The Good Samaritan

(I cannot claim this whole message as my own. The basics came from a book of sermons for pastors which I bought many years ago but cannot remember the name of it.)

The Good Samaritan

Wed. Eve. Service - April 5, 2006

I. Luke 10:25-37, NKJV: "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'" 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?" ° 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. "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. "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. "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?"

And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

(An overview)

A. This story is called the story of the Good Samaritan.

B. It begins with a man testing Jesus with a question. The man is a lawyer, an expert in Jewish law.

a. The lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit or have, eternal life?

b. Jesus gives an answer that is deeper than the one expected by the lawyer.

c. Jesus first answers by asking a question: "What does the law in the Torah or Bible, say you must do?"

d. This was easy to answer for the lawyer because be knew the law well.

e. He answered, "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"

f. Jesus tells him, "You have said it right. Do it and you'll have eternal life".

C. But the lawyer isn't satisfied. He really didn't want to know the answer; he was trying to trick Jesus into giving an answer that would sound foolish to everyone standing by.

a. So the lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" In other words, he was saying, If I want to inherit eternal life by loving my neighbor, tell me who I should consider as my neighbor?"

b. Anyone could have answered that question. A neighbor is someone who lives close to you.

c. But the lawyer and Jesus both knew that being kind to people living close to you would not give you eternal life.

d. So Jesus gives him an answer that is much deeper than just loving the people living next door to you.

D. The story that Jesus tells answers the lawyer’s question, but it also gives us a picture of God's plan of salvation starting with Adam and ending with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

E. Let's study this closer but let's use our spiritual eyes and see if we can find out what Jesus is saying.

II. There is one word that Jesus used to describe each man who came by the man lying in the road.

A. The word is "certain".

a. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho"

b. "a certain priest came down that road."

c. "a certain Samaritan"

d. Jesus is saying that if we can identify the men in the story, we can understand what the story is saying.

B. There must be something special about these men that's important to know in order to understand the story.

C. The first "certain" man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

a. Jerusalem is known to be God's favorite spot on earth. It's His dwelling place on earth.

b. So Jerusalem is the City of God.