Often the Parable of the Good Samaritan is understood to teach how we should love our neighbor. However, seen in its context, it is actually teaching how we can’t love our neighbor, and are thus condemned as transgressors who need mercy and grace from God.
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What Must I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?
Luke 10:25-37
We come this morning to one of the most well-known and loved of the parables of Jesus. I suppose that there is only one other parable that is more well-known than this one – the parable of the Prodigal Son. And it is because it is so well-known that we must be very careful as we study it. We are most apt to misinterpret the portions of Scripture that we are most familiar with, simply because we think we already understand them.
For example, how is this parable usually understood? What is the reason that Jesus gave this parable? Well, if you ask that question of most people they will say, “Jesus is teaching us what true Christianity is. True Christianity is all about helping others, and showing compassion on those in need, like the Good Samaritan. Therefore, we ought to spend less time on doctrine, and theology, and evangelism, and seeking conversions, because the essence of Christianity is none of those things. The essence of Christianity is loving others.” Now, at first glance, that seems like a true statement. After all, after Jesus gave this parable, didn’t he say, “Go and do the same”? Isn’t the point that Jesus wants all of us to imitate this Good Samaritan? No, actually, that’s not the point. If we carefully read the context of this parable, we will see that the true meaning of this parable is the opposite of that interpretation.
This morning we will work our way through this passage by examining four things: Life’s Greatest Question, the Law’s Inflexible Answer, The Lord’s Straightforward Command, and Love’s Comprehensive Obligation.
1. Life’s Greatest Question (10:25)
We are told in verse 25 that a lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test. Now, this “lawyer” was not like our lawyers today. He was not an attorney. He was an expert in the Law. He was sort of a professional student of the Law. Luke wants us to know from the get go, that this man was not sincere. He didn’t ask this question because he wanted to know how he could inherit eternal life. He wasn’t concerned that he was under God’s just condemnation and wanted to know how he could escape from His wrath. The truth is, that he thought he had already obtained eternal life! Like so many of the scribes, and Pharisees of the day, he possessed a smug self-righteousness, and despised those around him that he looked on as “sinners”. No, this lawyer was asking this question in order to test Jesus. He felt that he knew the right answer, and wanted to see if Jesus knew the right answer as well. This lawyer wasn’t asking this question because his soul was troubled, and his conscience was smitten, and he was desperate to find out how he could inherit eternal life. To him the question was just a game. He was toying with Jesus, to give him a grade on His Biblical knowledge. “Let’s see, should I give Jesus an A, a B, or a C?”
However, the question this lawyer asked was the most important question that we will ever ask. Have you ever asked this question? Have you ever been concerned that you will miss eternal life, and instead experience eternal death? Are some of you concerned about that very question this morning? That’s a really good thing. If you are, I’m glad. You will never inherit eternal life, until you come to desire it, and inquire after it. If you are wondering how to obtain eternal life, listen to this sermon very carefully, because God has given us the answer in His Word.
This lawyer was not the only one in the Bible who asked that question. In fact, the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18 asks that exact same question. Later on Pentecost, when the multitude had been convicted of their sin in murdering the Messiah, they cried out, “Brethren, what shall we do?” In Acts 16, the Philippian Jailor cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer in every one of these cases was different, yet it all boiled down to the same thing. Let’s look at how the Lord answers this lawyer’s question.
2. The Law’s Impossible Answer (10:26-28a)
Notice what Jesus does here. Instead of answering the question, He asks this lawyer a question of His own. Of course, Jesus knew that this man was not honest and sincere. He knew that he was trying to trap him. So, instead of answering his question, He asked one of His own. He said, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
Where did Jesus point this lawyer, to find the answer to his question? Did He say, “Well, you know, there are many good and valid religions in the world, and they all have a good answer to this question. Research all the religions and all the famous philosophers and take your pick. One answer is as good as another”? No, Jesus in essence said, “What does the Bible say?” Where did Jesus send this man to get the answer to life’s greatest question? The Word of God, the Scriptures! It is still true today, that the answers to life’s greatest questions can be found in this Book. My friend, what is your authority by which you decide what is true and false, what is right and wrong? Maybe it is Paul Harvey, or Dear Abby, or your favorite TV show, or Google, or the Khoran, or the Book of Mormon, the Divine Principle, or the Pope? My friends, none of those are a safe place to put your trust. All of them are imperfect and will fail you. The only place you can find truth that will never fail you is right here, the Bible.
Well, when Jesus asked this lawyer what is written in the Law, how did he answer? Look at verse 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.” This lawyer knew the Law. Without a moment’s hesitation he rattled off Deuteronomy 6:5, and Leviticus 19:18. He knew these verses by heart, and recited them accurately. You see, this lawyer knew that love was the fulfillment of the Law. He knew that the 10 Commandments were comprised of two tables – the first four commandments show us our duty to God and the last six commandments show us our duty to man. This lawyer knew that if we loved God with every fiber of our being, and if we loved our neighbor as passionately as we already love our self, we would fulfill the Law.
