Lovingness – The High Price Of Neighbourliness Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). Compassion Is Based On Need Not Worth. (vs 30)

(2). Compassion Feels Something (vs 33)

(3). Compassion Does Something. (vs 34)

(4). Compassion Cost Something. (vs 35)

(5). Compassion Demonstrates Real Faith. (vs 36-37)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Two men were drinking in a bar when the topic of conversation got round to religion;

• One man turned to his friend and said; “I bet you don’t even know the Lord’s Prayer."

• "Wait a minute," said his friend, "I do too know the Lord’s Prayer."

• So his friend pulled out a £20 and said, "I bet you can’t say the Lord’s Prayer."

• His mate confidently replied:

• "Now, I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep..."

• At that his friend interrupted him;

• "Here’s your money" he said, "I didn’t think you knew it."

Transition:

• Sadly there is great ignorance when it comes to the Bible;

• Sadly many people no longer know many of the popular stories in the Bible.

• But one story many people still know is ‘The Good Samaritan’.

• Although many people know the story;

• Not too many people would know the context of why Jesus told this story.

The Context:

• This parable of Jesus is told in response to a question;

• The question was asked by an expert in Jewish law in verse 25:

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Note:

• Some translations call the man ‘a lawyer’.

• Some translations call the man; ‘a scribe’.

• Others use the expression ‘Teachers of the Law’

• They are just three different descriptions to try and help us understand what this man did.

• ill: We might call a carpenter; a joiner, or a chippy, or a wood-worker, or a tradesman.

• These are all different names for that one occupation of carpenter.

Question: What was a ‘The teachers of the Law’ (a ‘Scribe’ a ‘lawyer’);

Answer:

• ‘The teachers of the Law’ were closely allied to the Pharisees,

• They were very learned men; experts in the Law of Moses.

• Their role was to make sure the law was correctly interpreted.

• These teachers of the Law or Scribes;

• Were closely associated with the priesthood in Jerusalem.

• In fact many of them may have been priests or Levites;

• Who did scribal study when they were not on duty.

• They were experts in the first five books of the Bible; The Torah;

• The Law of Moses.

• They were always able to give an authoritative answer on each & any situation that arose.

Ill:

Talking about lawyers…I like the joke that says:

• A Surgeon, an Engineer and a Lawyer were arguing among themselves;

• The argument was about which of their professions were the oldest.

• The Surgeon said it was his;

• Because in Genesis Chapter 2 God took a rib from Adam to create Eve.

• The Engineer said it was his;

• Because in Genesis Chapter 1 God made the world out of chaos.

• The Lawyer insisted it was his saying:

• “Who do you think caused the chaos?”

Note: As a legal expert in the Law you can be sure that this man knew his scriptures;

• So the question he asks Jesus is what we might call a ‘loaded’ question.

• He already knew what the answer was.

• That is why in verse 25 we read he wanted to ‘Test Jesus.’

• Jesus also knew this was a loaded question,

• So like a boomerang Jesus throws the question back on the enquirer;

• And in verse 26: “Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say?”

• We might paraphrase his reply as:

• “You read and study the Law each day, that’s your job,

• Therefore you ought to know the answer, what does it say?”

And as you might expect in verse 27 the expert in the law gives a good & credible answer:

“He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’””

• The expert of the Law does what Jesus would do on a number of occasions:

• In his answer he summarises the 10 commandments.

• By quoting Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 and Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18.

• “Love God with everything”

• That summarises the first 4 commandments (upward – us & or dealings with God).

• “Love your neighbour as yourself”:

• That summarises the other 6 commandments (outward – us & our dealings with others).