Getting our Hands Dirty – Luke 10:25-37
By Pastor John Stensrud
Luke 10:25 On one occasion a lawyer [stood up] to [test] Jesus. Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered "’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 neighbor as yourself.’" 28 "You have answered correctly, " Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live.” 29 But [he wanted to justify himself], so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, (a.) he took pity on him. 34 He (b.) went to him and (b.) bandaged his wounds, (c.) pouring on oil and wine. Then (d.) he put the man on his own donkey, (e.) took him to an inn and (f.) took care of him. 35 The next day (g.) he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ’Look after him,’ he said, ’and (h.) when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
A man woke up in a hospital bed and called for his doctor. He asked, "Give it to me straight. How long have I got?" The physician replied that he doubted that the man would survive the night.
The man then said, "Call for my lawyers." When the lawyers arrived, the man asked for one lawyer to stand on one side of the bed, while the other lawyer stood on the other. The man then laid back and closed his eyes. When he remained silent for several minutes, the physician asked what he had in mind. The man replied: "Jesus died with a thief on either side. I just thought I’d check out the same way."
Lawyers have gotten a bad rap from time immemorial. They are sometimes called shysters, ambulance chasers, and some names that I care not to repeat here this morning. Today we will learn about a certain religious lawyer who tried to trap Jesus with carefully conceived arguments. It ended up that the lawyer was caught in his own web of trickery.
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. Just prior to this event, Jesus had sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" It’s curious then, that in spite of this, Jesus uses a Samaritan as the hero of the story.
The parable itself takes place on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was 17 miles of rough, winding road; plenty of places for robbers to hide. Dangerous journey. Like driving into the south side of Chicago with an out-of-state plate.
Our text can be broken down into 3 parts or scenes:
I. The Ploy – vss. 25-29
II. The Parable – vss. 30-35
III. The Principle Vss. – 36-37
1. The Ploy
25 On one occasion an expert in the law [stood up] to [test] Jesus. Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him in not so many words, but if we read between the lines, “Eternal life is a gift from God, and when you get it you’ll be like the Samaritan who helped even his enemies.”
This is the main idea of the passage: If you understand this, you understand the meaning of our text. This legal expert is the central figure of this passage. He has the lead role. The parable that Jesus tells him is for his benefit.
Unfortunately, this religious legal beagle gives a classic example of the religious mindset of that time: salvation by works. It’s kind of like the lawyer was asking: "Teacher, is there some new law, some esoteric teaching, or some special work project I could do that would qualify me to inherit eternal life? He hoped that once the Lord told him, he could just do it and then receive eternal life. He was a Nike Jew – He wanted to Just Do It.
So What’s so wrong with that? Aren’t we supposed to do good works? First, what was the purpose of the Law? The Law of God was given to Israel thru Moses to reveal the holiness of God and the demands that he made on those who would walk in fellowship with him. Second, it was given to show us our sinfulness; it pointed out that man fell short of the righteous requirements of the law. Thirdly, It had no power to produce righteousness; Its demands could never be kept apart from the power of God in a person’s life thru a personal relationship.
Pride blinded the mind of this lawyer—he really thought that he could keep the law thru his own efforts. This is not to mention that the lawyer was not a sincere seeker of truth. He was merely testing Jesus to see if he could trap Him in a theological argument when he asked Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life.”
In response, the Lord responded to the lawyer’s question with a question. Jesus knew that the lawyer already knew the answer to his question: Jesus asked: "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you? " Every Jew knew that the greatest commandment was found in Deuteronomy 6: "’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 the 2nd greatest commandment in Leviticus 19:18, ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’" In fact, many orthodox Jews wore little leather boxes on their wrists containing verses from Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Vs. 28 says "You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live.” The word for correctly in vs. 28 is the Greek word “orthos” from which we get the word orthodox. Jesus was essentially saying, “Okay, your belief system is orthodox, your thinking is right enough, you’re not a liberal or heretic – now try and do what you believe. The lawyer’s answer was right on, but the trouble was that no one in his own strength could ever live up to the spiritual requirements of the Law to obtain eternal life.
