Our New Testament reading is found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. Last week we learned of the mission of the 72. We learned that so significant is the first coming of Christ that Jesus says He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Now this does not mean that demonic activity will completely cease at that time. Indeed, it will never cease throughout all of human history. It refers, rather, to the main objective of Satan, with regard to deceiving the nations, and points back to how he had deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden. With the coming of Christ, the Kingdom is to be preached to all, and the family of God comes to be filled with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Jesus went on to praise His Father in Heaven because He had not revealed these things to the wise and the understanding, but rather He revealed them instead to what literally was babies or little children. And as if to give an illustration of this very prayer, Luke presents for us here now an encounter between Jesus and one of the wise and understanding, one that should have known the Law of God and yet yet tries to avoid its impact. Well, let's give our attention to Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 25. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read it? 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 is yourself." And he said to him, you have answered correctly, do this and you will live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him. And whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back." Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, you go and do likewise. That ends the reading of God's word. Few passages have suffered at the hands of interpreters like the parable of the Good Samaritan. ripped from its context. It has been used allegorically by some to the extent that it doesn't even resemble in any way what the original words are trying to say. We'll be talking about that a bit more this afternoon. We have a discussion group at 2 o'clock. Anybody's welcome to come. We're talking about issues in interpretation. And some have tried to take an allegorical approach to this passage and assign meaning to every single thing that arrives in this passage, particularly the parable. and it misses the obvious point of the passage. On the other hand, this passage has also been used to justify all sorts of secular humanitarian efforts from hospitals and disaster relief funds to health care reform. But this too rifts the parable from its context and it robs it of its original meaning. Jesus is instructing his disciples through this confrontation. In fact, the next three episodes, this one included, we're going to get a glimpse of how Jesus is teaching his disciples particular characteristics that they are to have. And yet in each one, he's saying something significant about the time that has arrived with his coming. Here, Jesus speaks of what it means to be a neighbor. We see that in principle, he doesn't add anything new to God's Word. I say in principle because there is a bit shocking something shocking that happens here, and we'll talk about that. But indeed, Jesus is building squarely on the text of the Old Testament. What begins in our passage as an attempt to test Jesus quickly becomes instructions then for all who will follow Christ. Christians are called to love God and to love others. This is not something that we can lighten. We cannot fear these requirements and turn around and try and say, well, this doesn't... how can we adjust this so that it means something less than what it's really saying? You see, we have a tendency to be like this religious lawyer and try to water down the commands of God. Though the question begins with eternal life and inheriting it, the passage is not referring to a way in which one can earn their salvation. It is not talking about a works-based righteousness, rather it speaks of the natural outworking of one's faith. No one of their own ability can perfectly obey the law of God. We cannot love God and love our neighbor perfectly, but this does not mean that we can ignore the teaching of scripture regarding these obligations. So I believe that as we look at this passage, the clear meaning of it is that Jesus' disciples are called to love God and to love their neighbor. We are called to love God and to love our neighbor. The parable of the Good Samaritan is perhaps the most well-known of Luke's parables. Perhaps a close second would be that of the prodigal son. but it's connected with this question regarding eternal life. In fact, both questions follow a very similar outline, as you see there before you in the bulletin. We get the question, and then we get the lawyer's challenge, a counter-question from Jesus, the lawyer's answer to that counter-question, and then Jesus' final command. Well, let's look at the first question, then, regarding eternal life, the lawyer's challenge. I call it the challenge because of the way that Luke introduces it. He says, the lawyer stood up to put him to the test. Now, a religious lawyer, we've run into this category of people before in Luke, I believe it's back in chapter 3, when they were there listening to John the Baptist. This is somebody that was an expert in religious law, and in fact, they usually travelled alongside of Pharisees, and they were those that the Pharisees relied upon in order to give Old Testament justification to their rules. They'd come up with Pharisaical traditions or standards, and these lawyers, it was their job to then go to the Old Testament to try and show how the Old Testament supports what the Pharisees are teaching. In other words, they were experts at manipulating God's commands. And His presence here shows us that attention is still being put on Jesus by the religious leadership of the day. Undoubtedly, there are many more that are present. But Jesus is not taken by surprise at this question. For one main reason, of course, because Jesus knows the very thought and intense of those who are asking the questions. We've seen this time and again throughout the Gospels. Jesus knows the reason why somebody rises to ask Him a question. In fact, the word Luke uses to introduce this is the very same one that Jesus spoke against Satan when he says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Clearly, the man is trying to trap Jesus. But Jesus will not be trapped. But this doesn't nullify his question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Notice