Jason Sheffstall
StoneBridge Baptist Church
Morgantown, West Virginia
April 15, 2007
Series: BE A FRIEND
Subject: WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR?
Text: Luke 10:25-37, “25 And behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying,
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law?
What is your reading of it?” 27 So he answered
and said, “ ‘‘You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind, and ‘‘your
neighbor as yourself.’’ 28 And He said to him,
“You have answered rightly; do this and you will
live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said
to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then
Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among
thieves, who stripped him of his clothing,
wounded him, and departed, leaving him half
dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came
down that road. And when he saw him, he
passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite,
when he arrived at the place, came and looked,
and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.
And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So
he went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his
own animal, brought him to an inn, and took
care of him. 35 On the next day, when he
departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to
the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of
him; and whatever more you spend, when I
come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of
these three do you think was neighbor to him
who fell among the thieves?” 37 And he said,
“He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus
said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
INTRODUCTION
In Luke 10:1-24, Jesus had sent the
seventy out to minister His Word, and to be a
blessing to the cities.
V1-12 - Jesus gives the Seventy their
Mission.
V13-16 - Jesus pronounces a “Woe” on
the cities because of their rejection of the gospel.
V17-20 - The seventy return from their
mission excited.
V21-24 - Jesus pronounces blessings on
the seventy because of the works of God.
Now, in Luke 10:25-37, we see the story
of the good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story to
prove a point and to answer a question. What
was the question, and, is it a good question? The
question, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal
life?’ This question was not only a good
question, but it is a question that every person
on Earth should ask themselves. Well, if you are
a Christ Follower, you have already realized that
you can not do enough to inherit eternal life.
Eternal life is not received by what we do, it is
received at the point of faith in Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION TO THE MESSAGE:
This week, I want you to find someone
who needs a friend! Take them out to eat,
love them, pray for them, and care for
them like Jesus Christ would do! The
question I want the Holy Spirit to burn in
your heart this week is: WHO IS MY
NEIGHBOR? And, when you find your
neighbor, I want you to BE A FRIEND to
them!
In our text today, we are going to zoom in
on verses 29-30, even though we will look at all
the verses in our text. Verses 29-30 describe my
three points for today’s message.
There are several things we need to learn
about being A Neighbor!
I. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
A. SOMEONE I CAN BEFRIEND.
B. SOMEONE I CAN HELP.
C. SOMEONE I CAN CARE FOR.
I. IF WE WANT TO BE A NEIGHBOR:
WE MUST BEFRIEND THE
WOUNDED.
A. V29-30, “29 But he, wanting to
justify himself, said to Jesus, “And
who is my neighbor?” 30 Then
Jesus answered and said: “A
certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among thieves, who stripped him
of his clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead.”
B. What does it mean to Befriend the
Wounded?
1. When we look at people in
our Congregation, we look
to give support, comfort,
and aid to our brothers and
sisters in Christ who are
wounded or hurt.
2. When we look at our
Community, we must look
for the widows, the
homeless, the single-parent
homes, who are wounded
because of the battles which
they have been involved in.
3. When we look at our
Relationships we look to
reach out to the hurting,
the broken, the confused,
and the wounded.
C. What this means is that we take
advantage of the opportunities
that comes our way! We, not only
take advantage of the
opportunities that comes our way,
but we look for opportunities too!
D. The word wounded means,
“suffering from physical injury
especially that suffered in battle.”
E. Those of us who are Christ’s
Followers, we know that the battle
is tough and the Road is hard, but
we do not lose hope! We must
come to the rescue!
F. In our text, there were two other
people that passed by the
Wounded man before the
Samaritan came to the rescue!
1. The Priest passed by the
wounded man. Verse 31,
“31 Now by chance a
certain priest came down
that road. And when he
saw him, he passed by on
the other side.”
a. The Priest’s
perception was very
poor when it came to
helping others.
b. Maybe his
perception was poor
because he was
afraid that he would
be robbed or killed
while trying to help
this man. The road
from Jerusalem to
Jericho was indeed a
dangerous one.
2. Maybe his perception was
poor because he had been
at the Temple all week
serving God and was
anxious to get home. Many
times we are not looking for
opportunities because we’re
too tired, and frankly, we
don’t want to help those who
are in need!
