Luke 10: 25 – 37
Good Sam
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.”
There were two other Gospels in circulation prior to Luke writing his. Certain Biblical Scholars list both Matthew and Mark covering this same story.
Matthew 22, “34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Mark 12:28-34 “28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
When you compare all the available resources together you obtain a clearer picture.
At first it appears that something is wrong here. Did you catch the differences? Unbelieving skeptics are shouting out, ‘we got you now, these verses conflict with each other. In one case the lawyer answers. In another, it is the Lord Jesus Christ answering.’ My answer to them is ‘you are right’. The Scripture that we read about in all three do not match.’ Is everyone stunned by my answer? Take heart though my friends, all is well. You see the Scripture that is listed here from Matthew and Mark are not covering the same situation. Even though they are somewhat close.
Why the shock? Throughout the Scripture we read about confrontations between our Lord and the religious establishment. Don’t you think that in different areas the same type of questions were not asked of our Lord to try to trip Him up. Have you ever gathered together in a home fellowship? That is as a group you get together and take some time talking and asking questions about the bible. If you haven’t you should start one, they are a lot of fun. If you have attended such a function then inevitably you are going to have someone as these possible questions;
1. Where did Cain get his wife?
2. Will people who live on some remote island and never heard of the Gospel go to hell?
3. Do you believe that once saved is always saved or can you lose your salvation?
4. Do we know where the Ark of the Covenant is at?
5. Why does God allow Evil to exist?
6. If God knew about Satan’s fall and man’s fall and He knows the beginning from the ending then why did He allow all this to happen?
7. Can God make a rock so heavy that He can’t pick it up?
The last one is the ultimate stupid question. Do any of the questions I just listed ring a bell? Do you have any that you can add to this list? Can you now understand that the same questions could be asked of our Lord Jesus Christ at various and different locations? The answer is ‘of course’
So, let us now just take a look at ‘Good Sam’.
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
The first thing I want to make clear is that this lawyer was not a devote seeker of eternal truth. Our Precious Holy Spirit tells us plainly what the guys real motivation was – ‘to test Him’.
I would like to give you a pointer that may interest your future study of the Gospels. Look for the Holy Spirit. You see our Wonderful Master Adoni Yeshua – our Lord Jesus Christ – completely submitted Himself to be directed by the Holy Spirit. As you look throughout the chapters you can see over and over our Holy Ghost arranging situations where our Mighty God manifests or proves various prophecies about His Messiah ship.
In this case we will see in the near future that the disciples are going to come up to the Lord and ask Him how to pray. Part of His instruction which many refer to as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, He Is going to point out that we should also pray that ‘we not be put on trial, or temptation. – right?’
If you want to be a good ‘counselor’ do what our Lord did in dealing with this guy – He countered the lawyers test by having him answer his own question. Awesome!
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.’”
As a knowledgeable Jewish student the lawyer responded by quoting Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5, “5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.’ This text which was memorized and quoted twice a day by devote Jews summarized the central ethical standard of the law.
Then the lawyer alludes to Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18, “18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” This is man’s ultimate expression of faith since it involves a person’s heart, strength, soul, and mind.
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Some people try to use this verse to justify works. I do not see that point at all. I believe that our Righteous Ruler is pointing out to this guy in effect this response from our Lord, ‘Okay, if you are doing all the time exactly what you are proclaiming then continue to do this, and you will live because you have the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This lawyer blew it in just one statement. He proved by asking this question that in fact he was not walking the walk. He was only talking the talk. If he had the love of the Lord in his life as he verbalized then he would not have to ask this silly question. He would know that all people would be his 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.’
To travel from Jerusalem to Jericho was about a 17 mile trip. There are a lot of caves and turns in this road where robbers constantly were on the prowl. Our Lord was courageous in confronting evil people. He never backed down. He our Lord reverses who the good and bad guys are.
The Jews thought of themselves as a pure race while they considered the Samaritans as inferior. Kind of the same way people today take on certain bigoted views of people of different races.
In just one short story our Lord amazingly covered a lot of ground on the characteristics and attitudes of people. Let me explain. The Lord showed the lawyer where his heart was at, for He showed him through the story of the Good Samaritan that he was all talk and bark but had no spark of love for other people not within his close friends and family.
The robbers are people who just want to exploit and care nothing of another human being.
To religious people the wounded man was someone to be avoided. Now let me get on my soap box for a second. I am in charge of overseeing funerals and memorial services. All in all we do around 300 services each year. Why do we do so many? Well, for one thing we do not turn needy people away. In many cases people who go to a denominational church and have a loved one die are refused service from the priests because they have not been giving money on a regular basis. The people are crushed. So, somehow they hear about us and we help them. It is a joy to see many people added to the kingdom of God mainly due to the ignorance of religious phonies who display no love but for the almighty dollar.
The innkeeper considered the wounded man as a paying customer. There are many nursing homes and other facilities that as you read in the news that mistreat people that they are getting paid to treat. The good part which our Lord speaks about is that the Samaritan tells the innkeeper that he is coming back to check on the wounded man. If he had just paid and never came back to see if the man was being well cared for, as you well know could have a different outcome.
Our Lord Is going to put this lawyer in a difficult place. This man is going to have to give an answer. For the Samaritan as our Lord described knew how to treat his neighbor even though he did not know the man. He knew that this person needed help and responded properly in the love of God.
Oil was used as medicine to sooth wounds and wine was used as an antibiotic or disinfectant. We also miss the significance of the money the Samaritan paid the innkeeper. Historical records indicate that someone staying at an inn would pay about one twelfths of a denarius. So, this Samaritan put down close to a month of care at this inn. Would you do the same?
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.”
Here I notice something very significant in the lawyer’s answer to the Lord Jesus. Please note that in his bigoted thoughts the lawyer could not even come to giving the proper answer and say the word ‘Samaritan’. All he could respond was in the pronouncement that the one ‘who showed mercy.’
Remember back in the first interaction between the Lord and the lawyer after the man had proclaimed that he was a good Jew and was doing all that God wanted him to do. What did our Lord say? - 28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Now after our Lord has dissected this guys real heart and has gotten the man to see what God really does require, what does our Lord say to the lawyer - ‘Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
In other words now go out and through the direction of our Wonderful Holy Spirit ‘do’ what God really teaches.
