Who Must I Love?: Luke 10:25-37

Well, uh, our theme this year has been serving our city and our world in the name of Christ.

And we're going to come back to that uh theme once again this morning in this text from Luke chapter 10, verses 25 through 37.

Luke 10:25–37

No doubt for many a familiar passage.

But uh let us look to God's holy word this morning from Luke 10.

And behold, a lawyer stood up and put him that is Jesus to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said to him, What is written in the law?

How do you read it?

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.

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

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.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.

So likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion.

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring an o on oil and wine.

Then he sent him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

And the next day he took out two dinari and he gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay when I come back.

Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?

He said, The one who showed him mercy.

And Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in and through your word this morning.

Lord, we praise you and we thank you for that gift.

And we pray, Holy Spirit, now that you would show us Jesus' heart this day.

Lord, show us your love.

And we pray that you would furnish our hearts in ever-deepening ways with the love that we see of Christ.

We ask and pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So I wonder if you can think of a particular person or a particular group of people who you find hard to love.

Someone who I'm sure is very different from you.

They might be easier to love if they were just like you.

Who is outside your family?

They might grate on you, they might seem unprincipled in comparison to you, they may even be antagonistic toward you.

But the question that arises us today is: who must I love?

Who must I love?

And in the reading we just read, we encounter a man hard to love, a man who is antagonistic toward Jesus.

And what we are given to see is a masterclass in Jesus showing love toward his neighbor.

Dr.

Luke captures this provocative conversation in such a way that includes all the kind of things that a good story typically entails.

It has a plot, it has a rising or escalating tension, it has a turning point and a resolution.

The plot asks, who is the character?

What, why does this conversation take place?

And here we have a man who was versed in the Mosaic law.

He was a professor of religion.

He's not just your ordinary guy on the street.

He's a professor of religion.

He was a man who belonged to a group of religious leaders who knew the letter of the law.

That was their job.

That was their occupation, as it were.

A man who crosses all his T's, who dots all his I's, and who studies the law.

And these leaders were the official interpreters of the scriptures.

But their interpretation had become so distorted and difficult to understand that they effectively shut off people to the scriptures.

They failed to see that all the scriptures point toward Jesus.

And so they directed people to their own man-made traditions and laws.

And Jesus later calls them out.

He says, You load up people with burdens hard to bear.

And you yourselves do not touch the burdens with even one of your fingers.

And so, in short, this is a man who, although religious, was blind to his need for Jesus and cold and merciless toward others.

This was a man hard to love.

And the tension begins to rise about the point when this man steps up in the crowd and he steps up to the mic.

And two things we're told that's significant about him.

We're told his motive, and we're told that he has or asks a question of great significance.

A motive, a question of great significance.

We read that he put Jesus to the test.

And so that is, he stood up and he wanted to try to catch Jesus and saying something that would lead to him self-indicting himself or being discredited.

And so this is not a man who is looking for a one-on-one conversation with Jesus, a genuine question on his mind.

He is a man who wants an audience, and his intention is to undermine and discredit Jesus, and for this to go viral, so that the people would reject Jesus, walk away, and say we want nothing to do with him.

His motive was impure.

But he also has a question.

And the question is, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

An impure motive, but a great question.

He's got the mic, he's got the audience, and he's prepared to go all in with what he thinks is a winner of a question.

And the question is, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?

The kind of life that's not only endless in duration, but also priceless in quality.

What do I need to do?

Poor motive, but a great question.

And I don't know how prepared he was for this, but but Jesus responds by putting the question back on him and he puts him on the spot.

He says, Will you tell me?

Tell me from the scriptures.

He doesn't want his opinion.

He says, go to the scriptures.

What do they tell you?

How do you read it?

And he answers, You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and with all your soul, and your neighbor is yourself.

And that term there, uh love in the Greek is agapa, which is the highest form of love.

It's not a sentimental or sensual love.

It also differs from the love of a parent and a child.

It also differs from brotherly love.

This is a love that's unconditional, that is caring and motive, or compassionate and motive and sacrificial.

And so Jesus says, Well, you're correct.

That is what the Lord requires.

And then he adds, do this and you will live.

Now, as a lawyer, he can't leave this right there, this conversation here.

Too much is left said, too much is left unsaid.

And so, desiring to justify himself, he asks, Well, who is my neighbor?

In other words, I know I should love, but who should I love?

What qualifiers, Jesus, would you add to this?

Because let's be precise about this.

Let's be really specific and accurate.

He's ready to move forward clause by clause, line by line, to make Jesus look foolish.

And so Jesus at this point introduces a parable and he introduces three new characters.

A man was walking in a dark alley from Jerusalem to Jericho, who falls prey to a social problem.

He falls prey to crime.

