The Good and Compassionate Neighbor

The title of our sermon today is The Good and Compassionate Neighbor. The Good and Compassionate Neighbor. Let's open our Bibles, if you have them, to Luke chapter 10. This is where we're going to begin. Luke chapter 10. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That was the very question that was asked of Jesus Christ himself when he walked on this earth.

And I don't know about you, you know, if we had an opportunity to speak to Jesus when he walked on this earth. I can't think of a better question to ask him. What shall we do to inherit eternal life? What do you think his answer was?

Well, it may surprise you perhaps by the end of our study today. Luke 10. Let's read this together. We're going to read verses 25 through 37 to help us set the scene of this amazing question and amazing occurrence here as detailed by Luke. Verse 25. Luke writes and records, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, that's Jesus, saying, teacher, what shall we do to inherit eternal life?

And he, Jesus, said to him, said to the lawyer, what is written in the law? What is your reading of it? So he answered and said, this is from the lawyer, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your strength and with all of your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he, Jesus said to him, well, you've answered rightly, do this and you will live.

But he, the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered with this story. Who is my neighbor? That was the question. Here's Jesus's response with a story. 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.

Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road. And when the priest saw him, he passed by the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and also passed by the other side. Verse 33, But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

So he went to him, bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, set him on his own animal, brought him to an end, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denari, 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. So that's the end of the story there. So now Jesus turns to the lawyer once again with a question. Verse 36. So, lawyer, which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves? And he, the lawyer, said, he who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. Let's stop there. Well, what a question.

And we could say what an answer here. And I got to tell you, this this answer should mean everything to us today. Because here we are gathered. And I think we could say at the very core, at the very heart of our gathering, lies this hope of eternity and eternal life after this physical one. And so it is to this hope that this question is asked. What shall I do? What shall we do to inherit eternal life? Now, when delving into a moment like this, it's important to take a step back and really take a look at the text and see what we can glean from it.

You know, one of the first questions that might arise when you look at a story like this is, why is this even a question? You know, here in the physical, why would we even ask a question like this? Why would we be wondering an answer to such a question? Well, some of you may be ahead of me, but the answer to that is found in Ecclesiastes. We won't turn there, but Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 11, it tells us very plainly the answer why we wonder about eternity, where it says, God has put eternity in the hearts of men and women.

Again, for your notes, that's Ecclesiastes 3, 11. God has set eternity in our hearts. In other words, we are made aware by God that there is an eternal dimension available to us after this temporary physical one. That's why there's such interest in eternity, even those who may not even consider themselves religious. So then, if that discovery of how to receive eternal life, if that question could be answered of how to obtain it, then I can make sure that my life is working toward that end of receiving the gift of eternal life after this physical one.

So, it's a relevant question to the lawyer. It's a relevant question to those who were observing. It's an absolute relevant and crucial question for us to ask today. And Jesus answers this question with absolute clarity and with absolute sharpness we will see today. In beginning to look at Luke 10, of course we come to one of the most familiar and well-known parables in all the Bible. We know it as the parable of the Good Samaritan, right?

Even those who are nominally familiar with Scripture might even know this parable. And I bet if I went out on the street and asked men and women, what is your summary of the parable of the Good Samaritan? I'm sure many could give some answer to it. It may sound something like this. Well, the meaning of the parable of the Good Samaritan is you have this good guy, right? And you have these not so too good guys. Be the good guy, don't be those other two guys, you know. And that's the meaning of the Good Samaritan, you know. And there is some truth to that, of course, in a very broad and elementary sense, I guess we could say. Be this guy, don't be those two guys, and receive eternal life. But is that the whole essence of what Jesus is instructing us today through this parable? Well, by the tone of my voice, you may know that I'm going to suggest to you, no, that's not the core essence. And if that's not it, what is it? What is it? Well, to dig in, well, to dig in, we as good biblical scholars, we know it's imperative that we look at the whole context of the story. And we got to make sure that we don't remove the story from the framework in which it emerges. That's why we begin the parable of the Good Samaritan with the build up here, and perhaps taking note of the one who's asking this question. He is a lawyer. He is therefore an expert in the law. An expert in the law, not so much in civil terms, but in religious terms. So this man would have been an expert in the five beginning books of the Bible, the Torah, if you will. An expert in the law, very knowledgeable about all matters of religious issues. And so he stands up, and is he seeking an answer with an open and humble heart? No, no, because we're told there in verse 25, initially here, he's standing up to, what, test Jesus. So he's asking, but it's like one of those individuals, you get asked a question, and you get the notion that they already have the answer, right? And they want to see if you have their answer. That's kind of what we're seeing here in this moment. So we're getting a little clue from Luke into the heart of this lawyer. Of course, if you know scripture, Pharisees loved to do this. They love to try to put Jesus in the corner, if you will, test the teacher of the law. Incredible arrogance here. Don't let that cause you not to have inquisitive heart. We are supposed to come and ask good questions, but we do come with a humble heart seeking the answer from scripture here. But this is a question that's coming from an arrogant heart.

