STUDY THEME: ONE SOLITARY LIFE: THE LIFE OF JESUS 4-29-01
UNIT 5: LORD OF THE KINGDOM: "BEING A NEIGHBOR."
LUKE 10: 25-29, 30-32, 33-35, 36-37.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO LUKE 10.
While last Sunday’s lesson of the TRANSFIGURATION is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, today’s lesson is found only in Luke’s Gospel. Luke recorded eleven or twelve more of Jesus’ parables. Near the close of Jesus second Glilean ministry, at the close of the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Mark recorded in Mark 4:33-34 "And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples." Today we find Jesus has moved all the way from the Transfiguration at Mt. Hermon N.E. of Caesarea Phillipi to Jerusalem in Judea.
Following His eighteen month Galilean ministry, Jesus led His disciples in four withdrawals from Galilee. This lasted about six month, from the time of the Passover in the spring until just before the Feast of Tabernacles in Sept. or early October in A.D. 29. Then for about six months Jesus had a ministry in Jerusalem and Judea. Only John Chapters 7-11 and Luke 9:51-18:14 recorded this period of Jesus final ministry in Judea.
The parable of the Good Samaritan, along with "The Prodigal Son" in Luke 15, are probably the most famous stories in the New Testament. Today we find Jesus back in Jerusalem being confronted by a lawyer who is asking a supreme question. In Jesus time LAWYER is a term used to describe a class of men well versed in the oral and written Jewish law whose duty consisted in teaching young men and deciding questions concerning the law. They were normally called scribes. You may remember Tertullas was the Roman lawyer who presented the Jewish case against Paul during his two year imprisonment in Caesarea.
In His ministry on earth, the Lord Jesus was challenged by many persons. And the challenge was always the same: to try and discredit Him. His challenger learned early that Jesus was smart. It wasn’t easy to back Him into a corner; for no man had ever successfully won an argument with Him so far.
In Matthew 22 the Pharisees and Herodians had sent their choice disciples to question Jesus concerning paying taxes to Caesar. The Sadduces came questioning, "In the resurrection which of the seven brothers should claim as wife the woman who had been married to each of them." Then a Pharisee lawyer questioned Jesus about "which is the great commandment in the law". Matthew recorded in Matt. 22: 46 "And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore."
Back in Luke 6 when Jesus proclaimed Himself Lord of the Sabbath it says in Luke 6:7 "The Pharisees and scribes were looking for reason to accuse Jesus." In Luke 6:11 they were furious when Jesus healed on the Sabbath and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. By this time in His ministry, Jesus had already had several confrontations with the religious leadership. Today is no exception. Let’s read about his incident in Luke 10:25 when Jesus was confronted with a hostile question.
1, PLEASE READ LUKE 10: 25-29.
While Jesus was seated with a group, in all likelihood He was teaching." And in Vs. 25, behold, a lawyer stood up—" "Behold expresses surprise. This probably means he interrupted Jesus’ teaching. He was a specialist in interpreting the Jewish religious law. He must have been listening intently to the teaching of Jesus that day, and finally decided that he could put an end to this fanatic by asking a question in public that He could not answer. His purpose was to tempt Jesus. So he chose a subject that had many fine points to argue.
Surely the lawyer thought, "this Jesus couldn’t possibly be a match for me! Why, I’m a lawyer; a religious scribe; my profession is the Law; I’m the one whom they ask when they don’t understand it; I’m the expert here!! This should only take a minute or so." And so he stands and asks his question. "Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Now what could be more innocent than that? Please note that the original question was never answered. Jesus came up with a better question.
Actually, this man had asked the supreme question. There is no greater question. Our future rests upon this question. Our fate depends upon this question. It’s not just a lawyer’s question. It is a question each of must ask and act upon. "What should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus says "Nothing. That is My job." After salvation is secured Jesus says that life is lived in service to others.
The way in which this question was asked suggests that the lawyer had the mistaken idea that a person might do something to earn eternal life. It nevertheless was the most important issue that any human being ever faces—how to possess the quality of life that God makes available. The Lawyer believed he already knew the correct answer to his question. He hoped Jesus did not.
Didn’t he see a contradiction in his own words? Nobody inherits anything by doing things. An inheritance is something you receive because you had a relationship with someone. It’s not something you achieve by some action you’ve done. This man, like so many people in the world, often well-meaning, decent living people, thought of eternal life as something you purchased by your own good works, rather than a gift freely given by God’s grace. Eternal life is not a matter of "What must I do for God", but rather, "What God has done for me."
