The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan Matthew Davis Parables of Christ / Luke 10:25–37 Introduction King James Version (Chapter 10) 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Good Evening church, as we begin today’s service, I would like to take a moment and be grateful for all who payed the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms and country we live in today. For the brave men and women who died for the many people they did not know. Who left this life a little earlier for their family and friends, who valued our freedoms enough to take that stand. I want to be thankful and bring into remembrance all the mothers who never saw their child again, the fathers who dealt with things privately, and the spouses and children who only remember or know their loved ones through pictures. On this memorial weekend, let’s not forget their sacrifice that allows us to live in what we call the land of the free. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 1 As we remember their sacrifice, let us also remember who it is they died for - They died for us, their neighbors. Today we will continue through the parables of Christ, with ‘The Parable of the Sower.’ Our message today will tackle the big question, “who is my neighbor?” Depending on who you ask, your neighbor might be limited to those who live next door or right across the street. Maybe you consider your neighbor to be those in your neighborhood, or those in your town. Perhaps you view anyone as in your immediate proximity, regardless of where you are as your neighbor. If we go around asking, we will get a hundred different responses to the question, ‘who is my neighbor.’ Today, a expert in the law asks Jesus the same question, so, “who is my neighbor?” Let’s read the scriptures and find out. The Seeker/Question VV. 25-29 Our first topic of the evening deals with two separate questions, and two answers. The first question, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” is what leads to the second question, “who is my neighbor?” I would like to examine these questions by examining the desire, the answer in the law, the result of following the law, and then, through the rest of the evening, looking deeper into the big question of tonight’s message, who our neighbor is. Desire V. 25 King James Version (Chapter 10) And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? When we first read the story, we read of a certain lawyer, or, a expert of the law. His goal? To temp Christ, or in other words, to put Him on trial. In the parallel accounts, He asks Christ “what is the greatest commandment?” to which Christ responds “love the Lord thy God will all thy heart, soul, and mind. And the second is like unto it, to love thy neighbor as thyself.” The goal, obviously of the this sect, is to catch Jesus teaching a heresy. The question, “What shall I do in inherit eternal life?” is a question I believe each of us have asked, or maybe you are currently asking that question right now. If you are saved, I know, certainly, that question has crossed your mind. If you are here as a nonbeliever seeking the truth, this question may now be on your mind, and if not, it will. It is a question to ponder, even as a saved believer, I think we should ponder the question and compare our answers to the Biblical truth. It is an earnest and sincere question - I find all too often, however, while the question is sincere, the seeker is not always so. The desire is often to find eternal life, but for many, that desire is to find it Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 2 their way. That sincerity disappears the moment they are told what it takes. The Law VV. 26-27 King James Version Chapter 10 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. The question is sincere, and Christ, as He often does, answers by asking. “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” Church, the Bible, the Law, is today as relevant as it was in the Old Testament. In the books of the law do we find what God expects of those who would desire eternal life. In that same law, do we find the need for the savior, for we find our own rebellion and nature is contrary to the Word. It pains my soul that there are many, too many I’d say, in the present church who believe the law is null and void. They believe that with the New Testament, with the law of grace, that you need not follow the law. They mistake “not being under the law,” for the law not being applicable. This is a question I deal with much today. As I preach a faith based salvation doctrine, as I teach you cannot lose your salvation, once you have it. As I teach all these things, I get one of two responses. The first response, I get typically from Pentecostals and other “you can fall from grace,” theologies, is that my teaching then legalizes sin, “because if you can never lose your salvation, there is nothing stopping you from going out and murdering people.” The second response I will receive is the polar opposite, “then you can’t call homosexuality a sin, or you can’t call out unwed sex a sin, or, or or...” To many the law has become inapplicable because to them, grace merits the sin. This in turn only solidifies the response of the Pentecostal, who can point to this other response as their evidence. My response to both - Paul knew he would deal with these same accusations, and Paul dealt with