that Jesus does not say, well, I already know why you're asking this, so I'm not going to answer it. I'm not going to talk to you about this. But rather, he engages the man. The man is asking, what can I do to inherit eternal life? And I don't think that what he's asking is here, is how can I earn it? It's a big difference between inheriting something and earning something. It's a very specific word that is chosen here by the man to show that he's talking about within the covenant, within understanding the context of scripture, what must I do to inherit everlasting life? And in that way it connects us back with Daniel chapter 12 in verse 2. I read, "...and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. They believe in a resurrection at the last day. They believe in an everlasting life that would follow. So this man is asking, how can I be certain to be included in that final resurrection to everlasting life? But indeed, Jesus does know that he is testing him. And rather than a direct answer, he gives him a counter-question. What is written in the law? How do you read it? Now just as the question, I said this already, but the question was a very common one in that day. There were certain questions and answers that rabbis and their students would often engage in. There's a catechism of sorts. You know, if you were to walk up to some of the children in our congregation and say, who made you? They would say, God did. There's a catechism that we as parents give our children as they grow to know answers to various questions and this was sort of one of those catechism type answers or question and answer moments. And that's why Jesus turns into the law. Again, I don't believe that what's going on here is Jesus is saying that the law will save you. It's not what later becomes condemned by the Apostle Paul when he speaks of those who tried to justify themselves by the works of the law. Neither Jesus nor the lawyer had this sort of thing in mind. Rather, Jesus is pointing him to the words contained within God's law. Now, that word for law is Torah, which refers to the first five books of the Old Testament. But even if it were referring to the direct commands of God, We must remember those commands are given within the context of salvation. The commands of God follow the Exodus events. The preamble to the Ten Commandments speak of God saving His people, and therefore they ought to live a certain way. But notice also the way that Jesus refuses to be tested by this man. God does not allow His creation to rise up against Him and to challenge His authority with success. We've seen this time and again in the Old Testament with Babel, as the people built a tower that they thought was going to reach up to the heavens. Psalm chapter 2 refers to the nations trying to come up against God and against His Messiah. Indeed, such things will not be successful. The religious lawyer is driven to the document that he knows best, to bring an answer that, much like the question, was a common one. And the answer he gives, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. You'll recognize part of that, at least, from the Shema that I read in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, in verse 5, during our Old Testament reading. And there is a difference. There's only three categories mentioned in the Old Testament, and four mentioned here in the New Testament. It's just meant to show that you're supposed to love God with your whole being, is what it's getting at. And that was just defined differently in a Roman and Greek context than it was in an Old Testament Israel context. But it also says to love your neighbor as yourself. It's combining then Deuteronomy 6.5 with Leviticus 19.18. The way the Old Testament law spoke, it was not as though someone did these things to earn God's favor. Rather, it is at its heart. The answer is an expression of total allegiance and devotion that in other contexts could be called faith. Love of God and love of others is a repeated theme both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Jesus himself will use these two as the greatest commandments that sum up all the law and the prophets. The Apostle Paul often will link faith, love to God and love for others. As Paul points out in Romans 8, to live by the Spirit means to love and to do righteousness. This is why Jesus commends this answer and gives the man a command. You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. Now of course Jesus knows there is a big problem. No one can do this by their own efforts. Ever since the fall, mankind has been unable to love God with their whole being and to love their neighbor the way that they ought. This is why we must understand that the Old Covenant was based upon faith in God's promises and His grace in fulfilling those promises. It was not salvation by works. For even we who have the Spirit of God in the New Covenant find these commands impossible to keep perfectly in this life. Jesus is not expecting this lawyer to hear these words and turn around and say, oh, okay, I can do that. And then to walk away and simply do what he's learned. See, this is why Jesus has come. Because no one can keep God's law. Sinful man is under God's wrath. Paul later describes man apart from Christ as being a God-hater. and one who hates, and he refers to the people as hating one another. And that's a very strong language, and I understand that strong language, but it's biblical language, and we need to adopt it. We need to believe that. That apart from Christ, we are God-haters. And furthermore, we hate even our fellow human, those who live around us, our neighbors. This is why Jesus has set His face to go to Jerusalem. The man's response should have been to ask. How can I do this? I'm not able. I need help. But instead of turning to Christ for help, he seeks to bring another question. This is the one regarding the scope of neighbor. This time the lawyer's challenge is more pointed, and Luke gives us another clue as to his motive. He says, but he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? It's clear now that he's not interested in eternal life. He's simply trying to trap Jesus. Remember the charges that will be brought against Jesus later. He fits with tax collectors and sinners. Indeed, the way that Jesus defines neighbor will be crucial to why he is ultimately rejected. But Jesus avoids his trap once more, or he avoided his trap previously, made him answer his own