You may remember the jailer in Philippi asked much the same question of Paul. "What must I do to be saved?" Paul’s answer was "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
The lawyer was expecting an off the wall answer from this teacher of anew religion. But the answer he got surprised him
The Lord replied in Vs. 26 "What is written in the Law?" "How readest thou?" He sent the man back to the law, and he was a lawyer. Christ said to him in effect, You are asking a question, but you have your answer. Your answer is in the realm in which you are a specialist, an expert. You may ask Me how you are to gain life, eternal life, ful-orbed life; well, what is written in the law? How do you read it?
The lawyer, answering said, evidently quickly, confidently and without hesitation, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Jews were required to recite Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 morning and evening. Strict or orthodox Jews wore around their wrists little leather boxes called phalacteries, which contained these scriptures. They were considered to be a summary of the law. They are certainly the greatest commandment of the Law.
And Jesus astonished the lawyer, and everyone else by saying, "You are correct. Now go and do it, and you shall have eternal life." "Do and live is the promise of the law." Jesus delivered the statement with authority and in the form of a command. One of the great qualities of Jesus as a teacher was His incomparable ability to give simple answers to complex questions.
It was at this point that the lawyer began to hedge. He had been brought crash up against something, which he knew; and now he realized Jesus was implying that one keeps the law perfectly. It was like Jesus was saying, "You have answered correctly. If you keep God’s law and don’t ever break it, then you can have eternal life. If you will love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as thyself, which is a summary of God’s law, and never once fail, then, yes, you can inherit eternal life." The lawyer got an "A" in knowing the law; he failed with the respect to doing it.
But here is just the point Jesus was making. No one can keep the law perfectly. The law given to Moses showed man what God expected, but it also showed that man could not keep it perfectly. That’s where the sacrifices came in.
The fact that Jesus told him to do it, implies that he had not been doing it. The way Jesus answered him was superb. Jesus was taking the lawyer’s answer and showing him that he needed a Savior. The answer Jesus gave him, summarized is, "You are right. If you keep it perfectly you can inherit eternal life. But you have not kept it perfectly, thus you need a Savior."
Now the lawyer was in an untenable position and he knew it. He knew in his deepest heart that he did not love God with all his heart, all his soul, or with all his might, and he did not love his neighbor as himself. He wished, therefore to justify himself, and he sought to do it by asking Jesus another question. It is with that question that our lesson is chiefly concerned today. Who is my neighbor. The real emphasis of the parable, after all, is not on WHO is my neighbor but on WHETHER I am a NEIGHBOR.
How does one receive eternal life? Through Jesus Christ and what He has done, not by what we have done. Fanny Crosby said it well: "Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling."
But the lawyer wants to justify himself; he wants to qualify the question; he wants to know to whom he is to be kind. So he asks: "Who is my neighbor." The self righteous Pharisees did not consider publicans, sinners, Samaritans, or gentiles as neighbors. Some of the stricter Pharisees regarded only other Pharisees as neighbors. Even today some persons are exclusive rather than inclusive in their relationships with others. Someone has written "To love the whole world is no chore; My only problems my neighbor next door." Robert Frost said "Good fences make good neighbors." G.K. Chesterton wrote, "The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are the same people."
Watch how Jesus teaches this lawyer. He doesn’t teach him who his neighbor is; that is obvious!! Everyone know who their neighbors are!! They are the ones who live next door to you. What He teaches this lawyer, this expert in the law, is how he is to act as a neighbor.
2. PLEASE READ LUKE 10: 30-32.
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was 18 miles long. It ran through the wilderness of Judea, one of the most desolate places. Its only inhabitants were wild animals and lawless men. Bands of robbers came out of these canyons to prey on helpless travelers as they journeyed down the "red and bloody way." "Went down" in Vs.30 could suggest the elevation drop of 3600 ft. between the two cities of Jerusalem and Jericho.
We do not know for sure, but we may assume that the traveler in this parable was a Jew. Jesus did not identify he traveler by name, race, religion or nationality. He depicted him only as a person. Jesus answer to the lawyer’s question "Who is my neighbor?" is: Every man is every other man’s potential neighbor. When suffering need, he becomes an actual neighbor of every man who can reach him with help. From a complete anonymity, the victim emerges as Mr. Human Being. He is you or I.
