ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Thousands
of people, Christian and non-Christian, know this parable. People view it as
the quintessential definition of neighborly love, and Christ’s people view it
as the exemplar of loving thy neighbor. The Samaritan is the one who sees the
needs of another, and having the resources to meet those needs, does so without
prejudice or concern for personal circumstance.
Yet
while all that may be true, there is a deeper lesson in the parable and the
clue is in the question asked by the person seeking to test Jesus. Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?
Most of
us know the parable, I suggest you read through it again, and then I have closing
thought about the question that was asked.
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[c] 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.”
Martha and Mary
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him
into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the
Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to
him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
So what do you think of
Jesus’ answer? Is it a good answer? You might say, “Of course it is a good
answer, Jesus gave it!” Yes and Jesus “answered the man.” In fact he gave a
specific argument to a specific question. Jesus said you must do what the two great commandments tell
you. Jesus said you must do what the
Samaritan did. The problem is the question…two problems really.
First, the Scriptures are
unified in their teaching that no one can keep the commandments perfectly…no
one can do what Jesus said needs to
be done. Don’t blame Jesus, he was answering the question asked…it was just the
wrong question. Remember the text begins with the lawyer seeking to “test”
Jesus. In Romans 10:5 we read the theory about this idea of righteous
perfection, but Romans 3:20 tells us no one can do this. We cannot consistently
do it.
Do not misunderstand, we should
have this as the standard. Jesus wants us to do our best, but he does not beat
us up when we don’t. Do not let failure paralyze you. Jesus asks when we fail, we
be honest, ask for forgiveness, get up, dust ourselves off and try again. Now back
to the parable.
Jesus’ use of the Samaritan
is brilliant. He is highlighting that we have trouble with some people. We
should not, but we do. Is Jesus merely taunting the questioner, is he taunting
us, or is he suggesting we look a bit deeper.
A deeper look reveals two
problems with the question…think about it…what must I do to inherit eternal life? You know the
answer…what are the requirements to inherit something? You do not do anything,
you simply must be an heir. No amount of doing will make you one. Keeping the
law is a way of life, not a way to life.
So how do we become and
heir? We know that answer to that. Turn and follow Jesus. We have been in this
part of Luke where everyone is following him as he moves towards Jerusalem,
towards Calvary. Along the way we will each will be confronted with the
question of moving from being a fan of his, to being a follower...and don’t
think busyness will change that…the story of Martha and Mary is placed in the
text to reinforce the point about doing versus being with Jesus.
These two peaces of scripture are good, they show us that we do not have to be perfect to be loved by Jesus, all we have to do is believe in him and do our best each day. Yes we will mess up and sin, because we are all sinners but we then need to turn to Jesus and confess what we did wrong and ask for his forgiveness. I liked that the Samaritan did not just pass the man by like all the other people did. When we see someone who is in need or in trouble, or someone who is hurting we need to help them if we can, at least to the best of our ability, even if it is just as simple as talking to them and praying with them. And we need to be like Mary who listened to Jesus, for us that can mean prayer, studying the bible and helping others and going to church to hear his word. This part of Luke is powerful, and other parts of Luke as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey...thanks for adding this post...
ReplyDelete