Theme: The reward of being faithful to Christ
Text: Deut. 30:9-14; Col. 1:1-14; Lk. 10:25-37
Today’s gospel reading is about a lawyer who tried to test Jesus by asking the question “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The purpose of the question was to give the lawyer an opportunity to question Jesus’ understanding of the Law. The question, however, implied that he was relying on himself to do something to earn eternal life. The question would have been more appropriate if he had asked “How does one inherit eternal life?” Like so many people in the world today, the lawyer in today’s parable thought of eternal life as something that could be earned by keeping the Law, by performing good works, rather than something that is freely given because of the grace of God. Eternal life is not about what we can do for God, but rather about what God has done for us. As the lawyer rightly stated eternal life is inherited. It is something that is inherited because of a relationship with Christ. It is not something you receive because of what you have done. It is something you receive because of what Christ has done. Christ went to the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of sin. By believing and accepting what Christ has done on our behalf we are born into the kingdom of God as joint heirs with Christ. “And this is eternal life that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. (John 17:3) Christ paid the price for our salvation and the least we can do is to be faithful to Him.
We have every reason in the world to be faithful to Christ as He is the source of our eternal life. We all need Christ to set us free “For the law of the Spirit of life sets us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”. (Rom. 8:2) The lawyer, a scholar and expert in Old Testament Law, relied on the Law and so Christ answered him by referring him to what was written in the Law. Christ is the One who has set us free and our faithfulness is to Him. The Law pointed to Christ and because the lawyer relied on the Law and not on Christ, he had no difficulty with the reply. “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”. (Luke 10:27). Jesus commended him for his answer and advised him to go and put into practice what the Law demanded. The lawyer knew the whole Law had to be kept and that it was impossible for him to keep it just as it was for everyone else. The only person to have ever kept the Law was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and for this reason the Law cannot save us.
The Law was not given to save us but to point us to sin and to our need for a Saviour. Paul refers to the Law “as the ministry of death carved in letters on stone”. (2 Cor. 3:7) For this reason immediately the Law was given God instituted the offering of sacrifices that would cover their sin for a period. The Jews were not forgiven because they kept the Law; they were forgiven because of the blood of the animals that they sacrificed for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. These sacrifices pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that would forever remove sins, the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. At the first Pentecost when the Law was given, the result was the death of 3000 people. However on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given the result was the salvation of 3000 souls. Like so many people in the world today, the lawyer in today’s story thought of eternal life as something that could be earned by keeping the Law. Eternal life is not about what we can do for God, but rather about what God has done for us. Christ shed His blood for us and all we need to do is accept by faith what Christ has done for us and confess Him as our Saviour and Lord.
The Law points to sin but has no power to deal with it. Christ dealt with sin once and for all and empowers believers to live without sin. The lawyer knew the Law and quoted it correctly but the Law could not empower him to deal with sin. When Jesus told him to do what the Law demanded to live his conscience bothered him because in the presence of the truth he knew he had fallen short. Yes he may love his relatives and friends but what about the others. Were they not also his neighbours? What about the Samaritans? Did he also love them? He did not because the Jews had no love for the Samaritans. In fact they hated them and would have no dealings with them. This was because they were a half breed and not fully Jewish. This was the reason why the Samaritan woman at the well was so surprised when Jesus spoke to her. “The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) (John 4:9) What about the Gentiles? The Jews also did not have any love for the Gentiles either. They referred to everyone who was not a Jew as a Gentile. For the lawyer and a majority of Jews the law to love your neighbour as yourself did not apply to everyone. To justify himself the lawyer looked for a loophole in the law by asking Jesus who his neighbour was.
Jesus answered the lawyer with a story about a man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was well known for its danger and the name of the road came to be called “the way of blood.” A certain man on this road became the victim of robbers and thieves, who stripped him, beat him and left him half dead. As he lay bleeding on the road three travellers came that way. The first, a priest, when he saw the injured man, crossed to the other side of the road and continued his journey. The second, a Levite, just took a look and without stopping continued his journey. The third, a certain Samaritan, stopped, had compassion on him and took care of him. Then Jesus asked who was a neighbour to the injured man. The lawyer could not even say the word Samaritan and replied “the one who showed mercy”. There are people all around us who are wounded and hurting. Some have been robbed or wounded by parental failure. Others have been left half-dead as a result of wrong choices. Some have been wounded through false teaching or by fellow Christians. We come across them every day in our daily contacts and should use every opportunity to treat them as our neighbour following the example of the Good Samaritan.
Eternal life results from the sacrifice of Christ and is received by faith in His finished work. When we understand the enormity of the blessings of eternal life our lives can only find meaning when we are faithful to Christ. Our faithfulness further leads us to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding and doing the will of Christ is the best thing that can happen to anyone. Faithfulness to Christ empowers us to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Walking in such a manner pleases the Lord, bears fruit in every area of our lives and leads to spiritual growth. Such a walk will make an impact on unbelievers and bring them to Christ. Faithfulness to Christ strengthens us and empowers us to live the life of Christ. The power that strengthens us is the very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. It is the very power of God.
The Good Samaritan broke through the racial barrier, putting the priest and the Levite to shame by taking care of the victim. He gave freely of his own resources - putting the man on his own donkey, bringing him to an inn, paying and promising the innkeeper that he would pay any other expenses that would be incurred. Caring requires commitment and we can be sure that our Lord would not ask of us more than we can give, for he knows all our circumstances. We have often passed by those in need without even taking notice. It’s not always popular or convenient or cheap to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, but it is the right way to behave and God always rewards faithfulness. Jesus Christ is the ultimate model of loving care. He cared even when it meant going to the cross. He cared so much that He was willing to be made sin with our sinfulness to fully pay the penalty for our sin. The least we can do is also love Him and also love our neighbours.
Let us have an attitude of loving service. When we are honest with ourselves we will notice that each one of us can identify ourselves with one of the characters in the parable. Do we identify with the robbers and thieves who saw this travelling man as a victim to exploit so they attacked him? Or do we identify with the priest and Levite who saw him as a nuisance to avoid so they ignored him. Or do we identify with the Samaritan who saw him as a neighbour to love and help so he took care of him. A few years ago in Germany a group of skinheads threw a foreigner out of a moving train resulting in him losing both legs. In another incident they chased a foreigner through a park and beat him to death near his home. What the parable of the Good Samaritan is saying is that if a foreigner in Germany were to come across a wounded skinhead, he should react by showing love and compassion. Showing love to someone you love is easy but showing love to someone who hates you requires an effort. Let us show love and compassion to those around us in need. Jesus showed great love and compassion for us when He went to the cross and died on our behalf when we were yet sinners so that we could be made righteous and become joint heirs with Him. What Jesus said to the lawyer, He is also saying to each one of us today. Let us “go and do likewise”. Amen!