question. The man's not satisfied with that. In fact, the law of God in Leviticus 19.18 might have held out that man was that they were supposed to love their neighbors, but by the time we get to Jesus' day, the Pharisaical tradition had defined neighbor to exclude many, many people. They could live right next door to you, and not really be your neighbor. For the average first century Israelite, Samaritans and Gentiles would be excluded from this definition of neighbor. For some sects of Pharisees and other exclusive Jewish groups, Even other views would be excluded. The question he asks is meant to narrow down the scope of what it means to be a neighbor, or what it is to have a neighbor. So it is something that is of a manageable size, and so he can go to God and say, see, I did what I was supposed to. I loved my neighbor. Of course, this misses the point of the law. It is that which shows us our sin, our inability to obey God, as Galatians chapter 2 reminds us. And Jesus gives a counter-question, but it comes after this parable, this lengthy parable of the Good Samaritan. And this is what we turn our attention to next. And I want to look at the individuals that are involved, and I know that we are mostly familiar with this parable, so bear with me as we kind of flesh out what's going on here. The first person that comes up is the man who's going on his trip. It says he's going on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now, as soon as Jesus said this, everybody sitting there would know what he's talking about. This is a 17-mile road. It was very famous in that day. People knew that this was a very winding road, that it went through a large desert part. It was fairly steep. It went from being somewhere along the lines of 2,800 feet above sea level to 800 feet below sea level. So, it's constantly descending, but it kind of winds around, and there's rocks and things like that. It was a dangerous road, because thieves would often hide within the caves and behind the rocks, waiting for someone to come along, traveling by themselves. In fact, one part of this road, the more treacherous part, was referred to as the Pass of Adumim. Adumim is related to a Hebrew word that means blood. It was literally the Pass of Blood. And this man seemed to be traveling alone, and fell among robbers, or literally highway men. And they showed him no mercy. They showed him no compassion. They stripped him of his clothes. They beat him. They left him half dead. Literally, the word that Jesus uses to describe this is, they left him about to die. It's a word that's meant to show just how extreme, just how severe the condition is. This man needs immediate attention. Jesus goes on with the story. He says, now by chance, now this is a sort of a literary device that's used within parables and stories in order to offer some hope. This man is there, he's beaten, he's on a road that is very rarely travelled, especially not travelled alone, but by chance. Some people will come along, it's meant to bring some hope into this hopeless situation When this road was travelled, it was often times travelled by people who worked in the temple. A lot of them lived down in Jericho, and they would work in Jerusalem, so this was a common road that they would take. And that's why we see here, first a priest, and then a Levite. But this man is snubbed by both of these men. First the priest, who is a descendant of Aaron. He'd be involved in the temple sacrifices, purification rites, as well as having a knowledge of God's Word. This is the point that Jesus introduces these two particular characters, because they're the ones, above all others, that would know Deuteronomy 6.5 and Leviticus 19.18. But this priest, for some reason, does not take time to stop and help. In fact, Jesus points out that the priest saw the man on the road, passes to the other side, and continues on his journey. a deliberate action on his part to avoid dealing with this man. Some have tried to argue that the man could not have helped due to cleanliness laws or out of fear that he himself would have been attacked. But neither Jesus nor Luke elaborate on his reasoning and the point is not to find an excuse for him. The situation renders him inexcusable. The man is about to die. A fellow Israelite If anybody was a neighbor, it was that man laying there on that road. Furthermore, the text points out to us very carefully that the priest was coming down the road, away from his temple duties in Jerusalem. Cleanliness would not be an issue. The same goes for the Levites. This would have been a descendant of Levi, would have been somebody who assisted the priests in various sacrificial duties. and policing the temple, but they wouldn't be allowed to perform the actual acts of sacrifice, but he too would have had a knowledge of God's command to love his neighbor. The wording here points out the fact that while the priest saw the man and passed over to the other side of the road, the Levite seems to come where the man is, sees him, and then passes over to the other side of the road. Both of these men have skirted their responsibility or really their opportunity to care for this man who's dying on the road. The lawyer in the crowd would probably have heard stories like this before. They would most likely be expecting the very next person to come along and help the man. We don't want to think that Jesus is telling an actual story. Now, I don't want to deny that this could have been an actual story, but it's not necessary that it's an actual story, and indeed, the way that Jesus introduces it, it's very parable-like, and so it's very good reason to think that this isn't something that actually happened, but it's sort of a story set up for the man to understand something. But even still, the man in the story is dying, and you can't just leave it there. It can't be the end of the story, and simply go, well, now there was no neighbor to help him. But, what they probably would have been expecting next was a Jewish layperson. Parables against the religious leadership were common in those days, particularly against the priestly leadership. And in fact, by using a Jewish layperson, it would show that even common people can reach out and be a neighbor to those who are in need. But the next person to come along is not a Jewish layperson. It's a Samaritan. We've already talked about who the Samaritans were a few weeks ago, but just to brush up our memory, they were the result of the intermarriage between