August 17, 2016
JESUS TRUMPED
Luke 10:25–37
Meredith Bard
Central Truth
There is nothing we can do to justify ourselves in the presence of God. We DESPERATELY need Jesus!
Key Verse | Luke 10:27–28
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." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." (Luke 10:27-28)
Luke 10:25–37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
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 1 10:35 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer 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.”
Dive Deeper | Luke 10:25–37
As much as I would like to say I resonate most with the Samaritan in this story, that is not true. I am most prone to reflect the attitude of the person to whom Jesus directs this parable: the lawyer desiring to justify himself.
I am a church kid, raised to follow the moral codes of Christianity. In doing so, I often miss the heart of the gospel—there is nothing I can do to justify myself in the presence of God’s perfect holiness. I desperately need Jesus.
This is Jesus' aim in His conversation with the lawyer. The lawyers’s occupation was literally to study and defend Old Testament law. The first four verses of today’s passage also show us he is skilled at this. He responds promptly to Jesus with the right answers. This man, much like me, knew the importance of loving the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving his neighbor as himself. While Jesus confirms the lawyer's head knowledge, He exposes the man's flaws. Do this—all of this—and you will live.
This is an incredibly high call to perfectly love God and people. But the lawyer is a sinner, just like you and me. He cannot perfectly obey this command every millisecond of his life. Jesus knows that. But the lawyer misses what Jesus is pointing him to—the gospel—and makes a poor attempt at justifying himself by asking for clarification about which neighbors he is really supposed to love. In doing so, we see his sin. He does not want to display compassion to neighbors who are not like him.
The lawyer’s question, “And who is my neighbor?” (verse 29), reveals his biggest downfall—his dependence on himself for salvation. Today, Jesus asks us to examine our own hearts to see if we are trying to do the same.
"[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).
Discussion Questions
1. Which character in this passage do you connect to most?
2. Have you tried to justify yourself through religious actions? If yes, how?
3. Do you truly believe you are saved by grace alone through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)?