SAMARITANS & SISTERS
A LESSON IN LOVE
LUKE 10:25-42
The passage to which we come is a part of a larger context. It is given in the context of Jesus having sent out messengers to announce His coming. They returned, having proclaimed the message of the Kingdom and Jesus responded with a prayer of praise in which He thanked the Lord, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight" (Luke 10:21). As this passage opens, we see one of those wise and intelligent coming to Jesus.
A LEGAL QUESTION
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25).
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This man was an expert in the law. He had a string of seminary degrees behind his name. Notice that he is careful NOT to call Jesus "rabbi." He has an earned degree that he is proud of and he is not interested in what Jesus knows or does not know if He does not have a similar degree behind His name. |
Our story begins one day with a question being asked. Now I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with asking questions. But this was an improper question. It was improper because it had improper motives.
This man is described as a certain lawyer. That is enough to bring up all sorts of lawyer jokes, but this was not that kind of lawyer. He was a student of the Torah. His profession was not in lawsuits and litigation, but in studying and in teaching the Law of God. He is sophisticated. He prides himself on being an expert. He has thought through every possible response. He says, "I am a theologian and I've written a few books and had my name placed in Who's Who, but don't let that intimidate you, Jesus." He is a theologian -- a seminary professor. And like a professor, he wants to give a test. He wants to put Jesus on trial. He wants to test the knowledge of Jesus.
This lawyer is determined to take Jesus down a notch or two. He has not come to learn from Jesus. He has come to put Jesus to the test. He is heresy-hunting.
Accordingly, his question comes with its own preconceived notion. He asks, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? This assumes that he is able to do something in order to inherit eternal life.
A LEGAL ANSWER
And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
27 And he answered and said, "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." (Luke 10:26-28).Jesus answers the legal expert's question with one of His own. This man thinks of himself as an expert in the Old Testament Law; what does the Law say? Jesus gives a very simple answer. He sends this expert in the law back to the Law. He says, "You're the expert. You tell Me!"
Jesus is not interested in teaching this man new facts. He wants the man to act upon the truth that he already knows. "What does the Law say?" This was a question that any Jewish boy could answer.
The fact that Jesus points us to the Law tells us something about Christianity. It is not something new or recent. It is something that is very old and which is rooted in the Old Testament. As Christians living in this age, we do not ignore the Old Testament or relegate it to some past and unrelated dispensation. God is the same in every age and salvation is also the same in every age.
The Lawyer answers by quoting two Old Testament passages. The first of these is Deuteronomy 6:5. It was customary to have this verse written on a phylactery and bound to the wrist or to the forehead. This lawyer merely pulls up his shirt sleeve and reads the answer.
"Love the Lord your God." He is not just any God. He is the Lord. He is Yahweh. Notice the extent of this love. It is all-consuming. It is a fanatical love.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." This is a quote from Leviticus 19:18. It is found in a passage that forbids oppressing the poor. It commands, not only the loving of the Jew, but the loving of the stranger and the foreigner as well (Leviticus 19:34). The Jews in the days of Jesus had perverted this passage to say, "You shall love your neighbors and hate your enemies" (Matthew 5:43). But the Scriptures did not contain these words. God's commandment has always been one of love.
Jesus does not contradict the man's answer. Instead, he tells him that he has answered correctly. If you will love God with all of your being and you will love your neighbor as yourself, then you will gain eternal life.
A SELF-RIGHTEOUS MOTIVE
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29).
This man's words indicate that he realized that he fell short of the demands of the law that he had only just verbalized. You don't have to justify yourself when you are already just. The very fact that he was wishing to justify himself indicates that he had some awareness that he was lacking in the law's demands.
That is what the Law is supposed to do. It teaches us that we cannot perfectly and persistently keep the demands of the Law. Furthermore, it binds those who do not perfectly and persistently keep those commands to a curse.
For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them". (Galatians 3:10).
This man has come testing Jesus and seeking to condemn Him. Instead he has found himself condemning both himself and the entire world.
