Why do we call him good?

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 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 he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 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. 35 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.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

We call Him good because of His love

We call the Good Samaritan “good” because of the love that he displayed to his “neighbor”.

What’s Love Got to do with it?

In this case, it is the answer to the question, “What shall I do, to inherit eternal life?” The question that Jesus is answering, “Who is my neighbor?” relates back to who do I have to love?

Lk 10:

This question is not answered accurately in the lyrics to The Tina Turner hit from 1984.

Oh-oh, what's love got to do, got to do with it? What's love but a second-hand emotion? What's love got to do, got to do with it? Who needs a heart, when a heart can be broken?

Love has got everything to do with the Lawyer’s question to Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, as He so often does, with return question, “What does the law say, how do you read/understand it?”

Who is my neighbor?

This question is not directly answered by Jesus, in fact, the answer is left unanswered specifically, but the idea, is that anyone we come to interact with, is our neighbor, and that doesn’t mean, if you stop interacting with everyone, than no one is your neighbor.

What is Love?

Also, not a question that is answered by the group Haddaway’s song by that name, released 9 years after Tina Turner’s song.

But there is an artist/group that got a lot closer to the correct definition. Dc Talk- Love is a verb gets us heading in the right direction, when it comes to a biblical definition of love.

Hey hey, love is a verb!

Love is an action, an emotional response, it is also a noun.

In 1 Cor 13, God has given us a very extensive definition of what love is. What it is and what it is not!

So I would like to take the story in Luke 10:25-37 and hold it up against the backdrop of 1 Cor 13 to help us get an even better picture of what love is, how we can know it, and how we can display it towards God and towards our neighbors.

Love is not. . .

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

Look at all the “nots” in these verses. Love does NOT envy or boast.

Love is NOT arrogant, or rude. It does NOT insist on its own way.

It is NOT irritable or resentful.

Those are all things, that when we see them in other people, they irritate us, anger us, and disgust us. However, we easily excuse them in our lives. We seek to justify them in our lives.

Luke 10:29 ESV

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

Now, LISTEN UP! We are being fed a heap of lies and deceit on a regularly basis, from the main stream media and Hollywood. They define “love” as a certain way, and it’s a false love. Here’s what I mean.

Love is not what our post-modern, post christian culture says, it is. They define love, as acceptance. Acceptance, no matter what. It’s a “you do you” and that’s ok, mentality. You make your own rules kind of thinking. That is not love, in fact that is harmful and hateful.

Look at 1 Cor 13 again, this time verses 6-7

1 Corinthians 13:6–7 ESV

6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Wrongdoing is another word for sin. Sin is defined by God, not by a nation or by a group of people or as one thing today and another thing tomorrow.

Children’s catechism states it this way in a very summary fashion,

“Q. 28. What is Sin?A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.Q. 29. What is meant by want of conformity?A. Not being or doing what God requires. Q. 30. What is meant by transgression? A. Doing what God forbids.

Many people take verse 7, and twist it to mean, we just accept everyone, no matter what they do or say, but verse 7 is to be understood in the context of verse 6. “All” is in relation to “truth”

God glorifying, missional, community.

We can and will do better at the whole missional aspect of this purpose of the church triangle. We need to learn how to love our neighbors. We need to learn about our neighbors, and what their needs are. We need to stop along the road to help, when we see them beaten down, stripped and robbed.

You may say, well, if I saw someone laying along the road, I would certainly help, what about the people whose wounds have been inflicted mentally or emotionally, or verbally? We also need to be observant as we are going about our way.

A book by Pathak & Runyon “The Art of Neighboring” discusses the idea of getting to know the 8 closest of your neighbors. That’s a great start. It’s an area that I’ve got to get working on. Just knowing their names is one thing but quite possibly many of us don’t even know their names, then it’s a question of us loving them, as the Spirit leads and directs. It’s the Spirit that will guide us, as we apply the Word of God (The Word of God) being the primary way that He guides us.

Take away for today

Luke 10:37 ESV

37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Galatians 5:6 ESV

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

“You go, and do likewise.”

You, is for the Lawyer, You is for Me, and you is for You!

Go, and be like Jesus!

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Why do we call Him Good?

Jesus is our example, He is the head of the body, He is the firstborn among the children of God.

Various passages to exemplify this!

Communion