And I don't know if he knew who he was up against here, but we see Jesus skillfully turning the tables, be looking at this, and be, you know, glean some of the techniques, if you can, from Jesus here. So he turns the question around, which Jesus often did, back to the lawyer. And he says there in verse 26, well, what is written in the law? And lawyer, expert in the law, well, tell me what your reading of it is there. You tell me. You're the expert, you know.

And, you know, in kind of picturing this lawyer in your mind's eye, not only would he have known the law extensively, it's very possible that as this lawyer stands before Jesus, he would have also worn the law extensively. At that time, I think primarily for morning prayers, many of these type of individuals would have worn what they call teflon, or what's the other word for it? Teflon, these were, or phylacteries, these were like small leather boxes. Some of them would most notably wear it on the upper arm, so there was an upper arm teflon. They even had, which seems quite awkward, a forehead teflon that they would wear in the middle of their forehead. So you can kind of picture this, perhaps this lawyer in that way.

And so he would have, if that was the case, been wearing sections of Deuteronomy strapped to himself here. So, you know, if we were witnessing this, you can picture Jesus saying, well, you know, tell me, tell me what it says there. You tell me, what is your reading of the law? Lawyer? And that's important to know. He's turning the lawyer back to the law. Jesus Christ did not come to bring a different gospel. He came to fill up, to fulfill, to exemplify the law, not replace it, right? So there's nothing new here. You tell me, lawyer, what it says is the way to eternal life. And the lawyer responds, and he's actually responding from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19. He knew, he knew Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19, and he answers verse 27 there. The way to eternal life, here it is. Verse 27, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your strength, and all of your might, and love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus says, all right, then you've answered rightly. Verse 28, do this and you will live. And I'm sure Jesus then would turn and was moving on with his day, you know. Go ahead and do that. I don't know why you asked me. You had the answer right there. You know, do what the law says there. But I think perhaps in this whole section, this is the moment in which God reached down and pricked the heart of this lawyer. This was the moment. Perhaps God had plans to open the eyes of this lawyer and was going to use this interaction between he and his son, between the lawyer and God's son to bring the lawyer to the true understanding here. And I think that is the case because if you look at the very next verse, verse 29, very telling words that Luke records, but he, the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? He asked wanting to justify himself. That's why I almost think when the lawyer gave this answer, perhaps he was a little bit more bold, maybe had a little bit more volume in the first half of the answer versus the second half. Oh, well, I can tell you, Jesus, what the way to eternal life is. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your strength, and all of your might.

And Jesus might have went. And, well, love your neighbor as yourself. I hope I'm not reading into that too much, but this pricking of the heart, I believe, if you look at the context here, really comes in the second half of that answer when it starts to deal with the neighbor. Who is my neighbor? Wanting to justify himself, wanting to silence his conscience, right?

Wanting to make sure he was on the path to eternal life.

And perhaps there's a little bit of guilt emerging, beginning to fill him in that way. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. Who is my neighbor? He asked.

