Luke #90
10:25-37c
The Good Samaritan
or
Who Is My Neighbor?
(Luke 10:25-37 NASB) {25} And behold, a certain 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 and said, "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."
This was our text on the last Lord's Day. During our study of these words we were called to consider the standard God sets before men if they would be saved by their own works. That standard is absolute perfection from the cradle to the grave. The problem is we're not perfect at any point in our lives. We all sinned in Adam. We all came up short of the requirement in him and can only go down hill from there. This is why David describes himself as a sinner from the point of conception. The moment human life begins it is sinful life and can be nothing else. When you understand this fact you will understand why the scriptures declare that we all go astray from the womb speaking lies. That is what sinners do.
As was said in the last lesson, this teacher of the Jews ask a good question with a bad motive. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" By this question he hoped to trick Christ into saying something against the Law or perhaps the tradition of the Jews. This was certainly a bad motive. The question, however, is one every man should ask and pursue the answer to. Our lives are only a moment in duration when compared to eternity. We are here just long enough to prepare for eternity. According to the Bible there are two possible eternities for man. The one, and certainly the more desirable, is heaven. All who become Christians in this life go to heaven and will have eternal life. That is, they will be in the favorable presence of God by faith in Christ and that forever. This is eternal life. The other option is hell. In hell people are separate from God without remedy. This is the second death and it comes complete with unending torment. So, a wise person will ask the lawyer's question and take no rest until he finds the answer.
This Lawyer, a Jew, came to Christ believing that salvation is by works. His belief in a performance based acceptance with God is betrayed by the words, "What must I DO, to inherit eternal life?" That is, how must I behave? Specifically, what rules must I keep to make God happy with me? Of course the answer, as we discovered in last week's lesson, is that all the doing is already done. Sinful man cannot do anything to please God and he mustn't try. For if he comes to God with an offering of his own efforts his reward will be everlasting death. Christ has done everything necessary for salvation on behalf of all who will ever believe. His entire human existence had to do with securing salvation for God's lost sheep. For them He was born without sin. For them He lived without sin. Then He took upon Himself the death that was due the lost. He died a perfect death satisfying the demands of the law on our behalf. Brothers and sisters, friends and guests, all the doing necessary for salvation has been done by Christ. I draw your attention once again to the answer Christ gave to some who ask this same question with a "works- based salvation" in mind.
(John 6:28-29 NASB) They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" (What does God require we do in order to be saved.) {29} Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you BELIEVE in Him whom He has sent."
Salvation has to do with believing or resting in and trusting in all that Jesus was, did and is today. It has nothing to do with earning God's favor.
The lawyer's answer to the question came from the Old Testament. In essence it was this: Love God and Man perfectly and you will be saved. Jesus answered and said, "You have answered correctly, DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." We understand that no man can do what the law of Love demands. The lawyer understood it too, at least in a limited way. We know this by his next question.
(Luke 10:29 NASB) But wishing to JUSTIFY himself, (He wanted to vindicate himself. He wished to show that he did meet the demands of the law and would therefore have eternal life. But there was a problem. If the word neighbor referred to every man he was in trouble. So. . ) he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
There were many Jewish answers to this question. Some taught, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." (My flesh likes this one.) Then others said, "Love your neighbor, the Israelite." The Pharisees narrowed it down even more. They taught that one should love his neighbor the "Pharisee." The Qumran people, a Jewish sect, said that all outside their little group were "Sons of Darkness" and SHOULD BE HATED. The lawyer knew all this. But what would Jesus say? What was His interpretation of the command?
In answer to the question Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.
{30} Jesus replied and said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.
Jerusalem was at three thousand feet ABOVE sea level while Jericho was at one thousand feet BELOW the level of the Mediterranean Sea. This drop in elevation took place over a distance of about seventeen miles. So you can see that the terrain was mountainous and that one would indeed go "down" to Jericho. One commentator writes, "The road between the two cities, a rocky and dangerous gorge, was a road haunted by marauding robbers and therefore unsafe for travelers. Priests and Levites, because of their religious calling, were never molested by the thieves who, because of their deeds of violence, earned for this steep highway the name, The Pass of Blood. Josephus tells us that Herod had dismissed forty thousand workmen from the Temple, shortly before Christ's recital of this parable, and that a large part of them, became vicious highway robbers. These were aided in their diabolical plunder by the many caves, hiding places and sharp turns in the road." (End Quote) It is said by some that up to twelve thousand Priests and Levites lived in Jericho making their way back and forth from there to Jerusalem in performance of their religious duties. So, priests, Levites and wounded individuals could have been common sites on this Highway of Blood. It is possible, therefore, that our Lord was relating a familiar incident if not a real and particular one.
Into this parable Jesus brings four characters. A "certain man", probably a Jewish merchant, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The Priest is the first to pass the dying traveler.
{31} "And by chance (Or, "It came about that.") a certain PRIEST was going down on that road, and when he saw him, (The wounded man.) HE PASSED BY ON THE OTHER SIDE. {32} "And likewise A LEVITE also, when he came to the place and saw him, PASSED BY ON THE OTHER SIDE.
Here is a good picture of leaving your religion at the church, or in this case the Temple. This priest and fellow Jew was quite probably on his way back from participating in sacred Temple activities. Here is a man professedly devoted to the service of God according to the Law. One would think that he, above all who traveled the road, would lend assistance to a fallen Jew. For some reason he did not. He saw the man and intentionally passed by on the other side of the road.
