Wednesday: Love Defined: The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Part 1
Of the four Gospels, only Luke records the parables of the prodigal son and the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The first one illustrates the vertical dimension of love, the extraordinary love of the Father toward sinners; the second one shows us the horizontal dimension-the kind of love that should characterize human life, refusing to acknowledge any barrier between humans but living instead within Jesus’ definition of a neighbor
:
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
that all human beings are children of God, and deserve to be loved and treated equally.
Read Luke 10:25-28 and reflect on the two central questions raised. How is each question related to the main concerns of Christian faith and life?
1. Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
(vs. 25, NKJV).
Note that the lawyer sought for a way to inherit eternal life. To be saved from sin and to enter into God’s kingdom is indeed the noblest of all aspirations one can have, but the lawyer, like so many, had grown up with the false notion that eternal life is something one can earn by good works. Evidently he had no knowledge that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
(Rom. 6:23, NKJV).
2. What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?
(vs. 26, NKJV).
During the time of Jesus, it was the custom of prominent Jews, such as this lawyer, to wear a phylactery on the wrist. It was a little leather pouch in which were written some great portions of the Torah, including the one that would answer Jesus’ question. Jesus directed the lawyer to what was written in Deuteronomy (Deut. 6:5) and Leviticus (Lev. 19:18)-the very thing that he might have been carrying in his phylactery. He had on his wrist, but not in his heart, the answer to His question. Jesus directed the lawyer to a great truth: eternal life is not a matter of keeping rules but calls for loving God absolutely and unreservedly and likewise all God’s creation-the neighbor,
to be precise. However, either out of ignorance or out of arrogance, the lawyer pursued the dialogue with another query: Who is my neighbor?
What outward evidence reveals that you have truly been saved by grace? That is, what is it about your life that shows you are justified by faith?
(24)
‘But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”’ (Luke 10:29). The lawyer’s idea of who qualified as a neighbor was challenged by Jesus’ story. The Messiah was in the habit of sharing parables which overturned common belief. Little time seemed to have been devoted to endorsing existing ideas.
Many Christians go to church seeking validation of what they already believe, and are not very tolerant of messages which confront their opinions and challenge their lifestyle. It is unwise to avoid Bible passages and spirit of prophecy statements which present an opposing view to what one holds.
The passages with which one agrees is unlikely to make much difference, since one already believes the message. Yet passages which contradict our opinion may be the most beneficial, if only for the reason they afford an opportunity to check ourselves. More than that the Bible and spirit of prophecy are probably right.
The lawyer confirmed he got the Lord’s message. So he was instructed to act on the new information (Luke 10:36, 37). The Savior’s purpose is to restore, and that means correcting errors as we grow. We may then act on the message of correction.
A great question to ask in light of what you have said Hugh is this:
The passages that we agree with are most times the very ones we dont do. For example everyone knows agrees and knows that murder is wrong yet there are thousands of murders a year. So the question is this if we know something is wrong why do we still do it ?
Well said ... a call for self-examination!
Self, examination is definitely needed. Unfortunately it is often tailored to our biases and comfort zone. We agree with and applaud the Good Samaritan and what he did, but when push comes to shove, we fill the shoes of the priest and the Levite. Our self-examination mirror has been misplaced.
This is so true. The emphasis is not on 'who is my neighbor' but 'am I a good neighbor.' Do others want to be around me like they wanted to be around Christ and His genuine followers. In other words if I am a true follower of Christ then everyone is my neighbor, brother and sister, NO defining boundaries.The reason I struggle with this is because I have the same attitude as the lawyer, I have my circle of whose OK and whose not. By this I know I need to allow myself to be drawn in by Christ as I have no power at all to overcome my own selfishness. Please Lord help me and give me a new heart because right now I have a heart of stone!When You come I want to go home with You, I want to spend eternity with You, I want to see Your glory without the sin I have now destroying me. Help me to love You and my neighbors. AMEN.
in ths parables we learn.one fundalmental issue thai=t is impossible to claim that we love GOD when we treating others unmercyful.how can you love unseen GOD WHEN YOU HATE VISIBLE HUMAN BEING.