He falls into the hands of robbers and they strip him of his clothes, they beat him, they rob him, they leave him half dead to fend for himself.

And so here is this man in trouble, in need, and desperately alone.

Well, on the walk on the same route, a a couple of men come by one by one.

One is a priest, another as a Levite, and the priests were public health officials.

They were health officials along with other things, but the Levites were somewhat different from the priests in that they distributed arms.

They were responsible for money, for food, or other material goods to the poor.

But both selfishly pit their schedule against their purpose and leave the man on the other side of the road.

And the man remains in his misery.

But it so happens that a Samaritan comes along the scene not long after, and the Samaritans and the Jews had strong opinions toward each other that caused them to despise one another.

We know that because we're told that even the Jews wouldn't eat from a bowl that had been touched by a Samaritan.

That's how much they despised them and saw them as being unclean.

And so the Samaritan comes upon this Jew, Ishman, and his misery, and he responds in love.

His response is unconditional.

His response is compassionate and motive and sacrificial.

How so?

Well, let's break that down just a little bit more.

It's unconditional because he knows the expense is going to be all his own.

He knows that the man isn't going to be able to repay him.

He knows he's not going to be able to redeem his time.

He's not looking down the road thinking, how is this going to somehow pay off for me down the road?

And choosing to help this man, he is determined that he will help him with no strings attached.

It's unconditional.

It's at the expense of himself and his own time and sacrifice.

It's also compassionate and motive.

The Samaritan comes to where the beaten man is and he saw him, we read.

He saw him.

He had compassion on him.

There is movement combined with a stirring, inward stirring of the heart.

Compassion means to suffer with, to suffer together.

And so to suffer together requires tending to the bloodied and bruised body of this man, helping him in his hopelessness and in his helplessness.

And so, whereas the priest and the Levite ask, if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?

The Samaritan asks, if I don't stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

And so he doesn't allow a preconceived opinion or formulated judgment to sway his willingness to suffer with this man, even though there were many of them between the Samaritans and the Jews.

And today that would mean he didn't allow political affiliation.

He didn't allow the color of his skin, difference of language, religious background, or whatever else might get in the way of proving himself to be a neighbor.

To show love to a neighbor doesn't mean that we lose our salt.

We should absolutely stay salty.

But it does mean we should hold on to the truths of the Bible.

And yet, even holding on to the truths of the Bible doesn't mean that we should somehow negate our need to not exercise kindness toward others as illuminators of Christ's love.

Compassionate and motive.

But also sacrificial.

He gets dirty, he binds up and treats the wound.

He sits the man on his own animal.

He brings him to an inn and takes care of him for the remaining day.

Personally tending to his needs.

And so what's the turning point?

Well, the turning point here, what relieves the tension in this story, well, you could say this the unifying character in this parable is a man in position of powerlessness.

You see, Jesus was seeking to convict the law expert of sin.

Because although he thought he took the law seriously, Jesus is showing him that he doesn't take the law seriously enough.

And he himself was in need of God's mercy.

Jesus here is heightening the law to show that any attempt to do something to earn eternal life is impossible.

And if the lawyer sees this clearly, he will come to understand that he is powerless to earn eternal life by the law.

Only by despairing of his own attempt to earn eternal life through his own righteousness will he come to see his need for the mercy of God in Jesus.

John Bunyan once described how radical and powerful this truth came in penetrating his own soul.

He says, But one day this sentence fell upon my soul, thy righteousness is in heaven.

And methought withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand.

There I say as my righteousness.

So that wherever I was or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, He wants my righteousness, for that was just before him.

I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse.

For my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed.

Oh, methought, Christ, Christ, there was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes.

Oh, I saw that my gold was in my trunk at home.

And Christ my Lord and my Savior.

Now Christ was all, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption.

You see, it's only through the gospel that we come to see Jesus as the key that unlocks all.

And Jesus taking a position of powerlessness in this world and upon the cross, God no longer sees us in view of our imperfect righteousness.

But he sees us clothed with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

The same yesterday, today, and forever.

So that wherever we are, or whatever we are doing, our righteousness remains the same before God.

That is our sure confidence and hope.

And that is what Jesus was in his mercy wanting this lawyer to see.

That's what converts this from being an impossible moral command to a response to the loving heart of Jesus.

And so how does the story end?

Well, our Lord calls the man to go and to show mercy.

And it leads us to ask the question: if the answer to loving our neighbor doesn't lie in looking within ourselves or to some other self-help technique, how does the gospel enable us to love our neighbor?

How does the gospel enable us to love our neighbor?

And the answer lies in the gospel uniting our heart to Jesus' heart.

Let's look at the posture of Jesus' heart toward us through another situation involving Jericho.