I would like a show of hands right now. How many here have never broken one of the 10 commandments? If you raise your hand you will have just broken one of them because you are bearing false witness.
Let’s move on to Vs. 29 But [he wanted to justify himself], so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Instead of asking Jesus, "How can I do this? I cannot love you and others the way I should. I need you to enable me to do this…I can’t do it on my own,” the lawyer instead wanted “to be proven right” or “he wanted to prove that he was righteous.”
He thought by asking Jesus the question, "Who’s my neighbor?" would get him out of the tight spot he found himself in. This guy could probably quote the entire Old Testament Law but at the same time he found himself being condemned by that very Law. He was no dummy. He knew as we all know that we can’t love God in our own power. Therefore, he realized at that moment that he didn’t possess eternal life. On top of that, his Jewish religious training taught him that his neighbor could never be a Gentile or a half-breed Samaritan, so it would have to be someone from the Jewish race. I’m sure that he did not love every Jew to the extent that the law required. Initially, the lawyer tried to put Jesus on the spot. Instead Jesus turned the tables on him and gently put him on the spot.
How did Jesus do this? By telling the lawyer a parable.
II. The Parable – vss. 30-35
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Let’s for a moment picture ourselves somewhere in the story. We are in it somewhere. We can be experts in the bible, quoting passages, knowing Evangelical Christian theology yet fail to “Do this and you will live” and “Go and do likewise.” We can be as correct in our interpretation of the law and yet miss the entire point of the Christian faith. Have you ever had a chance to help someone in need but were too afraid, embarrassed, or busy to help? I think we all have.
The fact of the matter was that the robbers, the priest, and the Levite all went away leaving the poor man half dead. What or who have we avoided, passing by on the other side, as far as we can distance ourselves because of fear, embarrassment, busyness, or not wanting to get involved—getting our hands dirty?
I wonder how the lawyer felt when Jesus told this story? I say this because the main character in this story is the lawyer – how do you think he felt when he was told about a Levite and a Priest leaving a poor beat-up man laying on the road? My guess is that the lawyer rationalized the behavior of his religious comrades.
1. Hey, he must have done something wrong to deserve this.
2. They didn’t have time to help this guy bec. they were late for their duties at the Temple.
3. What could they do to help him? Someone else should have come and taken care of him.
4. They just didn’t want to get involved; it wasn’t their problem!
5. Why should they get their hands dirty with this man’s blood?
Contrast this with the actions of the Samaritan. The lawyer was undoubtedly bristling with anger when Jesus presented the Samaritan as the hero and the Jewish religious leaders as the anti-heroes. Jews hated Samaritans.
But what did the good Samaritan do? Look at vss. 33-35
(a.) he took pity on the beaten man.
(b.) He went to him.
(c.) He bandaged his wounds.
(d.) He poured oil and wine on him.
(e.) He put the man on his own donkey.
(f.) He took him to an inn.
(g.) He then took care of him that day.
(h.) The next day he took out two silver coins and
gave them to the innkeeper asking him to ’Look
after him.
(i.) Finally, he promised to reimburse the
innkeeper for any extra expense he might
incur.’
A friend of mine was getting bored and restless in seminary because of the constant barrage of intellectual learning and longed to do ministry as Jesus did. This friend of mine got in his car and drove to Cook County Hospital to visit the sick and minister to them. In one room there was a clergyman sitting in a chair opposite to a dirty, unkempt patient. This clergyman was wearing pristine white vestments and performed a series of rituals that are common to his denomination. Then the clergyman got up, said a few religious sayings and left the room. This minister never touched the patient and took great care to keep his distance from the patient. Then my friend entered the room. My friend served in Vietnam for 6 years as a medic. He introduced himself and told the patient that God loved him. Then he took a sponge and cleaned the man up. Then he got out shaving cream and a razor and shaved the man. Finally, he washed his hair and combed it. The patient was astounded. He got up from his bed and walked down the hall of the hospital with his face beaming because this other minister took time to get his hands dirty. Which minister do you think the patient was influenced by? The first one. Or the latter one? Who was Jesus to that patient? Who took the time to get his hands dirty in the course of ministry?