3. Then, the Levite passed by
the wounded man. Verse
32, “32 Likewise a Levite,
when he arrived at the
place, came and looked,
and passed by on the other
side.”
a. The Levite, not
willing to get his
hands dirty, or was
fearful of becoming
unclean, arrived at
the place, came and
looked, and passed
by!
b. Now, let us not
become to
judgmental of the
Priest or the Levite.
How many times
have we failed to
meet the needs of
others, simply
because we didn’t
want to get our
hands dirty, or
because we didn’t
look at the situation
as an opportunity,
but as a duty?
G. As Disciples of Jesus Christ, we
must be willing to have
compassion on those who are
wounded, and are in need of our
help.
1. The Samaritan Passed by
the wounded man. V33,
“33 But a certain
Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he
was. And when he saw him,
he had compassion.”
a. In a Religious
Society, The
Samaritan would
have been the least
likely of the three to
help the wounded
man. Why?
Samaritans were
half Jew and half
Greek. They were
the rejects of the
Society!
b. I think the Lord is
looking for more
rejects to do His
work. It seems that
the rejects of Society
are the ones that
God likes to use the
most! :)
II. IF WE WANT TO BE A NEIGHBOR:
WE MUST HELP THE HOPELESS.
A. V29-30, “29 But he, wanting to
justify himself, said to Jesus, “And
who is my neighbor?” 30 Then
Jesus answered and said: “A
certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among thieves, who stripped him
of his clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead.”
B. Let’s talk some more about the
Samaritan. The Samaritan
exemplifies what a true disciple of
Jesus Christ should be doing.
C. This (wounded) man was hopeless!
He had been robbed, stripped of
his clothing, wounded, left for
dead!
D. All of three of the people (the
Priest, the Levite and the
Samaritan) had something in
common. They all saw the man
who needed help! The only
difference was the Samaritan was
the only one to have compassion
on the man!
E. Who are our Neighbors? It is
person (s) who need genuine help!
It’s the person who has been
robbed, stripped, wounded and
left for dead! It is the person who
has hit rock bottom!
F. What person(s) come to mind
when you think of the Neighbors
in your life? Think on these
people, and let God work in such a
way that you can be used of God
to help the hopeless!
III. IF WE WANT TO BE A NEIGHBOR:
WE MUST CARE FOR THE DYING.
A. V29-30, “29 But he, wanting to
justify himself, said to Jesus, “And
who is my neighbor?” 30 Then
Jesus answered and said: “A
certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among thieves, who stripped him
of his clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead.”
B. Most people do not want to care
for the dying because there is a
time and financial commitment
involved.
C. This Samaritan went out of his
way to be a Neighbor to this
wounded, stripped, hopeless, left
for dead, man! Look at verses 34-
35, “34 So he went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on
oil and wine; and he set him on his
own animal, brought him to an
inn, and took care of him. 35 On
the next day, when he departed, he
took out two denarii, gave them to
the innkeeper, and said to him,
‘Take care of him; and whatever
more you spend, when I come
again, I will repay you.”
D. We learn a great lesson on being a
Neighbor to those who are
wounded, and are in need of our
help!
E. Jesus showed the Lawyer what
true love does, and what it is!
True love is not quoting Scriptures
about love. True love is knowing
Jesus Christ as personal Savior
and then, living out what you say
you believe!
F. To answer the Lawyer’s question
about eternal life, Jesus took the
man to the Law! The Lawyer
quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 as his
source of what he thought eternal
life was all about, but Jesus took it
a step further by telling the story
of the Good Samaritan!
G. In essence, what Jesus was truly
saying was this! If you have the
love of God abiding in you, you
will love your Neighbor!
H. This Samaritan gave up two days
pay to help a stranger. He paid
the expenses of another man,
simply because of good will. He
was willing to pay more, even after
he left the man at the inn.
I. Friends, that’s what Biblical
Christianity is all about! It’s
about going the extra mile for
your Neighbor!
J. In the service of God, we must be
willing to:
1. BEFRIEND THE
WOUNDED.
2. HELP THE HOPELESS.
3. CARE FOR THE DYING.
K. The most important people that
need are help, are those who do
not have a relationship with Jesus
Christ.
L. We should take every opportunity
that the Lord gives us to help those
who are in need of Spiritual help!
M. If you do not have a relationship
with Jesus Christ, it is our prayer
that you would repent of your sins,
and call on the name of Jesus to be
your Lord and Savior!
