The Good Samaritan

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Introduction. Continue in Luke with Jesus teaching us about his kingdom and it involves the greatest command. Can we recite it? Consider loving our neighbor with the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most famous parables of Jesus. The parable is prompted by a question for Jesus.

Luke 10:25–28 NLT

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

The lawyer/scribe correctly identifies the greatest command of the law.

Love the Lord comes from…

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 ESV

“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 your neighbor comes from…(maybe not as familiar, so I’ll give it a full read)

Leviticus 19:9–18 NLT

“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God. “Do not steal. “Do not deceive or cheat one another. “Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the Lord. “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay. “Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord. “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly. “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. “Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord. “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

We see love commanded with a lot of specifics. It gives a good picture of love for others.

Brother and neighbor. There is some ambiguity. The lawyer would like a technical clarification.

Luke 10:29–37 NLT

The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

The priest and levite may have had good technical reasons for avoiding the man.

Samaritans had a broken Jewish heritage and had some big religious differences (where they seemed to be quite wrong). What is the equivalent of a Samaritan today? They might be people who are actually wrong.

This Samaritan who is technically wrong about many things got the heart of God’s law right!

Moral of the story (Jesus tells us), go show mercy. Who is my neighbor I am to love? Go show mercy. Don’t ask who is my neighbor. Go be the neighbor. You are already near many, be neighborly to them.

Jesus isn’t teaching a new truth, he is enlightening the truth. Loving your neighbor was never about  obeying God’s mandatory charitable giving for the foreigner or fulfilling an arbitrary economic burden to the poor. It was about loving others because that is the God-like thing to do. You can’t love God and refrain from doing the most God-like thing God does.

1 John 4:20–21 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

The two are inseparable.

We must love our neighbor. We must love our brother.

How do we do this? It’s a heart change, first. We want to love others - to value others - like God does. Then action follows that heart change. Actions of making peace and acts of charity.

We need to make peace with our brother/neighbor.

Matthew 5:23–24 ESV

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

God isn’t interested in your worship when you have heart issues with a brother/neighbor. You can’t love God and hate your brother.

We need to be charitable to our brother/neighbor.

I am guilty of not valuing charity highly. We will have a mission of the month or some other charity drive and I’ll think, “That’s all fine, but when do we get to the good stuff like spiritual retreats, and worship service, and Bible class, and camp? – you know the real stuff?” And that’s wrong. Showing love to our neighbors IS the real stuff. That’s God stuff. It’s what Jesus is teaching us that God is all about.

Jesus teaches us what it’s like to live in his kingdom, and this is at the heart of it. To follow Jesus is to love our neighbor and brother. To love God is to love our neighbor and brother. So let’s live like we really believe that this is the greatest command Jesus has given us.

Call to repentance.

Call to believe. Do you want to be a part of the kingdom where these are the values? Do you want to commit your life to following Jesus?