Now, was he right or wrong? Jesus says he was dead right. He told him, “You have answered correctly.” Jesus said that if he would just love God and his neighbor perfectly, he would inherit eternal life. Now, is that true? If you or I would just love God and others perfectly, would we obtain eternal life? Well, let’s look at another text in Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 5, “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them.” There it is again. If a man keeps God’s Law, he will live. If any man who has ever lived would simply keep the Law, in all of its inflexible obligations, he would inherit eternal life. You know, we evangelicals are always saying that we are not saved by works. That’s not entirely true. We are saved by works, just not ours. We are saved by the works of Jesus Christ. No man has ever kept God’s Law perfectly, except for One. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law, in all of its exacting demands, and as a consequence, He earned eternal life. However, He earned it, so that He could bestow it upon sinners. My friend, the only place you will ever find eternal life is in Christ, because He is the only one who has ever lived who has perfectly kept God’s law.
3. The Lord’s Straightforward Command (10:28b-29)
Jesus gives this lawyer a command in verse 28, “Do this and you will live.” The lawyer had asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I DO to inherit eternal life.” Jesus answers, “DO this and you will live.” Twice in this passage, the lawyer responds with a correct answer, in verse 27, and 37. In both cases, Jesus responds by telling him to do it. Now, why all this emphasis on doing? If we don’t understand this, we will not understand the parable of the Good Samaritan. Christ’s concern is that while this lawyer can give Him the right answers, he is not doing what he says. He knows the right answers, but he’s not living them. By commanding this lawyer to go and do the Law, Jesus is helping this lawyer to see that he can’t do it. In the end, his failures will drive him in desperation to confess his guilt and sin and condemnation, and cry out to God for mercy.
Folks, that’s why Jesus gives the parable of the Good Samaritan. He’s not doing it primarily to tell us that we ought to be out there showing compassion to people, and helping them. He gave the parable of the Good Samaritan to this lawyer to help him see what the Law of love requires, so that this lawyer will come to see how greatly he has broken the Law of love. The Lord gave this lawyer the parable of the Good Samaritan, not to teach him how he should love his neighbor so that he could go out and earn his salvation by his good works! No, Jesus gave him this parable to show this lawyer his sin of not loving his neighbor. This lawyer would never inherit eternal life until he saw himself as a guilty condemned sinner. The parable of the Good Samaritan was given not to show us how we can earn eternal life through our works, but to show us how every one of us ought to live always, but how none of us have actually lived.
So, how did the lawyer respond? Did he respond honestly, and sincerely, and humbly? No. If he were an honest and sincere man, he would have said, “Master, I can’t begin to do what that Law requires of me. This Law demands an exacting and perfect love for God. It requires that I love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. This Law not only requires that I love God that way, but that I always love God that way. Lord, I can’t do it! I have tried, and failed over and over and over. I can’t love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, because I love myself with all my heart, soul, mind and strength! And Lord, not only does that Law demand that I love God perfectly, but that I love my neighbor as much as I love myself. Lord, I am self-centered, and can’t even go a single day without loving myself more than others. Lord, if I must keep this Law, I am doomed. I am condemned. I am a dead man!”
No, that’s not how he responded. Verse 29 says, “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Now, notice first of all that he wished to justify himself. Now, why would he try to justify himself, when no one had accused him? He must have been conscious of guilt in regards to loving his neighbor, and so he rises up to justify himself. Now, why would this man ask Jesus who his neighbor was? Well, the text says, it was to justify himself. It was to prove that he was righteous in his dealings with others. This lawyer’s goal was to so define and limit his “neighbor” that he would be able to say that he had always loved his neighbor as himself. If “neighbor” could be defined as his family and friends and countrymen, maybe he could claim that he had always loved them. If Gentiles and Samaritans could be excluded from his “neighbors” then perhaps he could justify himself. Maybe he had found a loophole in the Law. So, in effect, this lawyer wanted Jesus to tell him who he had to love to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded by showing this lawyer what it would look like, but He used a Samaritan to show him this truth. In effect, the Lord was telling this lawyer that he must love everyone, even those he despised and hated, and he must love them as much as he loved himself, and he must love them this way always.
4. Love’s Comprehensive Obligation (10:30-37)
If this lawyer wants to justify himself by his love for his neighbor, Jesus will humor him. In effect, Jesus is saying, “OK, you want to inherit eternal life by your love for your neighbor? Let me show you what kind of love you must have always for every person.”
