Luke 10:25-37 - The Good Samaritan

Q: Why don’t people follow Jesus? (Especially those who should?)

A: Because they have a desire to justify themselves

SW: Have confidence despite rejection.

INTRODUCTION: Why don’t people follow Jesus? (especially those who should)

You may not realise it but we are in a unique moment in history.

No. Not, that Ruben Amorin, Manchester United’s new coach, is about to play his first match today.

much more significant.

Historic moment in the west relation to Christianity.

Western societies, more and more secular. If not completely.

(A) 2021 census. first time since census recorded. No of Christians. fell to less than 50%.

One sense, no surprise. stats - just under 50%. Ancedoctally - feels much less. 20%? 10%?

(L) But society. not only one turning away.

(A) also happens in the academy.

There are obviously good bible colleges.

But in secular colleges it is not uncommon to have lecturers with PHDs teaching the NT who do not believe in Jesus.

It is unnerving. Brilliant individuals. Sharp minds.

Yet totally against Jesus.

(A) I recall. theology degree.

Course mate. In another class. Lecturer in NT. also Revd of a central london church.

After one of his classes. Completely shocked. Can you guess what he said?

“he doesn’t believe that God created the world.” “doesn’t believe in the new creation”

Society. Academy. Also the church.

Institutional church. some of you know.

Following the trajectory of society and the academy.

Barely distinguishable from the rest of society.

We are in a historical moment.

(L) Shift away from the gospel and Christian roots not just out there but also our lived experienced.

Not sure if you’ve tried speaking about Jesus in the workplace or with friends.

But most people are just indifferent.

Happy for you. But much rather you keep things to yourself.

They may be lovely. Polite. Gracious.

But just totally indifferent to the gospel.

Issue we’re confronted with is why?

Why don’t people believe in the gospel?

Why don’t they follow Jesus?

More than that - why are the one who we would think should follow Jesus… don’t?

The professor with the Doctrate in NT studies

The bishop who’s task is to defend the gospel

Western society, with morality and ethos founded of Christian values.

The friend or family you know, who are just so nice… yet indifferent to the gospel.

Why don’t they, especially the ones who should, follow Jesus?

V - You may perhaps be more resilient than I am.

But I do sometimes find myself being discouraged

Does the gospel actually work?

Moreover, it does diminish my boldness.

I almost expect people to reject Jesus.

Well. There are a variety of reasons why people reject - bad experiences in church, never really explored, hypocritical christians

But today we’ll explore one of the key reasons why.

ORIENTATION

For our time. Consider two angles from today’s passage

What following Jesus means

closely related - Why people don’t want to follow him

Passage today. Famous passage. Most of us would have heard. Good Samaritan.

Capture the popular imagination

Most kids growing up. RE lessons on Good Samaritan.

Charities set up - Samaritans.

Same time. So popular. Read the commentaries - 10 different ways of understanding.

“One of the most culturally pervasive stories in the NT. also, one of the most mis-interpreted stories in the NT”

Do my best - help us understand. Suggestion: two angles

What it means to follow Jesus

Why people reject.

(L) firstly..

ARGUMENT

1. Following Jesus means loving God and neighbour. Loving radically.

Passage. Convo between Jesus and Lawyer.

v25 Lawyer asks “teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Debate on the nature of the question

Bad question? focus on what shall i “DO” to inherit.. works-based religion.

Perhaps? But maybe it’s a more neutral question

Eternal life -> Life with God. what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Neutral question. How can I be in relationship with God?

(L) Answer? correct answer.

Luke 10:27–28 “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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.””

Answer? Love. sum of the law. Love God. Love neighbour.

It IS the right answer.

Come with me to Deut 6 to see where the Lawyer is getting this from. Pg - 151.

Shema. “Hear” Israelites would recite this often.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Love. That’s right.

Draws from Lev 19:18. You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Love God and Love neighbour as yourself -> means to be in relationship with God.

