Won’t You Be Our Neighbor? is a series designed to introduce our fall focus of connecting with the people closest around you. Throughout all of our Bible Fellowship Groups, you’ll be hearing about this follow-up over the next weeks to come. We are asking many of you to read The Art of Neighboring as we progress through the series. This is a light read that you can move through in a matter of a couple of hours. In fact, one of the simplest pieces is this tool: where you are asked to identify the names of your 8 closest neighbors. As we have been preparing for this day, our staff called this “the chart of shame.”
Today, we are looking at an amazing passage. A lawyer tries to trap Jesus. This is an expert in religious law where we think of a lawyer as someone who is an expert in civil law. As Jesus answers the man’s challenge, Jesus gives us one of the most stirring and inspiring stories on mercy in the history of humankind.
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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 as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 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. 35 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.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)
The Historical Setting
There are at least six major characters to Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan. You have the thieves, the unnamed man who is robbed, and you have three people passing by the crime scene – the Levite, the priest, and a man from the country of Samaria. Everything in this famous story is centered around the lawyer’s first question in verse twenty-five: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Now, the road to Jericho was steep and dangerous. The road was so dangerous that it was called “the bloody way.” It was a perfect place for robbers. Jerusalem rests at three thousand feet above sea level where Jericho sits at one thousand feet below sea level. This four thousand foot is spread over just seventeen miles between the two cities. Think of it… in just seventeen miles the road drops approximately eighty percent of one mile in altitude. This road would be filled with switchbacks. The road provided great cover for thieves to conceal themselves to quickly strike and escape.
Jesus’ message at one level is really simple and nearly everyone would agree with Him – if you see something, do something. But there’s more than one layer here.
Overview of the Passage
The lawyer asks Jesus a question in verse twenty-five: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” In Jesus’ day, a lawyer was to be an expert in God’s law, or someone we would call a Bible scholar. This Bible scholar wants to challenge Jesus' views on the law. Jesus responds with a question in verse twenty-six: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Jesus agrees with his summary of the commandments in verse twenty-eight (see also Matthew 27:37-40). The lawyer follows up by asking another question in verse twenty-nine: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus then tells us the memorable Good Samaritan parable, only to ask the lawyer a question in verse thirty-six: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” Notice the man will not even say “Samaritan,” possibly because of his hatred for this race in verse thirty-six, he simply says, “The one who showed him mercy.” For the second time, Jesus offers the command: “You go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
What is your immediate reaction when you see someone in need? Notice in verses thirty-one and thirty-two, Jesus tells us about two men saw a beaten, broken man but did nothing. Then He tells about a Samaritan who equally saw this beaten, broken man and did something. Jesus is saying, “If you see something, do something.” What do you do when you see someone in need?
My Personal Story
I wish I could tell you I did something each and every time I saw people in need. Around fifteen years ago, I was driving with a deacon friend of mine in the car when we passed by someone having car trouble. I drove right past but stopped soon after because the deacon was with me. I don’t think I would have stopped had it not been for the pressure of being his pastor. As I stopped, my friend said, “I wondered if you remembered the Good Samaritan story.”
Modern-Day Good Samaritan
In fact, just a few days ago north of here this very thing happened. Joshua Stewart, a north Texas carpenter, was driving on Highway 114 headed to a job-site. When all of sudden, his truck started making noise and came to a screeching halt. Joshua says, “The bottom of my truck was on the ground.” Stranded thirty miles from his South Dallas home, he was confronted with a $400 bill for towing his old 1995 GMC truck. That’s when Martha Stewart of Grapevine drove by (not that Martha Stewart). She looped around several times before deciding to help. “All of the sudden I’m just sitting there and this lady walks up and she says ‘I want to help you,’” he said. “I’m like ‘what do you mean you want to help me?’” The lady not only paid the tow truck fee, she also looked at his worn tires. “He told me he has a 4-year-old little girl and I thought well if he’s driving this truck around and it’s raining I don’t want that little girl in there and then he’s going to have a blowout so I told him I would buy him four new tires,” she said. Martha purchased four new tires and rims to be exact.
What do you do when you see someone in need? Martha is a modern day example of a Good Samaritan. Now, at this point … many would close their Bibles and go home. But, if you stopped here, you’d be misreading the Scripture.
For if we stopped here, Jesus would ONLY be our model … and Jesus is so much more than our model.
1. The Crushing Weight of the Command
This story isn’t a pancake with only one layer but a waffle – look at its multilayer texture for a moment. Twice Jesus commands, “You go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). Do any of us fully realize the impossible demands loving another person makes on us? How many marriages fail in our day? Every young couple stands in front of the church (or the justice of the peace) and says, “I Do,” but they have no idea the demand it takes to love that other person. While marriage involves sex, the friendship piece is there in similar ways to loving another person. And many of us sustain this a successful friendship/marriage to even one person for a lifetime. Jesus is showing this man that he is truly incapable of this command.
1.1 Good People Pass By
“Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31-32).
These two “good, religious men” walked by our beaten, broken friend and thought they would have walked right into heaven. They couldn’t see their blindness. They couldn’t see their bankruptcy. And we get a clue that this man from Luke of how this lawyer felt he could escape the demand in verse 29: “But he, desiring to justify himself…” (Luke 10:29). These two “good” religious men who pass by their neighbor but think they’ll stroll in heaven.