Usually people traveled in bands for protection. But for the sake of the lesson Jesus said he traveled alone. When he was waylaid, he apparently resised. Not only did they take his money, but they also stole his clothing. In the process they beat him unmercifully. Then they left the victim half dead.
The injured man’s needs were obvious and urgent. His situation commanded immediate, intensive, and extended care. Since he had been robbed, it was unlikely that he could pay for these services. He needed someone to act neighborly toward him. Let’s look first at the two who failed to be neighbors.
If anyone would stop and help this poor man, it would be a priest, right? Or today we would say "pastor." Surely, the priest, who is a highly religious man, who is the servant of God; who is to minister to people would stop and do anything to help this victim of this terrible crime! But notice, he pased by on the other side; or, he purposely crossed the road so that he would not have to deal with the situation.! Some priest, right? Real religious, right? A real man of God, right?
Before we condemn him to badly, let’s be sure that we haven’t done the same thing. Let’s be sure that we haven’t "passed by on the other side" because we didn’t want to become involved in someone else’s problem. The text says, "by chance" the priest came across this man. But the Greek text tells us that it was not the word "coincidence", but divine arrangement of circumstances. God had arranged that the priest would come across this man, so that the priest could help him!
Has God ever arranged for you to come across someone who needed a man or woman of God at some exact moment of time, and you failed to act? Maybe it was the time you were supposed to witness; or minister; or talk; or just be there. Why is it that we don’t treat all of our neighbors as neighbors? Why do we help some, and not others?
Is it because some don’t look like us? Or is it because some of them don’t live like we do? Or, maybe they look strange; or smell strange; or are a different color? Or maybe we just can’t stand the idea of getting dirty with someone else’s problems? The first thing you have to do to help someone out of the ditch is to climb in there with them.
What about the Levite? He didn’t do much better than the priest did he? The text says that he "looked on him" or, examined him, and then walked away. "Sorry buddy, but I’ve looked over the situation and I have come to the conclusion that I can’t help you." "Have a nice day."
Because of their vocation, we would assume that they would be most likely to come to the aid of this fellow Jew. No doubt they felt a pang of pity for the wounded man, but they did nothing. Compassion begins with identification. The priest did not accept the man as a colleage, so he passed by. The levite saw the man, paused for a moment, but did not feel responsibility to do anything. Why didn’t they help? They just didn’t.
Both valued ceremonialism more than humanity. Perhaps there is another reason they ignored him. Sometimes robbers had one of their number as a decoy to pretend to be hurt. Maybe so. But in all likelihood Jewish religious ceremony was the culprit. Their interpretation of the law of love put them under no obligation to those outside their own roll and religion.
Now these religious men did not harm the injured man or kick him as they went by. They simply did not pause to come to his aid. Theirs was a sin of omission, one of which so often we are guilty. If may be one in need of physical aid, as here. Or it may be that discouraged or disappointed person needed a word of cheer or encouragement. But whatever it is, failure to respond to the need is a sin of omission. James 4: 17 says, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." To have compassion means to feel with those who are broken and hurting.
Dr. Harour told a story of a little girl who took unusual time to return from the store. When questioned she explained to her mother that on the way home she saw her friend with a broken doll. Her mothers asked what she did to help. She said she stopped and helped her friend cry.
The first thing that arrests me in reading the story of the Good Samaritan is that Jesus never answered the question the lawyer asked. In His reply He changed the whole emphasis of the man’s question. The man said, I am, according to the law, to love my neighbor; who is my neighbor. Christ’s answer did not tell him who was his neighbor. The whole point of Christ’s answer is this: The question is not who your neighbor is, but are you a neighbor? By telling this parable, Jesus created a scene which showed the conflict between religious rules and helping others. Stuart Briscoe says of this story that it is one of the world’s superb short stories.
If we are surprised at the failure of the priest and the Levite, we are in for a greater surprise—the one man who come to this injured Jew’s aid. Jesus deliberately used the shock treatment. Here is where the lawyer really learned the lesson.
3. PLEASE READ LUKE 10: 33-35.
Jews did not regard Samaritans as neighbors. Most people probably expected Jesus to have a Jewish lay person. Instead Jesus chose a Samaritan as the hero of the parable. Both Jews and Samaritans had deep-rooted hatred for one another. This hatred was grounded in the division of Israel following Solomon’s death. The ten northern tribes followed Jeroboam to form the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, to form the kingdom of Judah.