Now, if you know a little bit about the time, this would have been a logical question, perhaps. In the Pharisaical mind at that time, they would have said this verse and believed it. Love God with all of your heart, love your neighbor as yourself. Neighbor, though, they would have interpreted as other fellow Israelite. Neighbor in their minds would have been interpreted that way, incorrectly interpreted that way, but still interpreted that way. Other fellow Israelite. And some of the Pharisees would have even narrowed it down even more. They would have said, love God, yes, we can all get behind that. And love your neighbor. Other fellow Israelite, and they narrowed it down even more to say, and really, other fellow individual who's within our religious circle. You see. And by defining or thinking about neighbor in that way, well, that made it a little bit easier in their journey to receiving the gift of eternal life, right? Because God forbid, perish the thought of extending love beyond their own. Particularly the Gentiles. Those dogs, if you will. Many consider them just mere dogs. So, okay. We're at an important climax of the story here. Remember the subject matter here. This is all pointing to the overarching question, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Let's bring this to us today. And I want to bring it to us today because this is quite convicting. I don't know about you, but if I look at this answer and I look at the two parts, I, perhaps you can relate, have a much easier time with the first part versus the second part. I wonder if you can relate. I can dip into the bucket of my heart, and I can pull out that ladle of love, and I have no problem, no hesitation, really, of loving God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, you know? And even when I ebb and flow in my love, I know I should, and it's easy to internalize that love. But when I dip into my heart, the bucket of my heart, that's a horrible analogy, but stay with me, and ladle out that love that I need to pour out on my neighbor, that's a little bit more difficult, isn't it? So, I might even be tempted to justify make my own definition of who my neighbor is to make it a little bit easier to pour my love out upon them, you see. So, bring this home to your heart today as I am bringing it to my heart today. Who is my neighbor here? Second part, second significant part of the answering the question of eternal life and receiving this gift of eternal life. So, here is the parable of the Good Samaritan, all that by way of foundation here. So, let's really turn our thoughts and hearts and minds onto this answer now to the question, who is my neighbor? Because now we're asking the real question, right? And I think Jesus knew that's, you know, what the, he wanted to put his finger right on the sore part of this Pharisee, of this lawyer. And here it is. Let me answer this question of who my neighbor is with a story. Verse 30, here it is. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This stopped there, little context. Jerusalem to Jericho, I had to look this up. It's about a 17 mile stretch there, absolutely desolate at this time. And if you were going to make a living as a robber, this would be the perfect place to start off your business here. No doubt there were robbers upon robbers that gathered in this stretch here. Not a good stretch. And this came about there in verse 30. The thieves came and they stripped him of his clothing. This certain man who was taking this journey, they wounded him. Verse 30, they departed, leaving him half dead. But wait, good news. There was a certain priest that came down the road. Verse 31, well, not so good news because he passed on the other side.

Okay, absolute callousness here by the priest, right?

If we avoid doing something in the time of need, and we don't by default, that is an act of cruelty. Okay, let's give them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. If this stretch was so bad with neighbors, no doubt they would have been clever. And perhaps this guy, half dead guy on the side of the road, it was just a decoy. And the priest concludes to himself that, well, if I go over there and I get close to this guy, well, there's going to be other robbers that jump out of the bushes and, you know, there's not a real need there. Maybe, I don't know. However, you know, in the context that we're looking at here, there's really no excuse for the cruelty here. There's a half dead man and he did nothing. Back on me. Boy, that is so familiar. You see, you see a neighbor in need and all the excuses begin to come as to why it's justified that I should not help them in that time of need.

But wait, there's more, there's good, there's another opportunity here, a Levite. Verse 32, likewise a Levite. He comes along. There's a little bit more detail that Luke gives here. It says he arrived to the place he came. It's indicating that he maybe came closer to the half dead man. He looked and then passed on the other side. So, I don't know. At first, I thought the Levite's a little bit better because at least he came closer to the individual. I think he might be worse, you know, because perhaps he determined that it wasn't some set up and he still walks down the road, right? Perhaps even worse there. Now, it's clear from verse 30 that these individuals, obviously, Luke adds this detail. They're going from Jerusalem to Jericho and if you look up commentary, they make much of the fact that very likely these two were heading to their temple duties at that time. Perhaps we can make that assumption. They're temple activities and to go and help this man, that actually would have defiled them and they would not have been able to then continue on to participate and engage in their temple activities, right?