Jesus and his disciples come to Jericho, and they're about to, they're on their way out of Jericho, they're leaving, but a crowd is coming with them, and Jesus is busy.

Jesus has an audience.

His social platform is blown up with a large following.

He was in the spotlight.

And as they're walking and and and they're on their way out of the city, they come across or walk past some beggars who are a little far off.

And one of which was a man who was blind called Bartimaeus.

And no doubt he was dirty and he was disheveled, having spent much time down in the dust, living at street level.

But when Bartimaeus hears that it was Jesus of Nazareth coming, he begins to cry out, saying, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.

And many at this point begin to rebuke him and they tell him to be quiet.

And yet he cries all the more.

He says, Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

The goal of the crowd is is to focus on their own needs and to try to silence the man to avoid getting too involved.

But notice what Jesus does here.

Jesus interrupts his schedule and he takes notice.

And he sends them to call for the man to come over.

And so they call for Bartimaeus and they tell him that Jesus has an interest in speaking with him.

Notice the unconditional love.

Jesus has nothing to gain from this encounter with Bartimaeus.

And Jesus asks him, What do you want me to do for you?

Which is a remarkable request if you think about it, because it shows a willingness for Jesus to see and tend to the one in the midst of the many.

Jesus is showing compassion toward him.

His heart is stirred to respond.

And the blind man answers, he says, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.

And Jesus says, No, because you should have asked for wisdom like Solomon.

No, he doesn't say that.

No, he says to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well.

His response results in a specific action, a response to his specific need and suffering.

Jesus is saying, It's through your reliance upon me, it's through your reliance upon who I am that you're healed, my heart, my help, my mercy, my love.

And amazingly, Bartimaeus, in receiving his newfound freedom, doesn't use this freedom to go off and walk away, but he actually uses his new vision to learn and see more of Jesus.

And so he goes and follows him.

Jesus' love is unconditional, it's motivated by compassion and expressed in action.

And what's essential for us to believe afresh this morning is that that same heart is directed toward you and I.

That same loving heart that was exercised toward Bartimaeus is the same heart that Jesus demonstrates toward you and me.

Ephesians 2 4 5, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us Alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The scripture tells us here that Jesus loves us unconditionally.

In our hopelessness and our helplessness.

While dead in our trespasses and sins, he made us alive together with Christ.

It tells us that his love is motivated by compassion.

We are saved by grace, not by anything in ourselves.

It tells us that his love is sacrificial, that he took upon our sin, himself, our sin and our debt, so that we would have a seat with him in the heavenly places.

Jesus loves you and I unconditionally.

He is motivated by compassion to help us.

And his love is expressed in action and sacrifice to our specific needs.

And that's the gospel empowerment that works within us, enabling us to follow the charge that Jesus gives us to go and do likewise.

To prove ourselves to be a neighbor.

To seek to alleviate any suffering, but particularly eternal suffering.

Jesus would have us to do both.

And so we aren't given a contract here, we're not given a legal document or policy.

It's amazing how simple this charge is.

Go and do likewise.

We're given the freedom to love others in the same way as we have been loved by our great God.

And so the question is, well, how might we respond?

How might we respond?

Let's bring this home some more.

Love someone.

Simple as that.

Love someone.

Do you know someone outside your family who is suffering and in need of help that you can step toward?

As someone troubled?

As a colleague at the office going through chemo or someone sick?

Are there needs abroad that you can meet?

Might you serve as a deacon or deaconess?

Or come alongside to help as opportunities arise?

Love someone.

Love with compassion.

Love with compassion.

To be willing to suffer with someone is to serve them humbly in their particular suffering.

And so it means that we've got to see their real need.

Do we see their real need?

Have you come close enough to someone to be stirred to respond?

What will their life look like if you don't respond?

Jesus would have us have a compassion that comes from within to be exercised to those in their need.

Love with compassion.

But love practically and even sacrificially.

Do you have time or money to give?

Are you willing to be inconvenienced, to be a benefit to someone else?

Love practically and sacrificially.

And so to go and do likewise is to love unconditionally.

It's to love with compassion.

And it's to love practically and sacrificially.

Oh, may God help us to answer these questions and to love as you and I have been loved.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Oh gracious Father, we praise you and thank you for the gift of your great mercy.

Lord, we are indebted to your great mercy.

And Lord, uh, we come this morning just to say once again, we we praise you and we thank you.

We thank you for the love that you have done, you've carried out, that you have set upon us, that we might be recipients of your great mercy.

And we do ask and we pray that you would give us the enabling power to go and to love others in the way that you have loved us.

Lord, we know that there are many needs, and we know there are many troubles, that there are many miseries that those around us face.

So, Lord, we ask and we pray you'd help us to be those who are pleased to alleviate and to be ambassadors and illuminators of Christ and your love.

And we pray and we ask all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.