1.2 The Fed Chairman Goes to Elementary School
Imagine if our Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, were to visit local Snow Heights Elementary School and he addressed a first-grade class. Toward the end, the Fed chairman mentioned the US National Debt of $21 trillion debt, or $65,000 per citizen. And just before security ushers him out the door, a little boy puts his hand up and says, “Mister, I’ll take care of that.” The first-grader has no idea of how much $21 trillion is. And this religious lawyer has no idea of how to treat his neighbor. The man thinks he faithfully loves everyone around him perfectly. This lawyer cannot see his blind spots. This lawyer cannot see bankruptcy. But you may not feel the futility of it this command, either.
1.3 The Socratic Method
Just as a side note but something really important for you to see as well. Jesus rarely answers a question directly. He almost always answers your question with a question. This is often called the Socratic Method. The Socratic Method means you ask questions for questions that stimulate your thinking. Jesus is bringing up things inside this man’s mind as I would unearth something buried under the ground.
1.4 21st Century Prejudice
Back to our story. Jesus does something else in the story that is subtle, He makes the hero of the story a Samaritan. Now 2,000 years later we see hospitals named after Jesus’ teaching – the Good Samaritan Hospital. But a Samaritan to Jewish people was a hated person. The religious leaders call Jesus a Samaritan (John 8:48) when they could not think of a worse name.
Let me show you how Jesus operates by going back to the chart of shame for a moment. Imagine if you are me, a white, middle-aged, middle-class guy. Again, this is not real but only for imagination and teaching purposes. You live in suburbia with a neatly trimmed lawn. Now imagine if you will, a white, middle-aged guy who has prejudicial thoughts. There’s the young couple across the street that have gauges in the ears and a tattoo sleeve all down their arm. Strike them off my list. There’s fat slob next to him who hasn’t worked in the last five years but starts his Harley Davidson right when I’m going to sleep at night. He doesn’t need my help because I’m already paying for his food stamps. There’s the Hispanic family to my left – just how many people do they have living in that house? No, I don’t like their loud music. Lastly, there are the two women feminists on the other side who told me made a face when I told them I am a Southern Baptist pastor, and Hilary for President bumper stickers on their hybrid cars. The only real neighbor left is the nice, white couple with two well-behaved kids that go to that nearby Keller church. Yes, I’ll be their neighbor. You see, there is all kinds of prejudice that prevent me from loving my neighbor.
There’s political prejudice, gender prejudice, generational prejudice, class prejudice, and generational prejudice. The only way you can successfully love your neighbors as Jesus commands is to limit it to something more manageable.
1. The Crushing Weight of the Command
2. The Liberating Hope of the Gospel
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life” (Luke 10:25)?
If Jesus were your pastor you’d expect Jesus to respond to a question like this, “Bow your head and repeat these words after me. ‘Dear God, I know I am a sinner…” Jesus does something altogether different when twice He says to the man something to effect, “go, and do likewise.” In Mark 10:17, Jesus is asked by the rich young ruler the same question this lawyer asks: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus response to Him is telling: And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).
Why didn’t Jesus just lead this man through the sinner’s prayer? Because Jesus had to show him and us the limits of his attempts to justify himself. He has to show the boy he couldn’t pay the national debt back if he had a one hundred lifetimes. Jesus is saying, “You have trust to Someone Else to pay the debt back for you.” Look for a moment at what Jesus tells others. And when [Jesus] saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20). And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live …” (John 11:25). And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34). And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way” (Mark 10:52).
A former Catholic priest said it this way years ago after much reflection, “We are saved by faith alone.” I invite you to turn away from doing life on your own and put your trust in Jesus Christ today.
1. The Crushing Weight of the Command
2. The Liberating Hope of the Gospel
3. The Only Way Love My Neighbor
How could tell a Christian from anyone else? If I asked you, “What was a distinguish mark to a Christian?” I’ve heard answers such as the change in how someone speaks. Someone else might say the way you dress, (e.g. boys would remove their earrings and cut their hair). No doubt many of us might say that a real Christian would avoid beer and cigarettes. Jesus shows us that real believers are distinguished not by a drink, or their clothing, or even their speech, but their actions toward others.
Look at this story of Jesus again. The Good Samaritan does the opposite of the robbers. They took his money, beat him, and left him half dead to never return again. The Good Samaritan spent his own money, cared for this man, and made sure he was taken care with a promise to return again. Jesus is telling us how to identify one of His disciples. Jesus takes this opportunity to connect eternal life to how you treat others. We are saved by faith alone … but the faith that saves is never alone. Jesus expects your faith turn into faithfulness.
Jesus teaches us that how we treat the poor will be a litmus test for our entrance into heaven. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’” (Matthew 25:34-36). What is equally clear in this passage is that Jesus turns people away from heaven and consigns them to hell for their lack of compassion on the poor and downtrodden. Jesus makes mercy a test for eternity. Jesus spoke of a parable where a rich man dies followed shortly by a poor man. He reveals the poor man is in heaven while the rich man is in hell with these words: “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us” (Luke 16:25–26).
Like a security guard at the door of heaven, Jesus makes a heart of mercy an ID to get into heaven’s gates. The only way to extend mercy is to experience mercy. Jesus links your treatment of others with your eternal destiny. Jesus showed us that faith in God is invisible but it becomes visible but how I treat others. A genuine faith in Jesus Christ leads you to have a sensitivity toward everyone around you – everyone!