And this defilement issue was a reason, a justified reason for their inactivity. Ooh, you know, bring that to 21st century context here.

And ask, how would this apply to us today?

Now, it is true that priests and Levites, they were in high status in the community. They did participate in the events of the temple. That it was a legitimate participation. They would have been wearing all the right clothing, right? They would have been involved in a higher level, a higher status of society, well regarded, in high esteem. People would have looked upon them in that way and so on the basis of that position, you know, that position often was garnered by ancestry, not necessarily character, right?

And so these individuals make this connection today. They were very good at performing the duties and tasks, all that was demanded of them, a to-do list, if you will, and that to-do list with all their religious activities did not allow for the taking care of and taking account of an individual who's half-dead in the dirt on the side of the road, you see.

So, you know, you can see some of this, how some of these same attitudes, some of these same characteristics can come into our experience if we look at our tasks and our duties in this way. And so what Jesus is revealing is the essence, the pure essence of what it means to love God and to love your neighbor, you see. So this is the story that's being told here.

I don't know if the lawyer at this point thought, I know where you're going, Jesus, this is, this is going to be an anti-religious establishment story, you know, perhaps the lawyer thought that, and now Jesus, no doubt, you're going to have a layman come along and do the practical work of, that the religious establishment should have. There might be some notion to that, but he would have never anticipated what next came from Jesus's mouth when Jesus said, but a Samaritan, Samaritan, when he came in contrast to the others, he was moved with compassion and helped the man. That's verse 33. Verse 33, when he saw him, the Samaritan, he had compassion.

The word Samaritan, again, that was like a bad word to someone like the lawyer.

There was so much historical angst, animosity between these groups. Again, to the point where the Pharisees considered the Samaritan's dogs, and so the lawyer probably, you mean a dog came along, you know, to help this man? But yes. So be thinking about what is the actual difference between the two and the one. What is the key ingredient that distinguishes the two individuals and the good Samaritan? The good Samaritan, verse 34 and 35, put his action into, it wasn't just words, he put it into action here. He bandaged wounds, poured oil and wine on the individual for healing, set him on his own animal, brought him to an end, took care of him, took out two denarii, paid to the innkeeper. Two denarii, it's calculated was enough for the man to stay in the inn for upwards of two months. Perhaps we'll do a future study. I want to do this with the young adults sometime, is really take a look at the essence of the details of how this Samaritan helped here and the sacrifice, the specific sacrifice, and how he sacrificed to help this, his neighbor here. But the differentiating factor, the one component that separated the good Samaritan from the others, and it's the component that must separate us as God's people, comes to us in one word, and that's compassion. Compassion.

So it's not even about a layman and religious element, it's compassion. And we see the Samaritan participating in the wonderful compassion of God. So how can I inherit eternal life? Jesus now drives home the lesson to the lawyer, verse 36, by asking, which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And the lawyer, the expert on the law, must now say what he had to say, and that is, verse 37, he who showed mercy on him. And this is a process for this lawyer because he couldn't even say the Samaritan. He probably couldn't even get that out of his mouth. Now he, you know, who showed mercy on him, he was the one who was the neighbor. And this is the moment, this is the moment that there was probably just a whole rush of thoughts and emotion coming into the lawyer, the expert on the law, who no doubt thought he was on the path to eternal life. No doubt he thought. And now, having to come to the acknowledgement if this is what it means to be on the road to eternal life, if this what it means to truly love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, if this what it means to love your neighbor as yourself, if this is the true expression of the law, then the lawyer, the expert on the law, would have to acknowledge that he indeed has not been keeping the law. He would have to say, if this is what expressing the law means, then I, the expert, am not on the path to receiving the gift of eternal life.

