The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
There is a story of a study, which a certain seminary conducted with their student body. They asked each of the students to prepare a message on the “Good Samaritan” for a preaching. The seminary then arranged for a man to pretend sick lying on the way in front of the students, as they were on their way to preach the sermon. As I remember the story, in every instance the seminary student stepped around the “dying” victim to hasten on to deliver his sermon on the “Good Samaritan.” I must say that I don’t know whether the story is a fact or not, but it illustrates something deeper.
We are exploring about the difference between the Good Samaritan described in our text, and those who are not such good Samaritans.
In the story of the Good Samaritan, the “wise and intelligent” are exposed for what they are and what they are not. It will become clear that “these things”—the gospel, the truths of the kingdom of God—are hidden from them. The Samaritan is no scholar at all, but he is the hero of our text. In our text, in what ways the good Samaritan is really “good,” while the religious scholars of those days are not? The story of the Good Samaritan helps us to see the difference.
Our text has two basic structural divisions, each of which is prompted by a question.
These are the two major divisions then: (1) “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (verses 25-28), and (2) “Who is my neighbor?” (verses 29-37).
The First Question
Let us look then at the first question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The man who comes to Jesus is a lawyer. He is not the kind of lawyer who goes to court and fights cases. This “lawyer” is an expert in the Old Testament law, in particular, the Law of Moses, which is contained in the first five books of the Bible. We might say that this person is an Old Testament scholar, specializing in the Law of Moses.
Our text tells us that this “lawyer” comes to Lord Jesus, asking this question to test Jesus. It is a hypocritical question, because he appears to be a seeker, but he is not. He is not really seeking for the right answer nor is he interested in finding the way to eternal life. He believes he understands all these things. He does not believe that Jesus, could possibly teach him anything. He is only seeking to test Jesus by questioning Him so that he can then say, “Your teaching is not consistent with the law.” He is asking, “What is the essence of your teaching?” He wants to take the essence of Jesus’ teaching and compare it with the bottom line of Judaism so that he can then say, “Your teaching is wrong.” That is his intention.
It is a bit surprising that Jesus asks the lawyer what the law teaches, because when we read the Gospels especially the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus often says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you.…” In other words, “Here is what Judaism teaches about the law, but here is what the law really means.” Matthew 23:1-2 is part of our Lord’s criticism of the Jewish religious leaders: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.” One would expect Jesus to say, “Don’t listen to anything they say; they’re wrong.” But He says,
3 … Therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them” (Matthew 23:3).
He is saying, “Their teaching is not wrong, but their practice is wrong because it is hypocritical. Listen to what they say; do what they say, but don’t do what they do because they are hypocrites. They say one thing, and they do something else.”
The answer the lawyer gives Jesus is absolutely correct. There is no difference of opinion about what the law teaches in terms of the essence of the law. Jesus asks the question; the man gives the answer. Jesus then responds, “Good answer; now do it. If you really want to know the answer to the question, ‘How does a man attain (that is, earn) eternal life,’ the law says, ‘Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, and do it habitually/every day and every moment.’”
It is at this point that our expert in the law becomes very uneasy. Jesus has not yet told this man anything new. He simply asks the man how he reads the law, and the man reads the law exactly as Jesus does. Then Jesus says, “All right, you know what the law says; do it.” This is where it gets uncomfortable for us too, isn’t it? The law commands us to do what we cannot consistently do. If you want to be saved by your works, by law keeping, then you must be saved by keeping the whole law; not most of the time, but all of the time; not in most of its commands, but in all of its commands.
It is very important that we understand this: Jesus is not teaching works as a means of salvation here. He is actually teaching that doing good works (law keeping) cannot save anyone, because no one can keep the law perfectly. This man asks the question, “How can I be saved?” Jesus answers, “You tell Me, according to the law.” He responds, “One can be saved by perfectly and consistently obeying the whole law, with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength.” The lawyer is now on the spot. The system he is seeking to defend, is a system that cannot save anyone. In seeking to condemn Jesus, the lawyer has just condemned himself and the whole world.
(To be continued…..)
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Dr Sanjay Patra
Sanjay is a Bible teacher and a mentor to Crossway leadership. He has a Ph.D in commerce and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He works as the director of FMSF and is an advisor to the German embassy on secondary matters.
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