I would say each of us gets a chance to preach the greatest sermon ever preached every single day...our words may say one thing and our actions another. But when we fully dedicate ourselves to God and truly Love him as the bible states, the way we live, which speaks so much louder than actual words, reveals that you are truly saved by grace and proud to live a life that Christ Jesus expects of each of his children. When we love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind we will automatically love our neighbor as ourselves and it will show in our daily actions. Everything else flows from there. Dear Heavenly father help to live me life every day in honor and Glory to You, so others will see You through me, and one day turn to call You Blessed. Fellow Christian let our light so shine before men that they may see our heavenly father in us, and hasten his coming. Amen
I love this issue! The Samaritan sees someone hurt and helpless on the road who is NOT a Samaritan. His compassion extended out of his comfort zone. WE must look past our comfort zone (our fellow church members) and help anyone who the Lord brings our way. These are opportunities to experience what love is all about, allowing the Holy Spirit to operate fully inside of us as a vessel of the Lord! As you give love, you get the return, which is the love of the Father! The return is not always the love, appreciation or gratefulness of the person we helped. Sometimes, we may be "bit" trying to help someone. This doesn't mean we stop helping or giving. Give Anyway!!!! (I think that was from Mother Teresa).
I think it is important to note, the Good Samaritan is an actual event. and the scribe and Pharisees were present in the audience at the time the Jesus recounted this story.
what we should understand our comfort zone should not be our race or our nationality , it should be in God , where would we go wrong if love (God) is surrounding us
One often misunderstood parable. The answer to the lawyer on the question 'who is your neighbour' is not 'everyone', but 'He who showed mercy on him.'
I do wonder though why people are judged for asking questions.
And I do wonder why you wrote,
"I do wonder though why people are judged for asking questions."
Could you explain what you mean?
In answer to your question to explain: I find it strange that the lawyer is judged for asking a followup question ("However, either out of ignorance or out of arrogance, the lawyer pursued the dialogue with another query") and by others just for asking any questions to "Test" Jesus. If he was to follow Jesus as teacher or/and as messiah he had to test him, just as we are to test anyone who comes along as a teacher. We are not to take anyones words as truth just because they are supposed to be important, knowledgable or carry a title. The same is true for the people in Israel at the time of Jesus. There were many teachers, miracle workers and people who clamed to be the messiah.
Qustion: Why ask a follow up question if one already disagrees with the first answer? I think: One doesn't. In that case one walks away. Only if one agrees with the answer one asks another.
I do wonder though what would happen if a teacher comes to us and answers to the question "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" the answer "What is written in the law?"? Would we stay or walk away?
Ah, thank you for elaborating. 🙂
I don't quite see where anyone is "judged for asking questions."
Note also that the account explains that the lawyer was trying to justify himself (Luke 10:29) in his follow-up question, "Who is my neighbor?" He was apparently already convicted that his law-keeping wasn't all it should be. So Jesus told the story to demonstrate the kind of loving of our neighbors that is a fulfilling of the Law.
As for "testing" Jesus, did the lawyer and others not have the evidence right before their eyes? If we follow the gospel accounts, we find that the lawyers were set on the track of Jesus specifically to trap him by questions. We can't be sure whether or not this was the case here. But the same word is used in Matt 4:7 and Luke 4:12 when Christ counters Satan. Paul also used the same word in 1 Cor 10:9.
So it seems to me that the motive in asking questions is what counts, because God sees the heart.
(By the way, I recommend BlueLetterBible.org as a study tool. That's where I found the other places the same word was used.)
Now-a-days we are often isolated from the rest of the world by our technologies that we need to think about how we get neighbors. It may be time to make a determined effort to break down some of our isolation and get in touch with real people again. Then we will have neighbors with whom we can interact and communicate.
I've always understood that he asked, "Who is my neighbor?" because he was trying to limit the extent of who he should help rather than being helpful to whomever he had the opportunity to help. Some considered that those who lived next door to them to be their neighbor rather than the person who lived down the street or the one who lived on the other side of town. I've always understood that that Jesus was responding in a manner as to tell them we are to love everyone, to show mercy and compassion on everyone. Jesus knew his heart was GREEDY and didn't want to love everyone. He was judged because Jesus KNEW his thoughts and motives he had for asking the question. BTW: Our comfort zone was not intended to mean race but ANYONE who is not like us or in our "group" such as non Adventists, ex-cons, etc. Please, let's not always jump to assume that one refers to RACE!
Whatever we get from the story of the Good Samaritan one thing we should not overlook is that the lawyer was not asking an honest question; it was designed as a trap as Luke points out, "a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him" (Lk. 10:25 NKJV). A similar incident happened that Matthew records, "And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'" (Matt. 22:33-36 NKJV). Because it is widely known that Matthew presents his gospel topically rather than chronologically as Luke tends to do I wonder if these two could be the same event even though they certainly might not be?
