Right Answers. Right Heart.

Well, this morning we find Jesus having a conversation with a lawyer.

And we're in Luke chapter 10, verse 25.

Luke 10:25

! Have you ever sat down to get help from a lawyer with something?

! It's a fearful business.

I'm always wondering, you know, if I ask just one more question,

how much will that extra five minutes cost me?

Fifty bucks?

Lawyers are expensive.

So we try to stay out of their offices, but sometimes we need their counsel.

Well, today we read about a conversation where Jesus is talking to a lawyer,

and who do you think ends up giving counsel to whom?

Let's read it from Luke chapter 10, starting in verse 25.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

What is written in the law?

Jesus replied.

How do you read it?

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.

You've answered correctly, Jesus replied.

Do this, and you will live.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,

And who is my neighbor?

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.

A priest happened to be going down the same road,

and when he saw the man,

he passed by on the other side.

So too, a Levite,

when he came to the place and saw him,

passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan,

as he traveled,

came where the man was,

and when he saw him,

he took pity on him.

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.

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.

Which of these three do you think

was a neighbor to the man

who fell into the hands of robbers?

The expert in the law replied,

the one who had mercy on him.

Jesus told him,

go and do likewise.

So Jesus has this conversation

with an expert in the law.

Some translations say a lawyer.

Back in Jesus' day,

there were these sort of religious lawyers,

and they weren't exactly like the kind

that we're used to sitting down in the office of

here in town,

or like the classic defense attorney

types of lawyers.

They were sort of religious lawyers.

But that didn't mean that they were just focused

on spiritual things either.

They were kind of like lawyers

who gave interpretations

and rulings based on the law of Moses

as it related to life in the community.

And so they would give rulings

and decisions on ritual purity and impurity,

Sabbath observance,

inheritance,

marriage,

divorce,

business disputes,

tithes,

and more.

Their status and their work as lawyers

depended on knowing the Old Testament law

meticulously.

And so this expert in the law,

this lawyer,

stands up,

and we notice that he has a purpose.

Luke says,

he stands up to test Jesus.

This is an interesting word.

In this context,

to test Jesus means

to subject him to a test

in order to prove something.

Now just what he hopes to prove

or what the lawyer would consider

a pass or a fail,

we don't know.

But what we do know

is that the lawyer asks his question

with an agenda.

The question he asks is,

what must I do

to inherit eternal life?

But his purpose in asking this

is not simply to learn.

It's not to get the answer

to something that he's been

wondering about for a long time.

He asks this question

as a test.

And if we're kind of reading

and understanding,

I think the context here,

it's because he thinks of himself

as someone capable

of grading Jesus' answer.

That's what this man did.

He was a religious lawyer.

He gave rulings

on all kinds of things

pertaining to the law.

And so I think he asks

this question of Jesus

to test him.

And I think he intends

to sort of make a ruling,

to give a grade,

to judge Jesus' answer

and see if it measures up

to his own.

Well, Jesus is the wisest person

who has ever walked

the face of the earth.

Look at how Jesus responds.

Jesus responds

not with an answer

because he knows

that there's an agenda

behind the question.

And so Jesus responds

to the question

with a question.

What must I do

to inherit eternal life?

What is written in the law?

How do you read it?

See what Jesus did there?

I mean,

he basically just asked

the guy

to answer his own question.

He basically says,

you tell me.

How do you read it?

You're the lawyer.

You know,

what do you think it says

in the law about this?

And the lawyer

can't help himself.

He takes the bait.

I mean,

he could have really said here,

well,

I asked you.

I want to hear

what you think.

But no,

he doesn't say that.

Instead,

the lawyer

goes ahead

and answers

his own question.

And suddenly,

the roles

are completely reversed.

Now,

the expert

is answering

his own question,

but Jesus

is the one

evaluating

his answer.

And the tables

are turned.

Well,

how does the lawyer

answer his own question?

What does he think

that he needs to do

to inherit

eternal life

according to

the law of Moses?

The lawyer

recites two commandments

from the law.

Probably most of us

are familiar with these.