Being in R/L with God is to love him and your neighbour

(L) But the lawyer follows up with another question

“Who is my neighbour?” “or to what circumstances should I be loving?”

with this. Jesus answers with a story. Come back to Luke.

Luke 10:30–32 “Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

Ever been in desperate help of need?

I spoke to Tom. Last week. Desperate state of need.

(I asked him if ok. Still okay?)

Tom. There was a bug going around in family.

Last week. Work. Feeling dreadful. Tummy very upset.

Desperate to get home. Uber.

Dismay? Every single Uber driver cancelled.

Euston station. Terrible idea.

Going down stairs. Stumbling. Swaying. Rumbling in stomach.

Two guys come and help. Probably drunk?

Then it happens.

Falls down all fours. Retches on the station floor.

“Not drunkkk. My daughter. Ill.”

Discomfort - bug? Embarrassment?

Apparently, things got better. Helped by station master. Gave some water. Felt much better. Managed to get home.

(A) Imagine. Didn’t get help.

You’re Tom. Lying on the ground. Immobilised.

Worse. Couple of thugs. Laugh. Kick in the stomach. Make sure stay down

Take phone. wallet. credit cards. Work laptop.

Desperate state of need.

can’t call for help.

A man walks pass on the way to the office

“Heelppp. please...”

glance down. Immediately avoid. pretend doesn’t hear.

In pain. Stomach hurts from bug. Kick.

Another person walks pass.

“Helpp me. please...”

a third persons walks pass. what happens?

Luke 10:33–35 “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

Final person.

Stops. First aid. Cleans him up.

Takes him to a nearby hotel - Hotel manager. He needs rest. If he stays the night.

Here’s my credit card. charge it to my card

Doctor is coming. - Charge it to my card.

Any additional cost - charge it to my card.

If he feels better and get home to his family. Charge his transport to my card.

How will you feel?

Unrealistic. unheard of. radical kindness and love.

Love for neighbour -> anyone in need.

(L) hard to illustrate the shock in the passage.

It is an radical act of love.

From the most unlikely individual.

Samaritan.

Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Treated like mudbloods. Mixed with other nations.

Samaritans. On paper the follow the torah.

But known to misinterpret the law.

Yet it is him to proved to show love to his neighbour.

The question was posed: Who is my neighbour? To what circumstances should this law apply?

To anyone in need.

A few reflections on the kind of love that Jesus is calling for

Love of God. results in

Love of neighbour. Radical love.

Love of anyone in need. Doesn’t discriminate.

Love is also active. It acts. It does something for others.

Love is costly. “charge it to my card”

(repeat) love is anyone.. active.. costly.

Following Jesus means loving radically.

Luke 10:36–37 “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.””

V - mulling on this passage past few weeks. Areas where I don’t love well.

Cycling in to the city. Rushing in.

Cycle path. Jamacia road towards london bridge just before you turn. right onto london bridge.

As I was cycling

Another cyclist knocked into a garbage collector who fell. Berated him and cycled off.

man lying on the ground.

What do you think I did?

Cycled past. I was rushing.

Then I thought… “ I’m preaching..” Better turn back. So I did to help him and ask if ok.

Yes I helped him. But was it out of love… Not instinctively.

More because I knew I was teaching on this passage.

Rebuke - don’t love well.

Nuance.

True we are in a different context.

NHS. Other services to help those in need.

General suspicion of being scammed by people pretending in need.

Also true -other NT passage teaches us how to prioritise meeting the needs of others.

Family. Church. outsider.

But the call to love radically is still true for those following Jesus.

We who have experienced his compassion towards us should also express it to others.

We should have a general disposition of love towards to outsider.

We should aim to love those unlike us.

Have we found too many reason not to love?

Encouragement to take a small step to love our neighbour.

Maybe do start with your actual neighbour.

Different political views

Children who are quite poorly behaved.