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This “man”, no doubt, would have been a Jew. Jerusalem was 2,500 feet above sea level, and Jericho was 800 feet below sea level. This road from Jerusalem to Jericho was 18 miles long. That means that in 18 miles, the traveler would descend 3,300 feet! This was a road that spiraled down, mile after mile, until finally it ended in Jericho. This stretch of land was nicknamed “The Bloody Way”. It was a rocky, desolate stretch of land in which robbers loved to hide. When the unsuspecting traveler went by, these thieves would fall upon them and steal them blind. Well in Jesus’ parable, these robbers not only stripped him, but also beat him and left him half dead.
Priest…Levite. Jericho was a bedroom community of Jerusalem. This is where most of the priests and Levites lived. A priest would only get to serve in the temple two weeks out of the year. During the other 50 weeks, they would live at Jericho. During Jesus’ days, about 12,000 priests and Levites lived in Jericho. I the parable a priest was heading home to his family, after serving in the temple. When he saw the victim, the deliberately went over to the other side of the road, and just kept on walking. Likewise, when the Levite saw the man, he did the same. Neither wanted to get involved. Oh, they may have had many different excuses. Perhaps the man was dead, and if they got too close they would be defiled and become ceremonially unclean. Perhaps the thieves were still hiding out, just waiting for someone else to stop and help this man, and the priest and Levite would become the next victim. Besides, they had been working long and hard in Jerusalem at the temple, and their families were anxiously waiting for them to return. So, offering up a silent prayer for the man, they kept on going by.
Samaritan. This lawyer, might have expected that Jesus would make the hero of the story a common Jewish man. Jesus had spoken of the clergy, the priests and Levites. Neither of them did anything to help the half-dead man. Therefore, perhaps Jesus would say that an ordinary Jew stopped to help. But no, Jesus said that it was a Samaritan that stopped to help! Now, we might not see anything unusual in this, but believe me, this lawyer did! In John 4:9 it says “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” Jews and Samaritans hated each other. They wouldn’t speak to each other, let alone touch each other. They stayed as far away from each other as was humanly possible. Jews called Samaritans, “half-breeds” and “heathen dogs”. They considered them to be spiritually defiled. When not even the religious elite among the Jews would stop and help this man, a hated, despised Samaritan did. And he went much further than simply stopping. He felt compassion for him. Even though the beaten Jew would have despised the Samaritan, the Samaritan felt compassion on him, and came over to him, bandaging up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. The alcohol in the wine would act as a disinfectant, and the oil would soften the wound. Perhaps he had to tear off part of his own shirt to make a bandage for the man. He then, put the injured man on his own beast, while he walked. He brought him to an inn, and stayed at the inn with the man, taking care of him. The next day, he paid the innkeeper 2 denarii. The price of an inn was 1/12 of a denarii, so this Samaritan paid enough for this injured man to stay at this inn for up to 3-4 weeks! He instructed the innkeeper to take care of the man, and if he incurred any expenses above the two denarii, he would reimburse him after he returned.
Which proved to be a neighbor? Do you see what Jesus has done? The lawyer had asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus asked “which man proved to be a neighbor?” It was as though the Lord was saying, “You’re asking the wrong questions. You ought not be preoccupied with who, and how many people you must love in order to inherit eternal life. Rather you need to be thinking about how you must unconditionally and sacrificially love every person in your life.
Perhaps Clarence Jordan’s rendition of this parable in the Cotton Patch Gospel might put it in perspective for us:
“A man was going from Atlanta to Albany and some gangsters held him up. When they had robbed him of his wallet and brand-new suit, they beat him up and drove off in his car, leaving him unconscious on the shoulder of the highway.
“Now it just so happened that a white preacher was going down that same highway. ‘When he saw the fellow, he stepped on the gas and went scooting by.
“Shortly afterwards a white Gospel song leader came down the road, and when he saw what had happened, he too stepped on the gas.
“Then a black man traveling that way came upon the fellow, and what he saw moved him to tears. He stopped and bound up his wounds as best he could, drew some water from his water-jug to wipe away the blood and then laid him on the back seat. He drove on into Albany and took him to the hospital and said to the nurse, ‘You all take good care of this white man I found on the highway. Here’s the only two dollars I got, but you all keep account of what he owes, and if he can’t pay it, I’ll settle up with you when I make a pay-day.’
“Now if you had been the man held up by the gangsters, which of these three-the white preacher, the white song leader, or the black man – would you consider to have been your neighbor?”
The teacher of the adult Bible class said, “Why, of course, the nig – I mean, er … well, er … the one who treated me kindly.”
Jesus said, “Well, then, you get going and start living like that!”
Go and do the same. Here Jesus gives the knockout punch. “Lawyer, if you want to inherit life by obeying the Law, and loving God and man, then just go and love every person in your life like this Samaritan loved this Jew.” What has Jesus done? He has shown this man that he was unrighteous, self-centered, guilty, lost and condemned. He did not possess eternal life, and couldn’t do anything to obtain eternal life. Humanly, his case was absolutely hopeless. Rather than this parable teaching this man how he should love others, it was really designed to show this man how he had not loved others, and thus was undone before God.