The first comes

from Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:5

chapter 6,

verse 5.

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.

Found in Leviticus 19,

Leviticus 19:18

verse 18.

Well,

what do you notice

about the man's answer?

What does it remind you of?

Where have we heard

that answer before?

From Jesus.

When?

Before or after this?

It comes after.

In the week

prior to Jesus' death,

there's another

expert in the law

who asked Jesus,

what's the greatest

commandment in the law?

And,

this is

almost verbatim.

There's a few other

things added in,

but,

this is Jesus' answer.

Love the Lord

your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your strength

with all your mind.

That's the greatest

commandment.

And then he adds,

and the second

is like it.

Love your neighbor

as yourself.

That's found in

Matthew 22,

37.

All the law

and the prophets

hang on these two,

says Jesus.

But,

Jesus says that later.

Did Jesus get the answer

from this lawyer?

Well,

of course not.

I think we kind of

know that.

Here's my idea.

Now,

I can't prove this,

but,

we know from the

gospel accounts

that Jesus often

taught the same things

from place to place.

All throughout

his ministry.

Even within Luke's

gospel,

there's repetition

of the same things

in different places

and different contexts.

And so,

my idea,

I'm betting that

long before Jesus

came to Jerusalem

in the week prior

to his death,

he was telling people

that the most important

thing they need to do

is to love the Lord

their God

with all their heart.

And the second

most important,

to love their neighbor

as themselves.

I'm betting that

this man has

already heard

whether first hand

or second hand,

Jesus

has said this.

Maybe he's even

eager to give

this answer to Jesus

because he knows

it's the right answer.

It's the answer

that Jesus

has given

before.

And so,

I think that

the expert

has the right answer

to his own question

because he has

Jesus' answer

to the question.

Well,

let's keep going.

Verse 28,

Jesus says,

you have answered

correctly.

Do this

and you will live.

Again,

Jesus is so

wise,

he affirms

that the man's

answer is right.

You got it right.

You already know

the right answer

to your question.

But notice that

little bit

that Jesus adds

at the end.

Do this

and you will live.

It's so subtle.

Jesus sort of

raises another

matter here.

Like,

you can know this.

You can have

the right answer.

but are you

actually

doing it?

Are you

loving God

with all your

heart?

Are you

loving your

neighbor

as yourself?

If you are,

then yes,

you will live.

You will inherit

eternal life.

It's just a

subtle statement

Jesus makes.

You've answered

correctly.

do this

and you will

live.

Well,

now,

all of a

sudden,

the man's

attitude

and his

heart

come out.

His agenda

comes out.

We see

kind of where

he's coming

from.

Verse 29,

he wanted

to justify

himself.

So,

he asked

Jesus,

and who

is my

neighbor?

This is

where we

see

things come

into clarity

for who

this man

is and

what kind

of an

attitude

he's bringing

into this

moment.

It's almost

like he just

didn't get

the satisfaction

he was

looking for

with the

first exchange.

I don't

know,

maybe he

was looking

for some

congratulations

and applause

from Jesus

for getting

the right

answer.

Maybe he

was hoping

that everyone

would see

that and hear

that.

Oh,

yes,

he knew

it all

along.

He really

was an

expert.

There was

something,

it seems,

unsatisfying

about Jesus'

response when

Jesus just

kind of says,

yep,

you're right.

Do that

and you will

live.

And so

the man

tries a

second

question.

Another

matter of

the law.

And I'm

guessing that

like the

first question,

he probably

has in

mind what

the right

answer is

or at

least what

his answer

is.

You know,

here's a

tricky one,

Jesus.

Let's see

how you

answer this.

Who is

my neighbor?

Who

exactly am

I commanded

by God

to love?

who qualifies

as my

neighbor?

How many

houses down

the street

does that

extend to?

And the

man's heart

is revealed

in this

second question

because it's

the kind

of question

that asks,

what's the

minimum

required

to fulfill

my obligation

to God?

Who counts

as my

neighbor?

and then

it's here

that Jesus

answers

with the

parable.

Jesus

tells him

a little

story.

