Who is my neighbor

I. Introduction:

Luke 10:17–37 NASB95

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” 21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” 23 Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, 24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.” 25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 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.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

Luke 10:17

-(v.17-19) The disciples come home from a missionary journey where they say folks get saved, and delivered from demonic possession. They are excited about the power of God flowing within them.

-(v.19-20) Jesus the confirms his mighty power flowing within them because of his connection to the disciples.

-(v.20) Then he mildly rebukes them for focusing on the wrong thing. Don’t rejoice over the power that I have put in you, but rejoice that you names are in the lamb’s book of life. Don’t find your joy in the power, but in your choosing.

-(v.21) Jesus then begins pray the content of his prayer are in the salvation plan of God:

a. Disclose-To the simple or the humble and broken, the dependant

b. Hidden-From the wise and intelligent, those that don’t need the Lord, those that find their hope, joy and dependance on their own intelligence

-(v.22) Jesus then helps us to see that he is the only self revealtor, meaning no one really know either the Son or the Father unless they reveals themselves to us. We are absolutely dependent on him to reveal.....Which means nobody just found God

-(v.23) Then look at the text “What does he tell his disciples privately: Blessed-makarios-being favored by God----Then he tells them why they are blessed. “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see”

What did Jesus mean by this? This goes beyond seeing, but has more to do with the interpretation of what you see.

-(v.24) Jesus then talks about the OT prophets who long to see this day when the Messiah would arrive but they died waiting.

I. The Lawyers Question:

Luke 10:25 NASB95

25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

-(v.25) Now Luke tells us the motive of this question: “And a lawyer stood up and put him to the test” This tells us that the question is loaded. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Why does a person receive an inheritance? Family association not performance

-So a part of his question is right. He understood that eternal life was an inheritance based on Family Association. So the right question should have been “How can I be a part of your family?”

But he said “what must I do?” He is looking for a work that would give him this inheritance, but if there was a work then eternal life would no longer be work but it would be a wage.

-(v.26-28) Jesus meet him where he was since you want to know to do.....Keep the OT law!!!!

-(v.28) Fulfill the Law, since you want to know what I require. One of those Laws is “love your neighbor as yourself”

-(v.29) And then as if to say I already do all that the Lawyer says “And who is my neighbor??”

The Broken Man