it as such, in Romans 3 King James Version Chapter 3 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by lthe law and mthe prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath sset forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 3 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. To the Christian today, if you think the law should be absent from your life, I say, think again. While the law can in no wise condemn you under grace, your life in Christ will not void the law, rather, establish it. To that, there are four particular commands of the law specified here. They come from two Old Testament sources - To love God with all thy heart, soul, strength and mind comes from Deut 6:5, and to love thy neighbor as thyself comes from Lev 19:18. Combined into one commandment in Luke, Christ teaches us in Matt 22:40 that on these two laws hangs all the rest of the commandments. Love God with all thy heart In loving God with all our heart, how do we love God? I would say we would love God emotionally, in the way we feel, in our gratitude, in our attitude. We would devote our emotional life to the love of God. Love God with all thy soul In loving God with all thy soul, how do you suppose you would love God? Our soul is our spiritual being - We will love God in spirit and in prayer. A love life with God in spirit seeks purity by pursing obedience to His Word. Love God with all thy strength In loving God with all thy strength, you will love God with your physical being. The actions you commit in the flesh, your behavior, your service to others. We may use our mouth to bring glory to His name, our hands to lift up our worship. We love with our eyes and what and how we gaze upon the world, or other people, what we allow our eyes to see. I love how someone else presented the great commission, that we love God physically with feet ready to go, ready to share the Word and disciple other people. Love God with all thy Mind Loving God with all thy mind, I think, for a good portion of people, is one of the harder aspects of loving God. We are to love God with our private thoughts. Do we think Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 4 about God? Do we think thoughts of love towards God? Do we curse in our minds? Do we blaspheme God in our minds? Do use His name improperly in our thoughts? What thoughts to we allow to sit and stew in the depths of our mind? To love God with our mind is to bring our thoughts under subjection to His Word and to have His mind become our minds. To have thoughts that would glorify our God above. Love thy neighbor as thyself (The be discussed as the rest of the sermon) We will go into more detail about your neighbor as we progress, but, we what do you suppose it means to love thy neighbor? Would it mean respecting them? Thinking good thoughts towards them? How about your physical actions towards them? Do you reach down and pick up your neighbor when he is on the ground? Do you feed him when he is hungry? Cloth him when he is naked? Do we laugh at them when we drive away? Do we scorn them? If we were to love our neighbor as ourselves, we would be caring for them, certainly. We would be willing to feed them, to cloth them, to lend a hand. We would stop on the side of the road and give them a hand. We could go on for a long while discussing what we could do, and I think we can all pretty well explain what it means to love another as ourselves. So what is the result of doing these things? The Result V. 28 King James Version Chapter 10 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. In a surprising turn, Christ actually agrees with the “expert of the law.” Now, to be clear, what is surprising is not so much that Christ agrees, but that the lawyer got something right. The lawyer is right, in that, if you can follow the law perfectly, you should inherit eternal life. I think we can all identify that if we sinned not, we would die not - We would inherit eternal life and we would enter into the presence of God on our own merits. And church, this is where we must pay careful attention to the language used of Christ. This do, and thou shalt live - The response of Christ was spoken in the present imperative, meaning, do this continually, non-stop, without failure, and thou shall live. In such, Jesus exposes the big flaw in the lawyers answer, which is, there is none (save Christ) who has perfectly and endlessly followed the law. To fail once is to fail permanently. In Christ’s answer, we find, that there are two things in which we need. We need, first, a substitution for our sin. We need Christ to take our place and perfectly fulfil the law because we cannot. Second, we learn that as Christians, there is a continual and habitual element of love we must exhibit. Surely, we cannot love God without faith, but Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 5 surely, we cannot know God if we love not. If we cannot, or do not love, we have never experienced the greatness of our God. The Big Question V. 29 King James Version Chapter 10 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? Willing to justify himself, the lawyer goes back on the offensive in a attempt to put Christ on the defensive once again. His question, really, is “how far does my love have to extend?” A question of which exposes the insincerity of the questions from the beginning. Love, I would say, knows no