At this point he has a decision to make. He can throw himself upon the mercy of the Lord and seek that which was undeserved. Or he can try to justify himself and continue to stand upon his own good works and perhaps "lower the bar" of God's righteousness. He chooses the latter. He does this by seeking to limit who might be his neighbor. It is easy to love someone you already like. It is another matter entirely to love the one you love to hate.
And so, he looks for a legal loophole. You see, this man was not prepared to love some insignificant neighbor. He was too PROUD for that.
He wanted to interpret "neighbor" as one of whom he approved. Perhaps an orthodox Jew. Perhaps one of his own religious and social and economical equal.
"Who is my neighbor?" The question calls for an abstract answer. The Lawyer wanted to leave this discussion in the abstract. But Jesus never does. He is always specific. And so, He tells a story about a specific act of "neighborliness."
THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Jesus replied and said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.
"And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side."But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34 and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him."And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.'" (Luke 10:30-35).
The setting for this parable was a familiar one. It was the road that ran from Jericho up to Jerusalem. Jericho lies six hundred feet below sea level while Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level, so the 18 miles of intervening road is uphill all the way. It winds its way up a deep, treacherous wadi -- a dried, rocky, craggy canyon. Traveling the Jericho road was like walking through a dark alley in the worst part of a city.
The man in our story was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The fact that he had come from Jerusalem seems to imply that he was Jewish, but the passage does not specifically say that this is the case. He is merely a man who fell into desperate times.
While traveling this road, the man was beset by robbers. They beat him and the robbed him and they left him for dead. Were he not to get medical attention, his death would be an actuality.
1. The Two who Walked By.
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Micah 6:6-8 delivers an indictment against the Jews who were ready to come and sacrifice thousands of rams in ten thousand rivers of oil, but neglected justice and kindness and humility before God. |
In the course of the story, two different men happened by. The first was a priest. Luke is careful to tell us that this priest was on the way DOWN. He had completed his week of service in the Temple and he was on his way home. It was not a matter of choosing whether to worship in the Temple or whether to stop and help this man. He had the time and the means to help. He even had the motivation. He had been worshiping the Lord. But that act of worship had not touched his heart.
How easy it is for us to be like that priest - to come and play church on Sunday morning and then to go back down to Jericho for the rest of the week.
The second man to come by was a Levi. He was permitted to serve in and around the Temple. We could liken him to the deacons of the church. Both were men of ministry. Both were looked upon with great respect as men who served the Lord.
In both cases, their response to the suffering man was the same. They avoided him and his pain and they continued on their way. What went through their minds?
We are not told their thoughts, but we are told their actions. They passed by on the other side. No help. No words of encouragement. The ironic thing about this is that a part of their ministerial function involved helping those in need. A part of the priestly duty was to serve as the public health official. A part of the duty of the Levi was the distribution of funds to the poor and the needy.
There was no love lost between the Jews and the Samaritans. They had been enemies for a very long time. The Jews had gone in and had burned the temple of the Samaritans to the ground. The Samaritans had responded by sneaking into the Jerusalem temple and defiling it. Back and forth had gone the insults, the derogatory remarks and the hatred. The very reason that the Jericho road was so well traveled is because Jews commonly used it as a detour so as not to have to travel through the land of the Samaritans.
Furthermore, the Samaritans were not doctrinally "correct." They did not recognize all of the Old Testament and they had rewritten some of those portions of the Bible that they did accept as authoritative.
This Samaritan was not doctrinally correct. But he was correct in his love. He had a love that was ready to take action.
The Samaritan's mercy was active rather than passive. He did not merely say, "Poor fellow, I hope that you are feeling better and I will mention you in my prayers this evening." He got actively involved in the demonstration of mercy.
This story tells us something about mercy. It is not defined in a mushy sentiment. It is not sentiment at all. It is defined in ACTION.
Jesus had a Theology of Action. It was not enough to believe in a certain doctrinal statement. It must also be reflected in your life.
This act of mercy cost this Samaritan. It cost him in time and in effort and in supplies and in his own money. Mercy is not mercy until is costs.
