The Expert
Luke 10:25-28
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 10:25 And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the
Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE
LORD YOUR GOD 1WITH 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.”
When I was younger, I worked in the computer engineering field. I applied for a job
outside the company I was working for and needed a recommendation. A former boss
gave me an interesting recommendation. After he said some glowing things about what
I could do technologically, he said that I have a difficult time working with stupid
people. I certainly needed to understand what he was talking about. So, I called him and
asked.
I was told that I have a difficult time working with people who claim to be experts, and
they turn out to know less about their expertise than I did. For example, the company
I was with purchased another company. The computer departments had to be merged
into one. I met the Database administrator. I was told he was an expert. Since they used
a Codasyl database, I asked to see the Schema. The Schema is the definition of the data
and the relationships between data items in the database. It was a simple question. The
database administrator looked at me and said that he had no idea what I was talking
about. How could this expert not know the basics of his job? So, yes, I have a problem
with experts who really know nothing about their expertise.
A lawyer in Jesus’ day was an expert in knowing and interpreting the Torah, the first
five books of the Bible. He would also know how to live by the Law. So, why was he
asking Jesus about the Law. This lawyer could have been a stupid lawyer. Well, not really
because there were educational requirements and proof that a person could be
considered a lawyer.
The question was to see what house of study Jesus belonged to. There was the
conservative religious house and the liberal religious house. There were also groups
inside of Judaism, like the Essenes, who saw things differently. So, which group did
Jesus belong in? That was the question.
Of course, Jesus saw through this and gave a great answer. The answer is something
that we must do today, but I must say many of us fall short. Let me simplify Jesus’
answer to the lawyer, which is found in Luke’s Gospel, chapter ten, verses 25 to 28. If
one says that one obeys the Laws of God, the Torah, then one must act that way
constantly. There is no vacation from God’s Law! Too many people today actually
believe this.
Furthermore, many Christians will say that the Old Testament laws and ways do not
apply to them. They incorrectly believe that Jesus removed this requirement. He did
not! Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. You cannot ignore the
Old Testament because the Laws are difficult to perform. Now, let me take a moment
to tell you that there are different categories of Law. For example, there are many rules
and regulations referring to the animal sacrifice system. Since we don’t sacrifice animals
for the forgiveness of sin, those laws do not apply.
I believe that there are four categories of Laws in the Torah. They are love God, love
neighbor, being Jewish, and the animal sacrifice system. Loving God and loving
neighbor are the two that apply not only to the Jews but to the Christians as well. If the
church fathers did not want us to love God and neighbor, they would not have placed
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in their Bible. Since they did,
they believed that demonstrating an adherence to the Law is important.
You cannot escape the need to live by the Torah laws. Let me repeat that the ones that
directly apply to Christians is the one dealing the loving God and loving neighbor. The
next part of the puzzle is what is the reward for such difficult work? Jesus tells us that
eternal life with God is the result of loving God and neighbor.
What does eternal life mean? The simple answer is that upon death, the soul will travel
to Heaven to spend eternity in the presence of God and Jesus. In Jesus’ day, it was
called “the world to come.” Basically, it is a paradise where only love and peace exists.
There are not many descriptions in the Scripture about heaven. If you want a good
picture of Heaven, you will have to find a copy of 1 Enoch. Enoch was assumed into
Heaven, and he got the grand tour of Heaven. His experience is detailed in this book.
There are definitely some cool things going on in heaven.
So, the bottom line of this short narrative is that it is imperative that we act in love to
God and neighbor. The definitions for both are explained in the many books outside
the Bible. Unfortunately, humans create ways to cheat their neighbor. For every cheat,
there is a law against it. The Talmud is a collection of books which describe the cheating
and why they are against the Torah Laws. The Talmud is a giant collection of writings.
Just to let you know, there are commentaries on the Talmud. Then there are
commentaries of the commentaries. The list of books is long and keeps growing. As
long as humans find new ways to cheat their neighbors, there will be books written to
tell us how wrong these ways are.
Let’s stop the cycle! How, you may ask? We need to get back to the basics. Love God
and love neighbor! It sounds simple, but it is not. Many people have given up trying
and that is sad. The daily news programs are full of people who openly demonstrate
that they do not believe in Christ’s words.
I do pray that you who are listening or hearing this homily will either continue to praise
God through following these two simple commands. Love God and love neighbor. It
really is not as difficult as it sounds.