bounds. Love is infinite, and extends outwards as far as it needs. To the Jew, it was commonly taught to “love thy neighbor ‘in the law’.” This teaching made a world of difference in the interpretations of, and interactions with, those who should have been your neighbor. Some Jews, especially in the elite sects, would take this further and declare their neighbors as those belonging within the same sect as they. The lawyers question is the big question of tonight, because, throughout the millennia, people have been asking this same question. “Who is my neighbor?” The Parable of The Samaritan VV. 30-35 King James Version Chapter 10 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Problem The parable begins with a problem, a man is making the fifteen mile journey from Jericho to Jerusalem when he becomes confronted among thieves. Now, to be clear, these thieves are not petty thieves, but are an organized band. These robbers would hide behind the rocks and mountains, waiting for their victim to approach, and then rob first, and beat or murder second. Hardly would a man be robbed and then stripped Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 6 in our culture today. We typically find the murder, and then do we find the robbery took place thereafter. These men, concerned with keeping the garment, the high ticket item from the sting, intact. The man of the parable, possibly a real victim of this frequent crime, which earned the pass the title “red and bloody trail,” is left unidentified, either by race or occupation for a reason. People As the victim lay in the road, there are three men who pass by. Each of the men react differently, and each response deserves some examination. Priest The priest, I think, can represent a lot of the religious world, and much, if not most, of the secular world today. In the priest we find perfect indifference. A man, who could not bother to stop and check upon the man in the road. Rather, it appears, the priest treats the victim as if he has the plague, “passed by on the other side of the road.” Oh, the representation of todays world, where it is all but too common to pass people down looking for help, but we act as if they are not there. I see this all the time, in two particular ways that I think most can identify with. How about that begger on the corner looking for a meal? All too often we pass by, either not noticing, or thinking among ourselves “they only want the money for drugs, or they can get a job,” or whatever else you think. Sure, there are people who are definately not in the need and seek only to take advantage of your kindness. In Cedar, there is a lady who sits at walmart, she has been there everyday for over a year, with different signs asking for help to get her home, for she is away from home and travelling, out of gas. I happen to know where the lady lives, in Cedar, and that she is merely taking advantage with a made up story. However, can we say that about the majority of those people? Can we be sure? Can we, in love, pass by like they are not even there? I don’t think so. Another quick example, car accidents, they happen all the time. In ninety percent of the accident reports we get through dispatch, the reporting person (rp) did not stop to check on the vehicle. They continued driving by, but thought to call it in. “nine-one-one, whats the location of your emergency?” “Yeah, we’re on I-15NB, mile marker “x”, there is a car rolled over.” “Ok, do you know if there are any injuries?” “No, we are heading to a movie, we didn’t stop.” I’m not joking, we get stuff like that. We live in a world where the needy, the wounded, the dying, they seem unworthy of people’s attention. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 7 Levite I think, also, we see a lot of this Levite in our environment today. He had just enough curiosity, he wanted to see, to know, what was going on. He is the person who is nosy, who needs to know everyone’s business, but wants to do nothing to assist. He comes by and looks, get’s his curiosity satisfied, and then he continues on his way. How, might you think, do we see this today? Over and over again, I see on Facebook, hereby, “fakebook,” videos of people standing and recording more videos, of a violent action being committed. Whether by a criminal, or police, is irrelevant. They are just curious enough to stand and watch, to record it for their social media page - But they don’t care enough about their so called beliefs to step in and help a person in need. We see this all the time, a person is down, and there is a crowd of people kind of walking by, stopping to gaze, but there is no one administering first aid. They are all too busy to take the time to help, but not too busy to slow down and see what’s going on. This person, the Levite type in this account, is the person who satisfies his own desire, but has no love, compassion, or mercy for the wounded. These people can go home and tell a good story. They can discuss that poor person who had a stroke, or was beaten, or was misserved, but they can also come up with a hundred reasons why they could not help. Samaritan Then, the good Samaritan - The Samaritans were enemies of the Jews, scorned and mocked by them. The Jews would never stop to help, let alone talk to a Samaritan. However, when the Samaritan came across the man in need, he never stopped to ask, “is this man my brother?” A