Good Neighbors

Scripture Reading

Luke 10:25–37 NKJV

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then 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 he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, 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 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.”

We use the phrase “good neighbor” rather glibly. To be a good neighbor simply means being courteous to those who live immediately next to you. And that’s fine, but when the Bible talks about being a good neighbor, it means something much more serious. First of all, your neighbor - Biblically - isn’t just the people to live to your left and right and back. More importantly, the story of the “Good Samaritan” is tied up with what it means to love your neighbor. And the answer to that question is tied to the most important question of all - what shall I do to inherit eternal life? that’s why I’ve titled my sermon “good neighbors.”

I. What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?

The question isn’t a sincere one.

The man is a “lawyer,” meaning an expert in the Law of Moses. He isn’t someone who argues in court, but a bible expert.

He isn’t looking for information, but rather he is testing Jesus to see if he can answer. As a “bible expert” he assumes he can already answer the question.

To be fair to him, he does look for the answer in the right place. Jesus challenges him on his “reading” or interpretation of the Law. And he does give the right answer - he really is a Bible expert.

We will see that despite his superior intellect, he lacks basic knowledge of how to obtain eternal life, confidence notwithstanding - as Jesus just said in v.21-22

What does he mean by “Eternal Life?”

It isn’t just about the afterlife; it’s about getting a new body and truly living forever. 1 Cor 15:50-54

1 Corinthians 15:50–54 NKJV

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

It includes reigning in God’s new world Rev 20:6

Revelation 20:6 NKJV

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Why does he assume that he must “inherit” eternal life?

The righteous will receive an eternal inheritance Psalm 37:18

Psalm 37:18 NKJV

The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever.

This inheritance means a possession in God’s new world. Dan 12:13

Daniel 12:13 NKJV

“But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.

What exactly does Jesus want him to do? Deut 6:5 Lev 19:18

Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJV

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Leviticus 19:18 NKJV

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Love God

Strength - every action is done because God is the most important thing.

Heart/mind - God is first in your emotions and thinking. God is more important to you than your dearest family member; your thoughts are aimed at doing what he commands whatever the cost.

Soul - your entire life centers on doing what God wants - not to escape punishment, but because you want what God wants.

You are honest, not just because you want people to trust you, but because God wants you to be honest.

You are faithful - to your wife; in your dealings with others - not just to avoid hurting them, but more importantly because that’s what God wants you to do.

Love Neighbor as yourself.

You always love yourself. You can’t ever stop loving yourself in this way. That is, when I think about it, I don’t necessarily always like myself; but I always do what I think will be best for me. Always.

God commands that you love your neighbor this same way - it isn’t about whether that neighbor is likeable or not. When you love your neighbor you always do what is best for them. always.

That does filter down to our thoughts and actions. If I’m going to do what is best for my neighbor; I’ll need to actually think about what would be best for him/her. If I take love of neighbor as seriously as I do myself, I’ll have to think about others and put myself in their shoes rather a lot. Otherwise I won’t know what would be best for them.

If I’m going to really love my neighbor; then I need to want to do what’s good for my neighbor.

Why does Jesus tell him that Loving God and Neighbor will result in receiving eternal life? I thought we only needed to believe!

Exactly - “love God” isn’t a work, but a relationship. It goes to the core of your character, not just a list of do’s and don’ts.

Thus, someone who loves God will not be thinking about measuring up to a certain standard of performance, but of doing what God wants him to do; thinking what God wants him to think; feeling what God wants him to feel.

II. Who is my Neighbor?

The lawyer - Bible expert - does in fact understand the implications of this. That’s why he asks the next question - “Who is my neighbor? Luke tells us he asks this because he wants to “justify himself.” That is, he understands what it means to truly love God and neighbor. It’s a high standard he doesn’t meet. That’s uncomfortable, so he tries to hedge the command by limiting its scope - if my neighbor is only “my people” then I can hate those who don’t fit that.

However, Jesus’ parable deliberately breaks all his preconceptions.

We’ve become so conditioned to the story, in our culture a “good Samaritan” is anyone who has compassion and helps out a stranger.

But among the Jews, the only good Samaritan was a dead one. They were the enemy, considered dishonest. So Jesus intentionally chooses the most unlikely person to be a neighbor

Even more, this Samaritan would be doing this without any expectation of reward, since he is hated in Jewish culture. His only possible motive is concern for another human being. That is, he can only be doing this because he loves his neighbor.

The trip Jesus selects shows someone with knowledge of the area. The journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was literally “down” because in 17 miles the road descended some 3000 feet. Furthermore, there were many little caves on the surrounding hillsides, where bandits would hide out and rob unwary travellers.

The two people that come down first - the priest and the levite - would be expected to help. They are holy men, so surely these people will stop and show love of neighbor. But they don’t. They see the poor man, that he is half dead and unable to help himself; that he might possibly die out here, but for whatever reason, they don’t stop. It’s not important why; they are just characters in Jesus’ story. They don’t help so Jesus can draw his conclusion.

The Samaritan goes above and beyond.

He bandaged his wounds with the best first-aid of his day - oil and wine.

He put him on his own animal to move him somewhere he could recover

He paid for the man’s expenses at the inn - two denarii would be enough for about 3.5 weeks, since standard expenses would be 1/12 of a denarii. Since the injured man was robbed, of course he didn’t have any money to pay the innkeeper.

He offers to pay more on his return trip if the man needs it.

Notice that when Jesus concludes, the question he asks is not the same as the one the lawyer asked. He doesn’t ask who was the neighbor, but who became a neighbor to the injured man. That is, don’t ask who is my neighbor; that’s the wrong question. Ask instead how can I demonstrate the love of neighbor to those I meet.

The lawyer gets the point of the story, but can bring himself to mention the Samaritan’s race. He can only say “he who showed mercy on him.” Samaritan. The word you are looking for is Samaritan.

But if you do truly want to please God, then know that he wants you to love him - in mind, body, and soul. All that you are, all that you do; all that you think, and all that you feel. God wants you to love your neighbor - for everyone you meet, to strive to do what is best for them. Not what feels like help; but actually what is best. Not a list of things to do, but an attitude, a determination to treat each person you meet with the same care you give yourself automatically.

Let’s get back to the point of the sermon - what must I do to inherit eternal life? If that is your question, you’ll be forever wondering if you did enough. God’s standard of performance is total love for God; constant love of neighbor. That’s a relationship, not a list of things to do. You’ll always be wondering if you did enough.

That’s why you need God’s grace. This standard is beyond any of us; so we need to cry out to God for forgiveness for we all fall short. However, once receiving that grace, we then have the freedom to go actually do it. We now can love God, not out of the fear of torment, but because we actually want to please him. We can now love our neighbor, not for the sake of our neighbor alone (although that’s part of it), but because we love God.