The crowning blow came during the Assyrian’s conquest of Israel in 722 BC. Many Israelites were taken into captivity. In turn Assyria replaced them with non-Israelites from over their kingdom. They intermarried with the Israelites and produced the Samaritans, who were mixed blooded. Eventually the division was both racial, national, and religious as both Samaritans and Jews laid claim to being God’s chosen people. The Jews looked down on the Samaritans because they were half-breeds; Samaritans looked down on Jews because they were Jews.
Thus, we can understand the many barriers crossed by this Samaritan. Yet he over looked these barriers to help a fellow human being in need. The Samaritan was neighbor to the man; the priest was not a neighbor, the Levite was not a neighbor.
I have often wondered: If Jesus were relating this parable today 3who would be the hero? Would he be white, black, red, yellow, or brown? Would he be rich, poor, illiterate, or educated? Of one thing I am certain. On the basis of Jesus’ choice the you can imagine someone you hate or despise, and who I turn feels the same toward you and you have your hero. Prejudice is universal; but it is also unbiblical. Look what our hero did in Vs. 34-35.
4. PLEASE READ LUKE 10: 33-35.
In contrast to the priest and the Levite, the Samaritan had compassion for the man. He was moved to the depths of his being with pity. And he backed up his feelings with his deeds. Immediately he rendered first aid to the man. He bound upon his wounds. Over all this he poured oil and wine—oil for soothing and healing; wine as an antiseptic.
Having done this, the Samaritan put the man on his beast, probably a donkey. He walked and took him tot he nearest inn and took care of him. TOOK CARE means personal care. Probably the Samaritan watched over the man the entire night. Compassion is not what you say; it is something you do.
Apparently by next morning the man was well enough not to need constant care. So the Samaritan prepared to resume his journey. Having been robbed, the man had no money. So his benefactor gave two deneria (two day’s wages) to the innkeeper to cover any other expenses. Apparently this Samaritan often traveled this road. He promised that should more money be required before the man was healed, he would reimburse the innkeeper on his next trip that way. His credit was good. He was an honest man. He did every thing necessary for the man and asked for nothing in return.
Now get this: The Samaritan was the only one who fulfilled the scripture that the lawyer had quoted in Vs. 27. The lawyer, the priest and the Levite had relationships with God that were based upon fulfillment of certain rules and regulations: but the Samaritan had a relationship with God that was based upon such love for God that he couldn’t help but express that love in his outward actions.
The extent of the Samaritan’s generosity never fails to strike me. How many of us would consider risking our lives, losing a days work, setting up all night, and obligating ourselves financially for the sake of an utter stranger? A JEW.
The Priest and Levite had seen the victim as a problem to be avoided. The Samaritan saw him as a human being in need. In modern language, he identified with the inured traveler, saw himself in the man. Having done so, he could not help but feel pity; for he knew that if he were the one lying broken in the dust, he would want somebody to take pity on him. This story is not about what you believe, talk about, think about, pray about, sing about. It’s about what you DO. Christianity is about doing. My father used to say, "The difference between Law and Grace is this. The Law says, Do this and live. Grace says "Live and do this." The new life is not intended to set us free from the moral requirements of the Law. It enable us to obey it.
Well, the parable was finished, and examination time had arrived.
4.PLEASE READ LUKE 10: 36-37.
Jesus asked a question and then gave a command. Which of the three (Priest, Levite, and Samaritan) was neighbor to this unfortunate man? The answer is obvious. But note the lawyer did not say "The Samaritan." He would have gagged and choked on the words. Instead, he said, HE THAT SHOWETH MERCY ON HIM.
In Jesus’ command in Vs. 37 THOU is emphatic. "You keep on doing likewise. Imitate the Samaritan’s behavior. What a lesson for today! Racial prejudice is dissolved in person-to-person relationships. A man in need, regardless of his race or his attitude, is my personal responsibility. Human need and human response are the two bases upon which to rest human understanding.
Let’s carry away at least three facts this morning:
Caring is costly. It took time to stop by the beaten-up man, to give him first aid. Caring costs money. The Samaritan gave freely of his resources.
Jesus cared when caring was very expensive. On the cross He took on Himself all our liabilities, and with the cross paid for us in full. It’s not always popular or convenient or cheap to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, but it is the right way; His is the way of Joy. "Go and do likewise."
NEXT SUNDAY FROM LUKE 11 WE LEARN TO PRAY AS JESUS TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY. A.V. DAUGHERTY 4-29-01