Luke
10:25-37 NIV
25 On one occasion an expert in the law
stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal
life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify
himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his
clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be
going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other
side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he
came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he
traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged
his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey,
brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two
denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and
when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was
a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The
one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Mercy-Kindness
Do we really exhibit
compassion for ANYONE in need? Or do we exhibit compassion ONLY for those like
ourselves? Think about this. Read the paper and watch the news, with this in
mind. How do we ACT in our world and society today?
We, including me,
like to be kind to people. But kindness WILL NOT save us. BUT we know that
kindness pleases Jesus. We can’t be, or even claim to be disciples of Jesus, or
take the name of Christian, AND be indifferent to the suffering of ANYONE.
Read or hear these
words of Jesus from Matthew 25:40-45…
40 “The King (Jesus) will reply, ‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on
his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was
hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to
drink, 43 I was a
stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe
me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick
or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell
you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for
me.’
However, this does NOT imply that we are
to encourage an able-bodied, lazy person. This IS NOT KINDNESS… 2 Thessalonians
3:10 – the words of Paul
10 For even
when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to
work shall not eat.”
Enabling someone IS NOT KINDNESS to that person.
This is a false notion of help that we all can get easily hung-up in.
Yet, in this passage of Scripture from Luke, we
need to look back to the recent past of this journey Jesus and His disciples
are taking. Remember? Jesus had just been rejected by Samaritans because He was
intent, determined, and had set His face as flint to journey to Jerusalem and
His death. Remember, the Samaritans and the Jews hated one another. Yet, here
Jesus tells of His love for them in this story.
Here is that passage of Scripture that we looked
at just a couple of weeks ago.
Luke 9:51-56
51 As the time approached for him (Jesus) to be taken up to
heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village
to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for
Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do
you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
It's easy for any of us, James and John included,
to hate someone we don’t agree with. Yet, Jesus stomps out this emotion and
rebukes James and John, and me and you, by extension as well in a stern rebuke.
Jesus loves ALL kinds of people, even those different from ourselves.
So, let’s look at LOVE. The love that Jesus
teaches in this passage for this time is different from what we commonly think
about. This LOVE comes in three ways.
·
Love that is beyond rules or
laws – this is a love that becomes required.
·
Love that is between the
rules or laws – this is a love that changes our behavior.
·
Love that is under the rules
or laws – this is a love that motivates action.
Take that in, a while, and mull on it. This LOVE
is a bit different, and calls us out, from ourselves towards action FOR our
neighbor.
To just obey the LAW is an attempt to save
ourself. Think of it this way, if I believe I can do ALL the actions needed by
the law --- THEN --- I can bring myself up and don’t need any help from anyone
else.
BUT --- to love the LAW of God is to serve God.
This is a service of slavery that produces freedom from self. By serving God,
we are free from ourselves.
So, what is LOVE here? The LOVE Jesus speaks of
is a desire for the well being of another person. ANY other person. NOT just
someone like ourselves or in our wheel of life. Yes, we pray that this person
is saved.
Yet LOVE IS NOT – an emotion like you feel for
your wife, sister, brother, mother or father or even someone like yourself
alone. NO – LOVE here is NOT a tender emotion, BUT rather a desire for the well
being of SOMEONE else. Here in this scripture, that someone else is NOT like
yourself.
This scripture is exhibiting a LOVE that moves.
·
From God to Man
·
From Man to God
·
From Man to Man
God comes to us in Jesus. We reach out to God and
listen and know the love God freely gives to us each day. AND we reach out to
ALL mankind in the love that God has freely given us and demonstrated for us,
TO our neighbor.
Notice, how in this Gospel passage, the lawyer
wanted to justify himself for eternal life with the question he posed to Jesus.
This question led to a second question to Jesus about just who is his neighbor.
It’s in this second question as the lawyer
attempts to justify himself and his own action, it seems, that Jesus issues a
different than expected twist to the neighbor question, by telling a story to
illustrate the idea of not who is my neighbor, but rather, how can I BE a
neighbor to ANYONE!
A bit of background is useful here. The road from
Jerusalem to Jericho was a rocky road that drops steeply. Think of taking a
hike down a rocky path and how difficult this can be on the knees, feet and
legs. This particular road was an ideal road for robbers and was common in that
day. This road was about 17 miles long. Not just an easy trot.
The Samaritan that eventually helped the man
attacked by robbers, dealt in an opposite manner that the lawyer was expecting.
This story defined not only who IS my neighbor, but more importantly, how am I
to BE a neighbor. Jesus didn’t tell the lawyer who to help, but rather HOW to BE
or behave or act AS a neighbor to ANYONE.
And this brings us back to love. Let’s first go
back to a previous passage of Luke… specifically Luke 9:23… in Jesus words…
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and
take up their cross daily and follow me.
Who is self? This is NOT
like how much love. It’s not like how love is to act… BUT… Rather HOW love DOES
act.
Look not at yourself, or
your kind of people or folks, BUT love ALL. Yes, look to what Jesus has done
for God’s people. God loves ALL mankind as one. So, deny self and love ALL
mankind as one yourself.
As you look at the news
in print or on video, reflect on how mankind is acting as neighbor to those we
interact with. Are we stopping to care for each person? Why do we kill one
another? Why do we separate ourselves? Why do we or you or me leave the injured
on the side of the road? Why do we walk by? We all fall guilty, and at least
for many of us, who follow Jesus, should take heed and ACT like a neighbor who
loves ALL people. ALL people even if they don’t match, our own race, religion,
country, political party, or whatever. We are call to ACT like a neighbor to
ALL God’s people, not pick and choose who to love. God sets people in our lives
for a reason. Don’t pass by. Show the love and compassion and deny yourself.
Look to Jesus and follow Him. Don’t feel the draw of evil that we witness in so
many pages of the daily news. BE and ACT different!
For me? I love how Jesus
puts all prejudice, politics, and shows REAL love. It’s not about who I love
anymore for me. After this week, I see it’s HOW I love. Jesus brings the ACTION
of neighbor to life. ALL people are my neighbors. But what’s of importance, is
my ACTION in BEING a neighbor to ALL people. No matter what, no matter who.
No bombs… no raids… no
hatred… no name calling… no insults… no greed… no idol worship… no anything… ALL
love.
Yes! In the words of
John…
19 We love because he first loved us.
That’s tough and
impossible for me as I live out this life, but day by day I look to Jesus, I
hear His voice, I follow his ACTIONS, and I turn from my sinful ways, depending
on the forgiveness God grants to me until I leave this world and this place in
which God has set me to ACT out Love… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be
to God!
Here is a YouTube Video
illustrating this passage…
“On The Road To Jericho”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1HGQOsqyjk&list=RDM1HGQOsqyjk&start_radio=1
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