III. The Principle. Vss. – 36-37
Here we come to the moral of the story. The lawyer was humbled by this parable.
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
An English dignitary once asked Mohandas K. Ghandhi, “Why are you not a Christian?” His answer was this: “When those who profess to be Christians obey Christ as their Lord and King, when they live in total obedience to His teachings and commandments, I will become a Christian.”
Last week, you may recall that the objective of our Christian lives is to become like Jesus Christ. God’s #1 objective for us is found in Romans 8.29. “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” We who profess to be Christians must strive to be like our Lord and King living in total obedience to His teachings and commandments. You remember the insurance company Jingle, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is There” We need to be a good neighbor to those that are perishing around us. Jesus is the ultimate good neighbor. In fact, the parable of the Good Samaritan is a clear representation of Jesus, who was despised and rejected by the Jewish leadership and even called a Samaritan by them (John 8:48), and who, because of his loving relationship with his Father, willingly came to this world to extend love and mercy to us in our horrible condition. He was the true Good Samaritan who was willing to get his hands dirty so that we might become clean.
Have you ever considered how Jesus became dirty so that we could be made clean? On His way to Golgotha, Jesus carried His own cross. He was covered with sweat. The crown of thorns caused blood to trickle down his face. His back was covered with ugly welts from the whip that the Romans used to punish Him. Jesus fell on the ground from the weight of the cross and dirt covered His body. Then rusty spikes were driven into his hands and feet. In the course of His ministry for you and me, He got dirty so that we could be made clean. Can we not do the same to our neighbors?
In a conference with the British Government, Ghandhi said that human beings must take great care not to be molded by external forces that can destroy their lives, their families, their community, and their nation. He called these forces “The 7 social sins”
1. Politicians without moral character – Can you think of anyone like this?
2. Riches without working for it – Do you know anyone who fits this?
3. Business or commerce without morality – Have you ever been ripped off by someone in the marketplace?
4. Pleasure without conscience – Our nation allows the murder of unborn human beings just for a few moments of pleasure.
5. Education without moral principles – Have you ever heard the credo “the world is filled with educated derelects?
6. Science without a commitment to humanity – Would you agree that technology is growing at exponential rates but we are far behind in our moral commitments to humanity in which technology is made to serve?
The 7th social sin that Ghandhi referred to hits us right between the eyes, or as we used to say in the army, right between the running lights: “Worship without Sacrifice.” It is a refusal to get our hands dirty in performing ministry to a world that needs to see Jesus Christ in us.
The vision that God has for Immanuel Baptist Church is that of a mission outpost of biblical Evangelical Christian thought and action to our surrounding community. Our mission is to be outwardly-focused Christians who embody and share God’s unconditional love to all people groups making them authentic and enthusiastic followers of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it’s dirty work, but it’s our calling as a church. If we obey God and follow His leading, God will bless us greatly. This story is not about what you believe, talk about, think about, pray about, sing about. It’s about what you DO as a result of what you believe. But sometimes we’re afraid of where we will end up if we do what God asks us to do.
By the way: Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is the very next hurting person we meet, whether friend or enemy. And what are we to do with the neighbor in trouble? (1) Don’t try to do the same thing the Samaritan did unless you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. For you will be trying to perform some good work out of the flesh. You will remain as spiritually bankrupt as that lawyer who was hoping that eternal life could be acquired by doing a good work. (2) But if you have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then your heart is already filled with his love, mercy, and power to choose to become involved in the life of the next hurting neighbor.
With complete dependence on the Lord, ask him to allow his love, grace, and mercy to eminate out of you toward the next person you meet in physical, emotional, or spiritual turmoil. What a great opportunity we have to walk among the homeless, orphans, people of different races, and widows. Even people we don’t especially like. We need to ask God to give us his eyes and heart and His dirty nail-scarred hands to offer them the opportunity to receive eternal life in a personal relationship with him.