It seems strange to me that Luke is the only one who chose to include this story in his gospel which deals with strong moral issues along with the prodigal son both which are not very favorable to the Jewish concept of themselves. In John's gospel we see another story that is peculiar to his gospel, the Samaritan woman who said, "'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans" (Jn. 4:9 NKJV) which is a very telling testimony of how Jewish leaders treated Samaritans and the story of the Good Samaritan only reinforces the point.
I may be wrong but it seems to me that in the gospel of Luke who is very interested in the relationship of Jesus to those who were put on periphery by the Jewish leaders that he was making a contrasting remark about the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership. He also seems to be saying that many Gentiles were better in the sight of Jesus than those proud people who thought they were the chosen ones (Job 12:2) who thought that they were to go to Heaven while everyone else were out.
I won't say much about the content of the story because that seems to have been covered quite well in the lesson and in the comments but I do think we should take time to think about the implications that story has to the trap that was laid by those who would gladly break one of the commandments to get rid of a thorn in their side namely Jesus.
To me the lawyer asks a question to something he knew the answer to in order to tempt jesus but jesus knew what the lawyers hidden agenda was,what I find so thrilling is that when jesus relates the story of the good samaritan. 1)jesus does not state the. nationality of the man that gets robbed he simply states that the man leaving jerusalem going down to jericho. 2)jesus however makes mention of the nationality and theire titles of the men who passed by the injured man 3)jesus shows us that the samaritan was the man who showed mercy at the scenE and contiuence oF his care until the man was able to take care of himself,likewise we as believers 1)should loopk beyond creed,colour,nationality of the person who is in need of help whether it be physical,emotional,mental,spiritual,2)we need to stop judging and making presumsous conclusions of people becuse of the positions they find themselves in,we need to learn to bear amd tarry with each other,3)we are all created on gods imAge pigmentation should not define how we relate one to another4)stature is no concern to God he is not a respector of persons the lawyer knew the law but he did not delight to abide in the law of God likEwise we need to love God and man in order to uphold the law 5)keeping the law but not having delight or love in it will cost one eternity and not having regard for Gods law still will cost us eternity let us be like david who wrote I delight in ur laws ,what I'm trying to say is that love is the foundation for the law of God john 3vs16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son...that whosoever beleives on him will have eternal life v16 for God did not send his son to condemn us bit that thru him we might have eternal life...Gods government is built on love so why can't we show love one for another when God created man God said it was very good...Lord help me love they way u love
Again I must pose this question posted earlier this week. We speak of loving everyone true ministering to everyone is different. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus the rich man was not ministered to because he had notice and opportunity to serve God but chose not to. In the story of calvery Jesus offered no words of comfort to the thief who rejected him. In Jesus ministry he heals those who show faith in him or who cannot help themselves. My question is are able body people who have the law written in their hearts choosing not the way of the LORD such as this lawyer able to be ministered to?what help if any can be offered outside of prayer. Remeber, Jesus did not pray for jJudas but he did for Peter .
Jesus and Paul both tell us to do good to our enemies, that our Father in heaven sends the rain on the just and the unjust. Even if people don't want to hear the gospel we can still be kind and compassionate to them.
Mat 5:44-45 But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, (45) so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
Shirley, you ended your comment with Rom 12:20. I wonder how many Christians look at that text and say to themselves, "if I do this good thing to my enemy then I will add to his misery in hell which he deserves." I think that kind of a thing is not what the verse is saying. To me it is to be taken spiritually. John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11 NKJV) and Jesus Himself said, "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Lk. 12:49 NKJV). Indeed all of that happened at Pentecost, "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them" (Acts 2:3 NKJV). Throughout the Bible fire is used quite often as a symbol for the Holy Spirit so to me the text is really saying that when you do good to your enemy then the Holy Spirit will convict him of his sin and hopefully he will repent and change his ways.
Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16 NKJV) and Peter said, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation" (1 Pet. 2:11-12 NKJV). That is the coals that I see in the text.
The way to dispel darkness is to admit light. The best way to deal with error is to present truth. It is the revelation of God's love that makes manifest the deformity and sin of the heart centered in self. A. This was no imaginary scene, but an actual occurrence, which was known to be exactly as represented. The priest and the Levite who had passed by on the other side were in the company that listened to Christ's words.