If this is what it means to live out the law, then I'm not on that path. And let me tell you, the lawyer was keeping the law, keeping the law to the letter in spirit and truth. It's good. It's required, right? It will always be required, but the lawyer hadn't permeated the law into a way of life. And that's the point. He had been keeping the law that's honorable, required, and good, but he wasn't expressing all that the law demands. You see, he would have had to come to this understanding. I have to acknowledge this isn't me. It's not the way I'm living. I'm not living out the law in this way. And probably at this point, the lawyer would have to really acknowledge, I don't even know if I have this in me. I couldn't even bring myself to say the word Samaritan, you know, the good Samaritan. If I have to love these individuals who I previously considered dogs, wow, that is above me. This is more than I can see myself achieving. All these thoughts would have been running through his mind here. But I got to tell you, this is actually a beautiful place for the lawyer to come to. We need to come to this where we feel like what is being asked of us, a higher level of righteousness, wow, that is too much for me. And so we hit our knees and or bow our heads in humble repentance and ask God the Father and say to Father, I can't do this ever by myself. And God the Father through Jesus Christ will respond and say, I know you can't, but with us living in you, you can. So you're going to have to lean upon our strengths as we show you the way, the depth of what we're asking as to the way to eternal life there.

So that we come to this place with the lawyer, perhaps, and it's beautiful because we want the lawyer, we want ourselves to correct course or adjust in any way that we need to. So this is the depths that the law requires because the law not only shows us a way to life, the law shows us a way of life. Okay? It not only shows us a way to life, it shows us a way of life. And it needs to move from just a head knowledge to a heart knowledge. This is where it must be. Unless it gets here, we will never truly love God to the depths we should, nor will we be able to love our neighbor in this way. So as I read this, I ask myself, is there a possibility that I'm not on this road to eternal life, that I'm not fulfilling all that the law requires? Have I grown complacent in my compassion for my neighbor? I know again, I find it easier to fulfill the first half of the answer. I find much more difficulty fulfilling the second half. Can I acknowledge that today? Can we acknowledge that today? This is what the expert of the law was discovering here. He had been keeping the law one by one. That's good and right and required, but it was not all. And so Jesus looks in the eyes of this lawyer and he pricks his heart of all the fullness that the law requires. So we cannot fall into in line with the thinking of the Levite and the priests. And where we're dressed up, we're fulfilling these activities, all these religious activities, again, which are right, good and required, but fail to help our neighbor and love our neighbor and have compassion upon them along the way. We cannot be merely wearing the law on our upper arms and foreheads, right, and be comfortable on our pillow at night. It's not enough. It's not enough. We may be leaving half of the requirement unfulfilled. The lawyer had a gap between his creed and his conduct. The lawyer had a gap between his creed and his conduct. He had a gap between his professed faith and the way his faith functioned. And I found those two quotes online. I like a good quote. The gap between a professed faith and how their faith functioned there. And so the significant identifying feature of God's people is not only that we love God, but we must also love our neighbors and we are to live a life that transforms the life of others. Where even if they deny and think we're strange for being here on the Sabbath, for obeying the food laws, for the holy days, even if they think that's strange, they'll never be able to deny the beauty that those things have produced. They'll never be able to deny that. And that's a true example of showing the world who God is. So let's show them. Let's show them. Let's show them the way of life that leads to eternity. I got to tell you, we've all met individuals, and perhaps we've met them in the mirror. We've all met individuals who have an enormous amount of biblical knowledge.

And you just, sometimes if you're like me, I just want to reach into that brain and absorb some of it. But somehow, though, you get the feeling that they really do not love you and have compassion for you.

And I got to tell you, all the expertise in the law, without compassion, it eliminates that individual from being any use to God. So God looks down on this priest and this Levite and says, I can't do much with them. But this Samaritan, oh, I can do a work through him. I can do a work through him. Well, as we conclude, let's finish by reading the conclusion of this wonderful story. This is such a loving teaching from our Savior Jesus Christ.

This parable of the Good Samaritan, it should really shake us today, just as it did the lawyer, shake us to do better. It's okay. Ask for repentance where needed. But go forward this year with maybe an extra motive and gumps to love God deeper. Yes, but maybe to love our neighbor even more than we have in the past. This concur in front is our understanding of what the road to eternal life looks like. May we all come to this knowledge today. So let's finish with Luke 10 verses 36 and 37. Jesus asked verse 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. May we all go forward from this day as a good and compassionate neighbor.