The story

starts with

a man

who gets

robbed

on his

way

from

Jerusalem

to

Jericho

and it's

actually more

than just

a robbery.

Jesus

says that

the robbers

attacked

him

and beat

him.

So this

is robbery

by force.

This is

first a

mugging

and then

a robbery.

One of

the details

that especially

at least

to me

is striking

in this

little story

is that

the robbers

stripped

the man

of his

clothes.

Now I

didn't really

look up

what was

typical of

robberies

back then

in those

days but

nowadays

you know

most thugs

they just

were not

really

interested

in the

clothes

they're

just

after

the

valuables

right?

Maybe

some

money

in the

wallet

or

purse

perhaps

some

jewelry

now I

don't want

to pick

apart

Jesus

parable

too much

but we

kind of

wonder

did this

man resist

so much?

Did he

fight back

to the

point that

it made

the thieves

angry?

Is that

why they

stripped him

of his

clothes?

Did they

want to

humiliate

him?

Did they

want to

teach him

a lesson

for not

just

cooperating

in the

first

place?

We don't

know.

It's a

parable.

It's not

even a

real account

but this

one detail

just leaves

us with

quite the

picture.

Can you

picture him

in your

mind there?

Just this

poor man

lying on

the side

of the

road

naked

and

bleeding

and

wounded.

Jesus

says the

thieves

went

away

leaving

him

half

dead.

And

then Jesus

tells of

three different

men who

stumble upon

him while

he's lying

there.

The first

man to

come walking

along is

a priest.

For this

first guy

Jesus chooses

someone especially

religious.

The priests

I mean they

were the

ones who

served at

the temple.

They were

the ones

who helped

the people

offer

sacrifices

to God.

If there's

anyone who

knows God

it should be

the priest

right?

Well what does

the priest do

when he sees

the man lying

there?

He passes

by him on

the other

side of the

road.

And again

it's kind of

subtle here

but it's

here.

The wording

suggests that

he deliberately

chose to

move.

move or

even maybe

stay on

the opposite

side of

the road

because of

seeing the

man.

When he

saw the

man he

passed by

on the

other side.

There is

this sort

of conscious

choice there

to keep

a distance.

Not to

get too

close after

seeing him.

And of

course all

sorts of

people have

you know

kind of

you know

what would

be the

reason?

Why

wouldn't

he help

the man?

But Jesus

doesn't give

any reasons.

this is

just how

it went.

But I

think we

are meant

to be

surprised

by this.

And we

sort of

expect that

the most

religious

people

will be

the most

loving

people.

The most

likely to

stop and

help,

right?

Well next

comes a

Levite.

The Levites

were those

descended from

Levi,

one of the

twelve sons

of Jacob,

one of the

tribes of

Israel.

They were

the ones

that God

chose to

serve in

the temple

and the

priests were

Levites but

there were

also others

who helped

with worship

at the

temple who

were Levites.

So the

second man,

he's another

religious man

and what's

his response

to the man

lying there

bleeding on

the side of

the road?

Jesus says

it's the same

as the

priest.

He too

first saw

the man

and then

after seeing

him pass

by on

the other

side.

Now I

don't think

there's meant

to be too

much of a

difference

between these

two men.

We might

try to figure

out the

difference

between

Levite and

priest and

is that

significant but

they both

stand for

sort of the

really religious

people of

the day.

And I

think here

maybe is the

point.

what are

the odds

that two

highly religious

men run

across this

man and

neither of

them stops

to help?

You know

maybe we

thought the

odds would

be good

that at

least one

of the

religious

guys would

stop.

But no

he doesn't

stop either.

Finally

Jesus introduces

the hero

of the story.

The man who

does stop

to help.

And Jesus

deliberately

throws this

huge twist

into the

story and

he makes

the hero

a Samaritan.

That in

itself is

such a

loaded thing

culturally.

The Samaritans

were despised

by the Jews.

They were

considered

half-breeds

and corrupt.

About 750

years before

this the

people living

in the region

of Samaria

they were

all Jews.

