The Parable of the Good Samaritan

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Introduction

Have you ever been called out in front of someone? I mean like put on the spot in a kind of situation that you didn’t really know what to do or say? It can happen at pretty much any time and pretty much any place. That’s kind of the thing about getting put on the spot, you never really know when it is going to happen. I know it has happened to all of us at some time or another.

When you get a test back from your teacher and your friend sees it and says always too loudly "how did you get another F?!"

You are at a family gathering and someone says something to you in front of the rest of the family that you have no idea how to answer

You are at lunch sitting beside someone you have a crush on and your friend comes by and says "bro, is this the girl you wont stop talking about?

I was called out bad my freshman year playing football at NGU. We were in our morning workouts in the weight room and some of the older guys on the team were in the middle of the gym about half way through our workout. Our strength coach wanted to give one of the junior guys a hard time so he said "joey, I bet some of our freshman guys are stronger than you". Insulted and ready to prove himself, joey said "you pick the freshman and the weight, and I’ll pick the lift that I'm going to beat him in." With a smile on his face, my strength coach yelled "Todd! Where is Todd!?" Confused, I made my way to Joey and our coach who were already surrounded by much of the team cheering on Joey's ego. Coach said, "Joey thinks he can lift more than any freshman, so I picked you to challenge him.

Im thinking WHAT?! I DON’T KNOW JOEY! EVERYTHING IS ALL GOOD HERE, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CHOOSE ME TO BE THE GUY YOU PUT ON THE SPOT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE ELSE!

But I couldn’t say all that out loud cause it wasn’t cool so I just said "lets do it" Before I knew it Joey was on Incline bench with 80lb dumbells and the whole team counted them out 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,…drop. I was up. I grabbed the 80lb ers and laid back. With a serge of adrenaline I pushed as the team counted 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,…9,10,11,12,13,14,15,… Drop and the room exploded with cheers from 100 football players, both cheering for me and laughing at Joey.

I want you all to think of one of those moments that you were put on the spot. Getting put on the spot is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it can even be a learning opportunity. This morning, we are going to look at a story of a time that Jesus was put on the spot and how he made it a teaching opportunity.

Body

Verse 25 leads us off with a lawyer, an expert in Jewish law, who wants to call Jesus out. As he has probably done hundreds of times to others, this lawyer puts Jesus on the spot in the middle of the crowd.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

As Jesus grew in popularity in the area, more and more people began to ask him questions and this was probably one very common question people asked Jesus about. The topic of eternal life was a hot one and many people wanted to know what it took to receive it. Jesus often answered the question of eternal life in mostly the same way, but this time is a little different. Being a Jewish lawyer, this question was a little more specific than we tend to think of it today. This expert in law was asking, not merely how to get to heaven one day, but "what must I do to be in God's plan for me?" He is essentially, asking Jesus how to walk in God's will. Knowing that the lawyer is very familiar with the law, Jesus response to him is interesting and we have it here in verse 26

He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

Instead of answering the mans question, Jesus asks the lawyer another question. Now I want all of you to listen in to this because the way Jesus teaches this man tells us a lot about Jesus. Jesus asked this man a question… Jesus actually did this a lot in His ministry and God asked questions like this often all through the old testament. One thing you should know when God asks a question is that…God never asks a question in order to gain information. I know that sounds a little weird, but questions can be used for more than just gaining information. Questions, if used correctly, can actually help to provide information and that is exactly what Jesus is doing here. I’ll explain in a sec. Jesus' answer to the lawyers question has a tone that really comes across like this "you’re the lawyer, you tell me. And how do you interpret it? Or what do you think it means? As an expert and a student of the 630 plus Jewish laws, this man, and his other Jewish friends, would have a ranking of laws. It was pretty well understood what the greatest commandment is, but the second greatest commandment was something widely debated.

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.”

Big surprise! The lawyer confidently quotes the law in order to answer Jesus. The law was the answer to everything for these people! There was nothing more highly respected and there was nothing that could fight against the law. After all, it is the word of God. This is probably one of the easiest arguments the lawyer has been a o part of at this point.

Obviously, Jesus knew what He was going to say and Jesus knew that the lawyer knew the law better than he knew anything else probably. So this is where Jesus really gets him…

And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

I am not sure Jesus could have hit the lawyer with a more unexpected response than this. Jesus basically just confirms that the lawyer knew everything he needed to know in order to have eternal life. What Jesus ended on, however, was not a question of weather the man knew how to live, but weather the man was living what He knew."do this and you will live" has a specific tone to it. Jesus is telling the lawyer "practice what you preach!"

Unable to let the conversation stop there, the lawyer responded again saying…

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

Up until this point the lawyer has asked all the right questions. He has quoted the law perfectly and accurately made himself look great in front of the crowd he is using this question to put Jesus on the spot.But like I said, up until this point. This questions "who is my neighbor" assumes that he has already accomplished the first of these 2 great commandments and he is completely OBLIVIOUS to the fact that he is not right with God! He assumes that he has already done all that is required of him. He believes that every bit of his being is right with God and he is clearly not. He wanted to justify himself meaning many people are looking on watching this little back and forth and The lawyer was just told that he needs to practice what he preaches.

People looking on are probably familiar with the people who the lawyer does not show love to. Knowing this, the lawyer wanted to clear his name and make himself look good in front of the crowd as they listened in. When the lawyer asked the question "and who is my neighbor" he expected a very specific answer. The answer the lawyer would have expected is one from the law. It comes from . Here God identified the neighbor as a fellow Israelite. The law does not say NOT to love people who are not Israelites, it Just specifically identified that Israelites are neighbors to other Israelites. The lawyers interpretation of that was that the only people he had to love as his neighbors were his family members and close friends. Expecting Jesus to reference the Lawyer was ready to respond and proudly tell Jesus and all those who listened in that He has always shown love to His close family and friends…But Jesus does not do what anyone expects here.

“And who is my neighbor?” 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. 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.’ 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.

The purpose of this story is to completely shatter the lawyers self righteousness by showing Him what love in action looks like.

The priest

The lawyer is hopeful

The Levite

The Lawyer is again hopeful

The Samaritan

The lawyer knows the man is a goner

Closing

I think big things happen when people are put on the spot. It can serve as a make or break point. I want to take this opportunity to put all student ministries on the spot. I am putting each of you on the spot, I want to put myself and all leaders in this church on the spot. I want to call you all to rise to this awesome occasion

Identify a person with a need in their life. This could be a single mom, a family with a deployed husband, a homeless person, a widow, someone who is very sick, a family who has recently experienced loss, or the elderly. Love that person or family by meeting a specific need.

This should be an outward expression of our inner submission to God's plan for our lives.

Let us leave here this morning with this mindset. "I will go and love because Jesus came here to show His love for me"

Prayer.