What prompted the actions of the Samaritan? Was he doing his deed in order to work his way into heaven? Was he striving to meet some religious standard? No. He acted because he felt compassion.
The mercy of God was the most costly thing in the universe. It cost God the life of His own Son. It cost Jesus the cross.
The Samaritan went further than the meeting of the immediate need. He looked ahead to see what this stranger's long-term needs would be and then he provided for those needs.
THE POINT OF THE PARABLE
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
37 And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." (Luke 10:36-37).Do you remember what was the original question that brought about this parable? The lawyer had come face to face with the Law and its command to love your neighbor as yourself. This brought up the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
Instead of answering the question, Jesus told this story and then He followed it up with a question of His own: "Who proved to be a neighbor; who acted neighborly?"
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Original Question |
The Question Jesus Answers |
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"Who is my neighbor?" |
"What does it mean to act neighborly?" |
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Puts the emphasis on the object of love as though he must be deserving of that love. |
Puts the emphasis upon the one who loves. |
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What Jesus has done is to put the emphasis back where it belongs. |
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Do you see the point? The question is not who is your neighbor. The real question is whether you are going to act neighborly to all men - even those from whom you would be otherwise alienated.
How can you accomplish this? How can you forgive the unforgivable? How can you love the one you love to hate? Only by first seeing how much you have been forgiven and by seeing how much you have been loved.
You see, the story of the Good Samaritan is the story of Jesus. He is the One who has come and who has rescued you at great personal cost. He is the Savior who saves. He has found you helpless and He has carried you to a place of safety. And now He calls you to be Jesus to the world, not in the sense of saving from sins, but in the showing of mercy.
There are three views presented in this parable.
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The View of the Thief |
"What's yours is mine and if I want it, then I will take it." |
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The View of the Religious Leaders |
"What's mine is mine and if you need it, you can't have it." |
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The View of the Good Samaritan |
"What's mine is yours and if you need it, I will provide it for you." |
Everyone in the world adopts one of these three views. Only one is appropriate to Christianity. Which one are you?
THE STORY OF TWO SISTERS
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42).As we come to this narrative of Jesus and the two sisters, it seems at first to have nothing to do with the preceding section. But this is not really the case. To the contrary, it has everything to do with the earlier verses. We saw the legal expert coming to Jesus and asking what was necessary for eternal life and the answer was the two-pronged responsibility of the Law: To love God and to love your neighbor. Then followed a parable to illustrate who is one's neighbor. Now follows a living parable. It is the story of two sisters. Their story will illustrate what it means to love God.
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Love God |
Story of Mary and Martha |
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Love your neighbor |
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Parable of the Good Samaritan |
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Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha. Martha rolled out the red carpet. Verse 38 says that she is the one who had issued the invitation to Jesus to come and to stay with them. This meant extra work, for with Jesus came 12 disciples.
Jesus had just told the legal expert to be a good neighbor. Now we see Martha being a good neighbor to Jesus.
It wasn't too long before Martha was distracted with all her preparations (10:40). She began to get frazzled. She is working hard to serve Jesus and soon she realizes that she is the only one working hard to serve Jesus. Mary, her sister, is sitting and listening to Jesus. Emotions start to boil.
Martha has not learned the lesson that is fundamental to the Westminster catechism. That catechism asks the question: "What is the chief end of man?" Martha was only concerned that Mary get up off her chief end and help her. But she needed to learn that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to ENJOY Him forever." There is a lesson here. If you are not enjoying God, then you are not glorifying Him.
Martha comes and wants to serve the Lord. Mary wants to come and receive from the Lord. Jesus tells us that it is Mary who has chosen the better part. The lesson here is that you must receive from God before you can give to God. You can only serve Him as you have first been served by Him.
We often try to serve before we have been served. We try to minister in the power of the flesh. We take classes on evangelism and learn techniques for ministry and then wonder why it doesn't work.
There is a prescription here for busy believers. It is a prescription to spend time with God.