Laughs at your faith

Backs into your car and drives away.

Following Jesus means loving radically.

Anyone in need

Active

costly.

(Pause)

But that’s not all.

We’ve been considering how the story of the good samaritan applies to us.

But it is a story that is part of a wider story.

(A) Important task at work. Present to higher management.

Important as it is.

One component in a wider context.

And the wider context here is not the good samaritan but the Lawyer and Jesus.

Lawyer

Don’t think - someone working for the “magic circle” A&O, Linklaters, Slaugther and May.

Think religious leader. Expert in the Torah, jewish law.

PHD in theology. NT scholar.

Yet one who does not believe in Jesus.

Confrontation: NT scholar vs the Carpenter’s Son

confrontation exposes the reason why people don’t follow.

Because for those won’t follow, there is a more sinister underlying reason.

2. Those who don’t, desire to justify themselves

Luke 10:25 “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?””

Notice? Our author Luke’s editorial insert “Test”

Question may be neutral on the surface.

But motivation much more sinister

(L) come with me again to Deut 6

Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Deuteronomy 6:16 ““You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”

Irony? Even as the lawyer, with all his intellectual prowess recites: “You shall love the Lord your God”

As the Lord, Jesus, stands before him

He is at that very moment testing the Lord.

Luke 10:25 “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,

V - may have that experience.

Sceptic friend comes to you with some questions

Agenda, not to hear answers.

But to test.

Whole aim. trip you up.

But what about this? What about that? and this?

No matter how well you answer. cannot satisfy.

This lawyer

Mouth “love God”

Heart - fails. Testing the Lord himself.

(L) but there’s more.

Even though Jesus sees through his motivations - responds graciously

Luke 10:28 “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.””

but the lawyer. Not satisfied instinctively replies.

Luke 10:29 “But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””

again notice, our author, Luke’s editorial insert

“desiring to justify himself”

Tone - not “oh.. hmm. But who would you say is my neighbour?”

but “oh. But WHO is my neighbour?”

See? not trying to really find out.

trying to reduce his culpability.

to shrink the range of people he needs to show love to.

(A) imagine him hearing Jesus tell the story of the good samaritan. Just arrogant.

“and there was a priest going down the road. saw.. passed”

Lawyer going “typical.. typical.. these priests.”

“And the levite going down the road. passed by.”

“Oh typical.. typical..”

Then Jesus blows his expectations apart.

The samaritan.

The very one who the lawyer thinks misunderstands the law.

Actually obeys the law by showing love.

Do you see? The lawyer fails on both counts.

Right thing = love God and neighbour as self.

Fails on both accounts.

Does not love God. Rather he tests him.

Does not love his neighbour. desires to justify himself.

And as Jesus tells him to go and do likewise… did he listen?

Flip to 11:45

Luke 11:45–46 “One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”

Good Samaritan.

story within a story.

Wider story - expose the reason for unbelief.

MAIN THRUST: Because of a desire to justify self

Why don’t people follow Jesus? Even the experts, those who are suppose to know their bibles?

well Luke tells us, it is because they desire to justify themselves.

At the heart of it - desire for self-justification.

Quote

Defense mechanisms or excuses are all a part of self-justification, and self-justification is simply a form of self-worship.

You think that you’re special and that the rules don’t apply to you.

This is the lawyer.

He is special

the rules don’t apply.

Justifying himself.

REINFORCEMENT

Tight link between point 1 and point 2 - tight link between the call to love radically and self-justifying behaviour

(A) Speaking friend other day.

very anti-christian.

What are his views

“Generally a good person”

“Do good as much as I can”

Do you hear the difference?

Self-justifying behaviour says “I do good as much as I can”

Christians says “I do good as much as Jesus has loved.”

One limits.

One broadens out.

To follow: is to love radically. Even those unlike us.

Christian, experiences God’s love. Love for the unlovely and so understands

The need to love more.

Those who don’t follow: Justify themselves.