the Assyrians and the northern kingdom of Israel. When the kingdom of Israel is ultimately divided, the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel go their separate ways. The northern kingdom sets up its headquarters or its capital in Samaria, and that kingdom will ultimately be conquered around 700 BC, and when they are, they disperse many of the people and they bring in other nationalities of the Assyrians to live in the land and to intermarry with those who remained. This was the tactic of assimilation that they would use. Samaria being the capital of Israel, the resulting people were called the Samaritans. These were the same people who caused problems during the rebuilding of the temple and the wall during Ezra and Nehemiah's times. If you go read those books, the Samaritans are involved in distracting and disrupting what God is doing there. having been rejected by the southern kingdom of Judah, they would build their own temple on Mount Gerizim. They could not travel to Jerusalem in order to have sacrifices, in order to worship, and so they would, instead of going there, they would build their own temple on Mount Gerizim. They would subscribe only to the first five books of the Old Testament, ignoring all the prophets. And so great was the animosity between the Samaritans and the Jews, as the Jews would rise up and would destroy the Temple on Mount Gerizim in the second century BC. So by New Testament times, only a hundred and some odd years later, the Jews came to consider eating with the Samaritan equivalent to eating pork, which was forbidden in the law and rendered them ceremonially unclean. So you can imagine the surprise of the lawyer when the Samaritan is the next one to show up on the scene. It was just this sort of person that his question was trying to exclude from the realm of neighbor. Perhaps he was hopeful that Jesus mentions him to have him pass by as well. But Jesus doesn't just mention the Samaritan. He spends a great deal of time talking about what the Samaritan did. Indeed, if you look at the parable, over 30% of the words that are used by Jesus are used to describe what the Samaritan did. how he helped this man who was dying. He doesn't pass over to the other side of the road, but he comes up to him, risking his own life. He binds his wounds, something that would most likely require taking off his headcloth, or even his linen undergarments, ripping them in order to bind up the wounds. He took precious oil and wine, and instead of using it for his own refreshment during this long journey, he used it to soothe and disinfect the wounds. Going even further, he loads the man on his own donkey, meaning that he himself will walk the rest of the journey, and he takes him to an inn. He doesn't just dump him there, but rather he stays with him overnight, ensuring his survival, and he gives enough money to the innkeeper to last 24 days, and promises to pay whatever balance remains when he returns. Such compassion a Samaritan shows leaves this lawyer stunned. In fact, Jesus asks him, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? The answer is difficult for him. I know it's difficult because he can't even say the Samaritan. He says, simply, the one who showed him mercy. He sees Jesus' point. But notice that Jesus has turned the question around. The man asks, who is my neighbor? Hoping to find out who he himself could justify excluding, who he himself did not need to help. And in the story, it is the Israelite who becomes the beaten up one on the side of the road. Jesus puts the question, who proved to be a neighbor? Showing by his story that being a neighbor is more about helping the needs of those who come across your path than it is discerning who is in and who is out. of the neighbor category. Certainly Jesus' disciples would understand his point. They too were called to care for those that they came across, regardless of anything that might divide them. This is an illustration, and a good one, of Jesus' previous story or command to love your enemies. And Jesus closes with a command, you go and do likewise. The man who really wanted to know who his neighbor wasn't is told that he is to go and do like this Samaritan. Not only was the Samaritan the hero of the story, something very difficult for him to accept, but now Jesus tells him to imitate the Samaritan. And the truth is, God's Word calls His people to love Him and to love their neighbor. But I don't deny The Leviticus 19.18 is written within the context of a covenant community. I don't deny that that passage is in reference to those who are dwelling within the nation of Israel. And that's another thing that makes this passage so significant. For it foreshadows what will take place in Acts chapter 8 as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Samaritans. They too can be included in the kingdom that Jesus brings. His questions posed by the religious lawyer are met by Jesus with answers that cut to the heart of the matter. As I said, the response of the man should have been, how can I do this? I can't do this perfectly. What hope can I have? Then perhaps he would have learned that Jesus is like the Samaritan, Indeed, the word that is used for the Samaritan showing compassion is one that is used otherwise throughout the New Testament exclusively to speak of Jesus and the Father, and the love that they have toward the creation, particularly the sacrificial love and compassion that they have. It came up in Luke chapter 7 and verse 13, when Jesus comes across the woman who had lost her son, and we're told that he had compassion on her. It is the compassion that is accompanied by a stooping down in order to care for the one who is hurt. Jesus is like the Samaritan. He is the outcast one who is willing to seek and save people who are perishing. In trying to justify himself, the lawyer neglected faith in the only one who could justify him. It is only because Christ has bound us up and healed us from our deadness that we are able to be a neighbor to those that we come across in need. Far from being a works righteousness doctrine or support for secular humanitarian efforts, this is the Christian faith. To love others because we have been loved by God. To show our love for God in showing our love for others. That our thankfulness for being saved would overflow into the rest of our lives, including those that we just happened to come across. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to love God and to love our neighbor.