The Levite was just as heartless and sinful. He was the priest's helper and obviously had the same cold compassion-less heart. Did they have good reason to leave this man to his death? The answer is no. In fact, they had every reason to help him. One, he was a fellow countryman. Two, the very law they taught and pretended to obey demanded such an act of mercy for Man, and beast as well.
Consider a few texts of scripture in support of this statement.
(Exodus 23:4-5 NASB) "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely RETURN IT TO HIM. {5} "If you see the donkey of ONE WHO HATES you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
(Leviticus 19:33-34 NASB) 'When a stranger resides with you in your land, YOU SHALL NOT DO HIM WRONG. {34} 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and YOU SHALL LOVE HIM AS YOURSELF; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
(Micah 6:7-8 NASB) Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? {8} He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD?
Both the Priest and the Levite knew these scriptures. They knew their duty to God and man yet they refused to get involved. They left this man to die. They broke the law of God. However they still believed they would be saved by their law keeping and ancestral association. This is a perfect picture of the confidence one can possesses when he measures himself by a human, instead of a Divine standard.
Now the fourth character, the Samaritan. Samaritans were half Jew and half Gentile. Therefore, they were hated by the full-blooded Jews. The Jew and the Samaritan were the closest of neighbors yet one would not help or associate with the other. The wounded Jew would have expected help from both the Priest and the Levite but not from a Samaritan.
{33} "But a certain SAMARITAN, who was on a journey, (Through the land of the Jews.) 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} "And 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.'
This Samaritan knew who his neighbor was. It was his enemy, the Jew and every other person he would come in contact with on his journey through life. Thus Jesus shows us who our neighbor is as well as what it means to BE a neighbor. Now He returns the ball to the lawyer's court asking. . . {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, (For he could answer nothing else.) "The one who showed mercy toward him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." That is, go and love all men even as you love yourself. Humans are your neighbors, there are no exceptions.
Does this parable answer the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Yes it does. It answers the question by once again pointing out the extreme requirement of the law. If this lawyer could love all his fellow humans with a perfect, unprejudiced, unqualified, sacrificial love; if he could love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength every day, all the time, for life, his reward would be eternal life. What must you do to inherit eternal life? You must be perfect by God's measure of perfection.
This is of course impossible! Therefore we are left with a big problem. Hell is in our future and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Salvation is impossible with men but, said Jesus on another occasion, all things are possible with God.
The solution to the problem of man's guilt and helplessness has been provided by God Himself. That provision comes in the person of Jesus Christ. By His life of perfect obedience and the substitutionary sacrifice of Himself believing sinners are saved from the wrath to come. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Look with me to Romans 8:1-14 NASB.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. {2} For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. {3} For what the Law COULD NOT DO, weak as it was through the flesh, (The Law could not make us perfect because we are too weak to keep the Law. Praise be to God for that what the Law could not do. . ) God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, {4} in order that the requirement of the Law (Perfection) might be fulfilled IN US, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (That is, in those who do not love their sinful deeds or have confidence in them for acceptance with God. Rather, these people submit to and rest in a spirit-governed way of life and a spiritual salvation by faith in Christ.) {5} For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, (The things of the flesh are what men do and think they can do to find acceptance with God. If indeed they have any interest in Him at all.) but those who are according to the Spirit, (Set their minds on. . ) the things of the Spirit. {6} For the mind set on the flesh is death, (For by the deeds one performs he cannot be saved. Therefore, he will experience the second death.) but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, (That is, the person who trusts in Christ for all God demands of him has eternal life, peace with God and peace within.) {7} because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it DOES NOT SUBJECT ITSELF TO THE LAW OF GOD, for it is not even ABLE to do so; {8} and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (The offspring of Adam often look to their obedience to the Law for acceptance with God. But here we see that they do not and cannot succeed. They are not ABLE to obey God's law therefore, nothing they do pleases Him!) {9} However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, IF indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (He is not a Christian and will not inherit eternal life.) {10} And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. (The sinner who trusts in Christ for all the Law demands of him has been brought to life or born again. He has imputed to him the very righteousness of God. He has as his own the perfections that were and are Christ's.) {11} But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. {12} So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- {13} for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; (That is, if your hope of salvation is based on your performance, you are not a Christian. You will not have eternal life. You will have eternal death.) but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (That is, if you have ceased trusting in yourself for acceptance with God. If now, because of faith in Jesus, you are daily trying to put away sin, you will have eternal life.) {14} For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Who are those being led by the Spirit of God? They are all Christians. They are the people to whom God has revealed their sin. They are people who now understand that the best of their deeds can only condemn them. They are people to whom the Holy Spirit has given a new heart. They are all those who have cried out for salvation from Christ and have been forgiven. These are, and will always be, led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God. Each and every day of their lives God is working in them giving them the desire and the ability to put off sin and to put on obedience. If this lesson teaches anything at all, it is that salvation is by grace through faith not of works lest men should boast before God.
I close the lesson today with some application to those who are already believers. The law of love for God and Man does not condemn those who are saved, rather it presents us with our marching orders. It sets before us the goal, the end of our sanctification. By the Spirit within us we long for the day when we can love God and man perfectly. Looking forward to that day we are to exercise ourselves by the practice of Love.
Who is our neighbor and how are we to love him? Jesus said it well in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Paul says it again in Romans 12:9-21. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. {10} Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; {11} not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; {12} rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, {13} contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. {14} Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not. {15} Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. {16} Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. {17} Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. {18} If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. {19} Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. {20} "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS UPON HIS HEAD." {21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The good which will overcome evil is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself."