”And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”“ Luke 10:25
The religious leaders constantly tested Jesus during His earthly ministry. In this case, we end up with a picture of Godly compassion. Let’s break this down.
This line of questioning comes on the heels of the seventy-two disciples returning from their mission. They were excited…
”Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”“ Luke 10:17-20
They said, “Even the demons are subject to us in Your name!”
And He reminded them that the rejoicing should come from knowing that their names are recorded in heaven, NOT because of what they can do on this earth. This is an excellent reminder for us. Our joy should come from knowing where we are going, not from the blessings He provides us on this earth.
”At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for doing so was well pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.” Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them.”“ Luke 10:21-24
From what I can gather, this meeting occurred in a public space where anyone within earshot could hear what Jesus was saying. Jesus, rejoicing “greatly” in the Spirit, prayed about how God was gracious to reveal the hidden things to “infants” but kept them hidden from the wise and the intelligent.
I’m sure that the religious leaders took offense to this prayer, as we will see one of the “experts” of the law question Jesus.
”And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”“ Luke 10:25
We see the first error in his question, which is that the lawyer was under the assumption that he could earn or do something to inherit eternal life.
Jesus does what He always does and follows up on this question with another question.
”And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”“ Luke 10:26
The lawyer’s response was spot on… I am guessing that he may have heard Jesus mention this from one of His earlier grillings.
”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.”“ Luke 10:27
These echos from another interaction Jesus had with one of the scribes:
”One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”“ Mark 12:28-31
If we, as Christians, would follow these commandments, this world would turn on its ear. It’s fascinating that God would pick Israel to be light for this world. They were picked to be the beacon of hope to lead this world spiritually, but they were to be taken by the things of this world to execute this privilege handed down by God.
We have been handed that privilege, but the same as Israel, we seem to be taken by the things of this world instead of worshipping the Creator of this world.
Back to our lesson:
”And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”“ Luke 10:28-29
Jesus confirms the lawyer’s answer, but the lawyer pressed on with the question, “And who is my neighbor?”
I am sure the lawyer thought he had Jesus in a pickle here. In the lawyer’s mind, I’m sure he was thinking that the only neighbors who mattered were the people of Israel. But as we see in scripture, the religious leaders kept people captive by the law that even they couldn’t follow to the letter.
Jesus goes on to tell us one of His most convicting lessons:
”Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.“ Luke 10:30
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a treacherous journey, with narrow paths and cliffs on the side of the path. It was also a road that many “robbers” would lay in wait for those making the journey, as is the fate of this man Jesus describes.
”And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.“ Luke 10:31
I’m thinking back on those days; you could tell a lot by what people wore, and this man, a priest, probably could have been identified as one. This guy probably looked up, saw a priest coming, and thought, “Oh, thank God, this man will surely help.”
But as we see, the priest went to the other side of the road and continued down the path.
As I have heard this path described, these paths were probably pretty narrow, with cliffs and valleys on either side. Lore has it that it is the valley on this road that David may have referred to as the “valley of death” in the 23rd Psalm.
So, this priest probably risked his life to avoid helping this person. But think about it from this priest’s point of view: he was perhaps on the way to something significant, which would have been very inconvenient for him to stop and help this man.
We must also be cautious here that we don’t allow our “spirituality” to get in the way of doing the real help, which is ministering to those in need.
Also, for the priest, there were purity laws that he had to consider. He wouldn’t be able to serve in the temple for a while if he came in contact with a dead body.
”Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.“
Luke 10:32
The NLT version renders that verse this way: ”A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.“ Luke 10:32 NLT
If you were to examine the hierarchy between the priests and the Levites, the Levites would have probably fallen into the category of “Social Workers.” But in this case, he at least went to the guy to look at him before continuing his journey.
What could have been going on in this man’s mind? Could he think this man may be a decoy to end robbing him, making him uncomfortable? Or maybe he felt after looking at him that he was ill-equipped to handle this situation. Either way, he also went to the other side of the road, endangering himself to continue on his way.
Either way, they could also have thought someone else could do it.
The next part of this story would have shocked his audience to the core:
”But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.“ Luke 10:33-34
The Samaritans were enemies of the Jewish people. They hated each other. But here we find the man who “felt” compassion.
Compassion, by definition, is “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others,” according to the Oxford Dictionary. It comes from the Latin word “compati, ” meaning to “suffer with.”
Let’s look at the Samaritans’ actions:
He saw him – He recognized someone with a need to be helped. How often do we walk past those that need help? Oblivious to the plight of those around us. God saw us, and He knew we needed help. He knew we needed to be saved and sent His Son, Jesus.
He felt compassion and the need to “suffer with” this man. Jesus suffered everything that we could experience. But He took on the ultimate shame and bestowed the greatest example of compassion by dying on the cross for the world’s sins.
”Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.“ John 15:13
”Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.“ Galatians 6:2-3
The Samaritan was willing to bear this man’s burdens. I hate to think that the priest and Levite thought their mission was more important than the suffering of this man. But we are no different; we pick and choose who we are willing to help.
My wife, Tracy, is a Good Samaritan. She is available to help whenever she sees a need. She stops for accidents and gets out of the car to help. She is a bright light for me and a great example of compassion.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He immediately used the resources to help this man get better. For those of us who feel we may be ill-equipped to help, sometimes our presence may be enough to help someone over a rough patch. Just lending an ear to someone may put them on a different path.
We always have something we can offer, even if it is our ear to listen.
As we grow in Christ, He is bandaging our wounds. He is working with us to work out our salvation. And this work will be completed and perfected upon His return. My old Pastor, Kevin, from up north, would say, “He will take us just as we are but loves us too much to keep us there.”
”For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.“ Philippians 1:6
He put him on his animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. He gave up his ride to get this man to an inn so he could take care of him. He stayed overnight with this man in an inn that he paid for to make sure this guy was on the mend.
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, it says: ”And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing.“ Luke 15:5
We should rejoice when the Lord allows us to help find the lost.
”On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’“ Luke 10:35
When he got ready the next day, he gave two denarii to the Innkeeper. This amount of money would have covered the expense for this man for about two months. It was sizable. He also promised if the costs exceeded that amount, he would repay him when he returned.
Like the Good Samaritan, the Lord continues representing us in front of God, knowing we will struggle with our flesh until He makes us whole upon His return.
”My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2
Think of this in light of what Jesus said to his returning disciples upon returning from their mission:
“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.“
Let’s put ourselves in the Innkeeper’s position for a second. Here’s this guy who brings a beaten man into the Inn. He gives this Innkeeper two months’ worth of money and says, “If he needs more, I will repay you when I return.”
The Innkeeper could have put this man back on the road and pocketed the money. This was a sizable amount of money.
As Christians, God has blessed us with all sorts of resources. The most important is the Gospel, followed by the time. What are we doing, and who are we helping with the resources at our disposal?
The Innkeeper could have helped him until the money ran out and dumped him back on the road. We also tend to do that; our faith is good as long as we can see the visible resource, but how do we act when we know that resource is dwindling? Where is our faith?
When COVID-19 happened, I remember seeing all these posts about ensuring you have stored at least three months of food. The grocery aisle started to get wiped out. I read the Bible daily, and these verses came into my reading schedule.
The disciples asked the Lord how to pray, including, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
The next couple of sections were feeding the four and five thousand. Jesus takes what would appear to be a minimal resource and turns the small amount into enough to feed everyone to be satisfied with the leftovers being substantially more than what was started with.
Am I willing to let go of what I have to help those around me, knowing that my reward will come when I get to heaven? Do I have the faith to make that a position of my heart? Am I willing to take the time and money God has provided me to steward to help those around me?
Jesus asks the critical question at the end:
”Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”“ Luke 10:36-37
He asks the lawyer which man proved to be a neighbor to the man who needed help. Being very guarded with his answer, the lawyer said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” The lawyer wouldn’t acknowledge that this man was a Samaritan.
How are we doing with that nowadays? Are there groups of people who we look at with disdain? Are there people who don’t fit the picture when we offer help that may be needed?
For the man who was beaten in this story, I’m sure this Samaritan was not an enemy in his mind.
”“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“ Matthew 5:43-48
In the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus explains to us how we are supposed to love.
In 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, the King James Version uses the word “Charity” instead of “love” in other translations. Charity is “love” in action.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the marvelous lessons that You provide for us to follow.
I pray, Lord, that You give me a heart of compassion for those around me. Please help me to see others the way you do. Willing to forgive at every turn.
I pray that You give me the strength to look at those who disagree with me ideology-wise and maintain Your compassion for them.
Please allow my heart to reflect Your heart to those around me.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