Narrows the band of who to show love to.

The desire to justify self, prevents one from following Jesus.

Defense mechanisms or excuses are all a part of self-justification

Today’s passage - tightly linked to what has come before.

Last week - Jesus prays in v21.

Luke 10:21 “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding

Who is the wise and understanding in our passage?

Last week - Father hidden these things.

This week, we see the human side of the equation.

Yes, the Father hides.

But it is also because “wise and understanding”

Tests..

Justify self..

^ Biggest irony.

lawyer lips… “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart”

Yet at the very same moment, testing the Lord in front of him. as he speaks.

Why don’t people follow Jesus? especially those who should?

God wants us to know. So he lifts the lid

There are variours reasons

But the key reason: Because people have a desire to justify themselves.

Yet in self-justification, we deceive ourselves

The default mode of every human heart, whether moral or immoral, religious or irreligious, self-discovery or moral conformity, is self-justification.

Timothy Keller

Luke 10:29 “But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””

(PAUSE)

How shall we apply?

a few reflections.

APPLICATION: Confidence to follow and proclaim

Firstly we already consider the application from the good Samaritan - love radically.

Christian have experienced mercy. So we can show compassion to others.

Non-Christian.

Hear the challenge from God’s word today.

Temptation to think that we’re essentially good people.

But when we hear the call to follow Jesus

to love others.

to be willing to serve others.

We say no thanks..

There is an inherent contradiction.

“We’re good”

But “We don’t want to love others.”

On one hand, we say we’re good.

On the other hand, we don’t want to experience the cost of following Jesus

There is a challenge from God.

Will you resist the temptation to justify yourself?

Will you recognise that following Jesus is the only way to actually truly love?

Don’t give into the desire to justify ourselves.

For the rest. Episode -> great confidence

Considered times we find oursevles in. securalisation. society. academy. church.

More. day to day experience. People meet. Think basically good.

Feel disconcerting. Am i on the right side? Is there any point in telling others about Jesus?

Today - insight. many reasons. but one central reason - starts from inside.

Desire to justify self.

Confidence that if you are following Jesus - you’re on the right side

Repented from self-justifying

And following Jesus enables us to truly love.

Confidence to proclaim

last week. Harvest time! 72 send out. proclaim.

even though - rejection common experience.

Nothing wrong with Jesus. Keep speaking with confidence.

Land

Jesus prays to the Father - thanking him that he hides things from the wise and understanding:

saw why today - the wise and understanding, justify themselves

But he also gives thanks that he reveals to little children.

Who is the little children?

Luke 10:38–39 “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary,

How little children should relate to him? Come back next week.

For now.

Pray. time for us to reflect. Daniel will come to pray.

Luke 10:21 “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

forgive us for self-justifying.

thank you for mercy and compassion in Jeuss

help us love like him

real confidence

Considered the fact that we are in a historic moment.

Western society - more secular.

academy and church more like the world.

Disconcerting

something wrong with the gospel?

Today’s passage helps to process it rightly.

God’s assurance to us today is

No.

Nothing wrong with the gospel.

Self-justification comes naturally to those who fear their deeds being exposed, but at least such persons know in their hearts that they are guilty. The situation is much more serious when we believe our own lies.

Chuck Swindoll; Roy B. Zuck

(Heb. 4:13). In self-justification we deceive only ourselves.

Chuck Swindoll; Roy B. Zuck

And it is precisely because of the human tendency toward self-justification that the Scriptures ought to be read in the community of the faithful, as well as in the solitude of private reflection and study.

Paul Achtemeier; Joel B. Green; Marianne Meye Thompson

Defense mechanisms or excuses are all a part of self-justification, and self-justification is simply a form of self-worship. You think that you’re special and that the rules don’t apply to you. That’s what sin is all about, whether you approach it psychoanalytically or biblically.

Bruce Larson; Lloyd J. Ogilvie