Conclusion
My friends, where do you stand with God. Are you right with God? Do you vainly think that you are right with God because of your righteous life? That is the exact error that Jesus was laboring to convict this man of. The man asked Jesus, “what shall I do to inherit life?” Jesus answered, “Do this and you will live… Go and do the same.” By the time Jesus had finished the parable, this man knew that he couldn’t go and do the same. He had tried, and he had failed. He just couldn’t pull it off. He couldn’t always do the right and loving thing. Folks, apart from Jesus, doing is the only option you have. You must do right, do it always, and do it to every person.
Apart from Jesus, the only way you will ever inherit eternal life is by a perfect record of Law-keeping. There is no mercy in the Law. The Law will not and cannot release you of any of its demands. It makes no allowance for your weakness or your condition. It gives no consideration to age, position, knowledge, environment or circumstance. The Law demands perfection or death. The Law demands perfect obedience, but it gives us no help. It leaves us exactly where it finds us. The Law offers no relief, no hope, no cure to anyone. It can do nothing except show us our wretchedness, helplessness, our guilt and doom. All it can do is condemn and kill. It can’t give life. The Law wounds, but never heals. It terrifies, but never comforts.
Now my friend, let me ask you, “What is your hope that God will receive you into heaven when you die?” Like most people, do you think it’s because you are a good person? OK, if that is how you expect to enter heaven, how good do you need to be? You have to be absolutely perfect. Have you ever sinned? You reply, “Of course, hasn’t everyone?” Well, do you know what the meaning of sin is? It means “to miss the mark.” The mark is the bulls-eye. If you have sinned, you have missed the mark. Unless you have lived a perfect life, you will never be accepted into heaven based on your goodness.
Well, is there any other way to be accepted by God and received into His heaven? Yes. It is by the righteousness of Another. You and I need the righteousness of One who knew no sin, the Righteous One, the One who was holy, harmless, undefiled and separated from sinners. You and I need the righteousness of the One who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.
Mark my words, God will never simply ignore the fact that you have broken His Law times without number. However, He will graciously accept someone else’s Law-keeping in your place. He will never set aside His Law, but He will allow a Substitute to keep that Law on your behalf.
You see, Jesus Christ is the true Good Samaritan. He is the only human being who has ever lived, who always perfectly loved every person He came in contact with.
He was Hated. In the parable the Jewish man was saved by someone he hated. In fact, when the Lord asked who proved to be a neighbor, the man would not even say “The Samaritan.” Instead, he said, “the one who showed mercy toward him.” Likewise, the Bible teaches that we are saved by One we hated. Jesus said, “They hated Me without a cause.” “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom.5:10). Col. 1:21 says, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death.”
He came to us. The half-dead man didn’t go looking for the Samaritan. No, the Samaritan came to him. It’s not the lost sheep that finds the Shepherd. It’s the Good Shepherd that finds His lost sheep. Likewise, you and I weren’t seeking Christ when we were saved. He was seeking us. He came to us, found us, and healed us.
Found Us In a Hopeless Condition. The man was beaten and half dead. There was nothing he could do for himself in that condition. If he were to be healed and restored, help had to come from the outside. Likewise, Jesus Christ found us, not half-dead, but wholly dead in trespasses and sins! We were excluded from the life of God, separate from Christ, excluded from the common-wealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. We too were in a spiritually hopeless and helpless condition. If would ever be restored, Help must come from the outside.
Felt Compassion. Why did the Lord Jesus save you and I? Was it out of some raw duty that He had to fulfill? The truth is, that He had compassion on us. He took pity on us. He had mercy on us. He saw us in our miserable and wretched condition, and decided to act! “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph.2:4-5). “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Rom.9:15).
Paid for his care. The Samaritan paid two denarii to the innkeeper to take care of him. However, the true Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ, paid much more than that to bring us our spiritual healing and salvation. He bought us back and redeemed us at the price of His own death. “For the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many.”
My friend, instead of seeking to be justified before God by your law-keeping, trust in the law-keeping and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Instead of doing, rest in the done of Christianity. Find salvation in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
But to those who are justified by faith in Christ, what does this parable teach you? You aren’t seeking to be justified by your deeds of righteousness. You have forever cast off any self-righteousness as dung in comparison with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This parable teaches you how you are to love others, not to be justified before God, but because you already are justified. This parable teaches us what kind of love for our neighbor pleases God. The justified man longs to please His Lord. So, go and do the same. Don’t seek to go and do this in your own strength. Trust in the mighty power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to give you compassion for others, so that your deeds of love are simply an expression of His work in you.
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