshiping Him, obeying Him and we demonstrate that love by loving other people who were created in His image.  It sounds like such an easy requirement, but we all have a very difficult time obeying this command even some of the time because of our own love for ourselves.  The command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is not a third commandment to love ourselves.  It is a presumed reality in all our lives that we do love ourselves.  In fact, this is our main problem and the principle impediment to loving God and others.  Often, in order to love God and love others, we must sacrifice our own resources, comfort and pride.  This is not easy for anyone to do.  We are, by nature, selfish people.  We mistakenly think that loving ourselves is the road to happiness.  The truth is that selfishness leads us down a path of pain and regret.  Jesus applauds the lawyers answer and simply tells him to do what he knows to do and he will have eternal life.  Jesus knows that it is impossible for any man to perfectly love God and others.  Only He was capable of such love.  Jesus knows that for this man to gain eternal life, he must recognize his own sinfulness.  The lawyer knows he has not loved perfectly, so he seeks to justify himself by asking Jesus who his neighbor is.  This question seeks to create a loophole in the law that would allow him to love only some people that are defined as neighbors.  It reveals a heart that is looking to love less.

WHO IS A LOVER? Jesus was good at answering questions with questions and at answering the questions that should have been asked instead of answering the question that was asked.  The lawyer asked Jesus who his neighbor was.  Jesus answered the question who is a good neighbor?  The lawyer wants to know who he should love.  Jesus wants him to know who is a lover.  Jesus tells a parable we know as the good Samaritan.  In this parable, a man is robbed and beaten by thieves as he travels along a road between Jerusalem and Jericho.  He is left by the side of the road unable to help himself.  So far it looks like Jesus is answering the lawyer’s question by stating that your neighbor is anyone who needs help.  There are people all around us who need help.  Loving our neighbor means being willing to help those people.  Jesus continues the story telling of a priest and a Levite who were traveling on the same road, saw the injured man and passed by on the other side of the road without helping the man.  They likely had all kinds of rationalizations as to why they didn’t do what they knew they should do.  They might have been afraid that if they stopped on this dangerous road, they too might end up in a similar condition.  Love should cast out fear but fear can also cast out love.  They might have had important ministries to fulfill in the synagogue.  They were too busy serving God to serve their neighbor.  Busy schedules can be an impediment to love.  Jesus goes on to tell of a Samaritan traveler who also sees the man, stops and helps him by treating his wounds, placing him on his horse and then taking him to safety where he makes provision for his recovery.  This portion of the story was meant to be shocking to the Jews who listened because they hated the Samaritans.  The fact that a Samaritan is the hero of the story would certainly call their attention.  Jesus also teaches us some vital truths about how to love.  We see that love is unconditional in that the injured Jewish man would have been an enemy of the Samaritan.  We also see that love is sacrificial.  The Samaritan sacrificed his time, his resources, his safety and his pride.  True love is given freely but it is rarely free.  It will show up in our budgets and agendas. 

APPLICATION: Demonstrate our love for God by loving others.  Be willing to change our plans and interrupt our schedules in order to help others who are in need.  Invest generously in the lives of people who have desperate needs and no means of paying us back.  Examine the amount of time and resources we have invested in the people who are in need around us add up the numbers and understand that the result of that calculation is how much we love God.