Jesus is The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:23-37
September 15, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
Why did the lawyer ask the second question, “And who is my neighbor?” Because he wanted to justify himself. Now, that’s a serious desire, a good desire. Did any of you ponder that question this week? “Am I right with God? What does my Father in heaven think of me? Am I acceptable to Him? Does He love me or is He angry with me?” That’s the justification question. Is everything right between God and me?
That’s also why the lawyer asked his first question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers with His own question, “What does the Law say?” The Law of God tells us what God loves and what He cannot stand. It tells us what to do and not to do if we are to be right with God and loved by Him. It should come as no surprise that the lawyer knew God’s Law well and gives an excellent summary, “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.”
Then Jesus gives the man both barrels, a magnum load of law, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” This is what God’s Law says. If you want to earn heaven as a reward, if you want to do something to get into God’s good graces, if you want to write yourself into God’s will and inherit heaven keep the commandments. Do what God says to do. Do this – love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind all the time and love your neighbor as yourself.
Why did the lawyer ask the second question? He still wanted to justify himself, but he knew he didn’t love all his neighbors. He didn’t love immigrants, he didn’t love people from the other side of town, and he didn’t love people who weren’t at the Temple regularly. He could not and did not keep the Law, so he was looking for an out, a loophole, an excused absence from the law. “And who is my neighbor?” You tell your son to clean up his toys, but he leaves a big pile of Legos out. Why didn’t you pick up all your toys? Well, you didn’t say my Legos. What is your son up to? He wants the Law (you) to grade on a curve. He wants to make fuzzy what you have clearly said. He wants to justify himself for not doing the right thing.
Those two questions of the lawyer are the preface to Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. What is the point of the Good Samaritan? What is the number one lesson that you almost always take away from this parable? We should love our neighbor and our neighbor is everyone around us that we see in need. Therefore, after this sermon, someone always asks the pastor, “Well what should I do about the homeless vet who begs on the corner over by Taco Bell 5 days a week?” The parable is taught and learned as the law that convicts – you’re the priest and Levite who walk by.
Does that interpretation answer the lawyer’s questions? If that is Jesus’ intent, then He was either lying or damning the lawyer to hell. Jesus was lying if He told the lawyer to love his neighbor perfectly and thereby inherit eternal life, because God’s Word tells us we all fail to love like that. No one is righteous, no not even one. If on the other hand, Jesus was saying the lawyer’s only hope was to love perfectly, then the man is damned by God’s Law.
I don’t know where our interpretation on this parable went astray, but Martin Luther and Johann Gerhard – the Old Lutherans preachers, believed that the point of the parable was this — Jesus is the Good Samaritan. Back in Reformation times – the pastors loved allegorize the Bible. So Pastor Gerhard said the reason the priest and the Levite walk by the beat up man is because the Law cannot save you, the Law cannot help you in your condition. The Law walks by you and says, “Wow, you’re in bad shape. There’s nothing I can do for you. You’re half-dead even as you are living and you will die.”
Who finally helps the half-dead guy? A Samaritan. Someone who is not from around Judea. A stranger who does not owe this Jewish man anything and who might even be despised by this Jew. (And despise him in return.)
So Christ Jesus is born into this world. Everyone who encountered Jesus as He walked His way to the cross realized “He’s not from around here.” He teaches as one who has authority. He does all things well. Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him?
He had no obligation to us. As true God Jesus could rightly have despised us, been disgusted with us, left us half-dead to die all the way. For how have we treated God? What does it say to God when the most frequent use of His name is basically a swear word? What does it say when our homes are stuffed with the treasures of this world and our retirement accounts are well stocked, and we neglect to receive and confess the treasures of His home and our offerings usually consist of leftovers? He could have walked by. He should have walked by.
But He did not, because He is the Good Samaritan. He goes out of His way for you. He rides His donkey into Jerusalem and then dismounts to carry His cross out of Jerusalem. He carried you with Him to the cross, all your sins. Out of His own pocket He paid to make you well, not two silver coins, but His innocent suffering and death, His holy and precious blood. He brings you here, to the inn of God’s house – where the healing balm of His forgiveness is rubbed into your ears by His Word, where the medicine of life is given you with His Body and Blood. He who is the Author of Life, who is Righteous and Holy, and eternal, becomes the subject of death, the bearer of sin, bound to flesh in time, for you. Jesus is the Good Samaritan.
So does Jesus being the Good Samaritan mean you don’t need to worry about your neighbor? No. Jesus says, “You go, and do likewise.” We love our neighbors and our neighbors are those closest to us. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. Parents, go out of your way, to make sure your children know how Jesus went out of His way for them. Workers, be diligent at your job. Your boss is your neighbor. Students, study, work, learn, and respect your teacher and your classmates – they are your neighbors. Why? Not to earn heaven, but because your eyes have seen what many have not seen, and your ears have heard what many have longed to hear – you have seen God’s love, you have heard the way of life, you have been carried to the healing inn of Christ’s church. You are justified and will inherit eternal life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.