real love towards God, a real love towards man, would never stop to consider that question. He never stopped to ponder, “will I be late to work?” or “what will I sacrifice to help this person?” True love, a Christlike love, will always perform regardless of all the “what-ifs.” Pay close attention to the Samaritans acts, how he loved, and then also, pay attention to how it mirrors Jesus Christ. He came to where he was - The Samaritan did not simply walk by, by he went up to where the man was. He met him in his place of need. In the same way, this mirrors Christ’s actions of love towards us, in that, Christ came to us, here on earth, in the place of our need. Paul writes in Romans that Christ came to die for us, while we were without strength. When there was nothing we could do to save ourselves. The text then says that he had compassion on the guy. The Samaritan felt for the guy and the love in his heart compelled him to perform. This mirrors Christ, whose work on the cross was a work of love, of compassion, that moved Him to give Himself freely for a broken people. It was the love and compassion of God that provided mercy and Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 8 deliverance. The text tells us that he bound up his wounds, and covered them in oil wine. The Samaritan tended to the wounds, physical on the poor victim. The Lord, tends to our wounds, often times physical, but also the spiritual. He heals our brokenness. He heals our scars, he heals our pain and hurt, and he frequently heals, physically, our broken bones, our illnesses, and our iniquities. The Samaritan has already done more than the others who passed by, but he continues. The Samaritan puts the man onto his beast, and takes him to the inn. He goes out of the way to ensure the man ends up in a safe environment where he may heal, where he may be tended to, where he may be protected. Those who are in Christ are lifted up of the Lord, and inherit an eternal home that is safe, that is in the presence of God, and that we may be tended to by the creator. The text tells us, that at least for some period of time, how much, we do not know, that the Samaritan took care of the victim of the robbers. In what ways, we do not know, but we can compare again, the actions of one who loves to the actions of Christ, who takes care of us. Who provides, who comforts, who directs. My providence lies in the Lord alone. The last thing the text records of this unknown Samaritan is the leaving of a promise. He departs from the inn, but leaves a promise with the keeper. “Let him stay as long as he needs, take care of him, and I will cover the cost when I return.” Think of the love, of the compassion for such an act. The Samaritan of the story mirrors the love and life of Christ for us, in that Christ left an eternal promise, a guarantee for us. He has left us the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. He has left provision for our tenure on earth. He has left the promise that He will return and call us up with Him, for He is preparing a place for us. Summary The parable of the good Samaritan tells of one man, robbed and beaten by a highway gang, left for the dead. It then tells of three individuals who each come across the poor man, beaten and dying, and their reaction to him. Most, like the priest in the story, will continue walking on by. Those in need are not even worthy of their notice. Some will get curious, they will want to know what is going on, but they will not lend a helping hand. They will watch, they will record, and when their curiosity is over, they will be on their way. These people may stop and ask, “is he my neighbor that I should help him?” or “how will this interfere with my schedule, with my job, with my movie?” But then, there was one, who, despite being enemies with the Jews (we don’t know this beaten man was a Jew) stopped, went over to him, and with love and compassion, bandaged him up, lifted him upon his beast, and brought him to an inn, where, he then paid for his stay and tended to his needs. Cost, schedule, appearances, none of that mattered to Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 9 the Samaritan. Of such, is the love of God, the love of Christ, as should be exhibited in each of us who bear the name of Christ. The Answer/Application Who is Your Neighbor? VV. 36-37a King James Version (Chapter 10) 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. So who was the neighbor to the beaten and robbed man? The Samaritan, who stopped to help. We started tonight with a question, “who is my neighbor?” Christ has demonstrated to us, by His teachings and His life, that all people are our neighbors. Whether they be American, or Canadian, or Mexican, or Jew, or Greek, or Roman… All people, in all places are our neighbors. Whether they are Christians, or they are Muslims, or they are atheists, humanity is our neighbor. Go and Do V. 37b King James Version (Chapter 10) Then said Jesus unto him Go, and do thou likewise. The command to follow the parable is simple, “Go, and do thou likewise.” It is not enough to talk about love, nor to talk about whom our neighbors are. Go and do. Go and love, go serve, go be neighborly to all around you. In doing so, you exemplify the love of Christ, and you perform the acts of love and service to Him. ***Prayer*** Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:12 PM May 30, 2021. 10