But then

the Assyrian

empire came

in and

conquered them

and when

they did

they did

some nasty

things to

keep that

region from

revolting

again.

They carted

off many

of the

Jews who

were in

Samaria

to other

places in

the empire.

And then

they brought

people from

the other

nations that

they had

conquered and

resettled them

there in

Samaria.

And so

the people in

Samaria were

sort of this

mixture of

surviving Jews

and people

from all

these other

nations.

And over

time they

intermarried.

They had

families together.

there was

even the

blending of

religions.

That's a

really simple

explanation of

it.

And so

for Jesus

to make

the hero

of this

story a

Samaritan

was very

provocative.

The Jews

despised the

Samaritans.

So what does

the Samaritan

do when he

sees the man

lying there

naked and

wounded?

Verse 33.

As he

traveled,

came where

the man

was and

when he

saw him,

he took

pity on

him.

He had

the reaction

that we

all hopefully

did as we

first pictured

that man

lying there

naked,

almost dead,

on the

side of

the road.

The Samaritan

was deeply

moved with

compassion.

And what

did he do

out of that

compassion?

Well, the

first thing

we see is

in verse

34.

He went

to him.

The complete

opposite of

the others

who moved

away, he

goes right

to him.

And he

bandages

his wounds.

Since the

man was

naked and

had nothing,

the Samaritan

may have

even had

to tear

off strips

of his

own clothes

or garments

or outer

garments

to do

this.

Along

with the

bandaging

went the

pouring on

of oil

and wine.

That might

sound strange

to us today,

but it was

actually fairly

standard wound

care back

then in a

place where

vineyards and

olive oil

were present

in abundance.

The wine

acted as a

bit of an

antiseptic

to disinfect

the wound

and then

the olive

oil was

actually used

to soothe

and to

dress the

wound.

The oil

kind of

kept the

bandages

from sticking

and surprisingly

there's even

medical studies

today that

suggest that

olive oil

has other

good health

benefits for

skin.

So the

Samaritan,

he looks

after the

man's

wounds.

He takes

the time

to carefully

wrap them

all up and

make sure

they're done

properly so

that they

won't get

infected.

Then the

Samaritan

puts the

man on

his own

donkey.

Quite

likely the

Samaritan

had been

riding this

donkey

till now

but now

with this

man on

his donkey

the Samaritan

would have

had to

probably walk

the rest

of the

way.

The

Samaritan

takes him

to an

inn

and looks

after him

and took

care of

him.

He doesn't

just dump

him and

run.

He gets

him there

and then he

takes care

of him

and if we

just read

this really

closely with

the next

line he

doesn't even

leave until

the next

day.

So it

seems he

stayed the

night to

look after

him.

And then

the next

day he

pays the

innkeeper

in advance

to look

after this

man.

And even

more than

that,

not just

a set

amount,

but when

I return

I will

reimburse

you for

any extra

expense you

may have.

Think of

that.

He doesn't

just pay for

a couple

days more,

he reassures

the innkeeper

that hey,

do it all

the way.

Make sure

that this

man gets

back on

his feet

again.

Any other

expenses

that are

incurred from

this,

I'll look

after them

when I

return.

You just

let me

know the

day he

checks out.

Wow.

That's

going the

extra mile,

isn't it?

That's what

it looks like

to love

your neighbor

as yourself.

And I'm

sure that

at some

point early

on in

this whole

scenario,

the Samaritan

would have

realized that

this man

lying on

the road

was a

Jew.

The Jews

despised the

Samaritans,

but the

Samaritans

also despised

the Jews.

The feelings

ran both

ways.

And so I

think one of

Jesus' points

here is

surely that

your neighbor

even includes

your enemy.

Just a few

chapters back

in Luke's

gospel,

we heard

Jesus say,

love your

enemies.

This is

like a

picture from

Jesus of

what that

might actually

look like

in a

real life

situation.

Well,

finally we

come to

the end

of Jesus'

story,

and Jesus

asks the

lawyer a

question.

He ends

with this

question,

verse 36.

Which of

these three

do you

think was

a neighbor

to the

man who

fell into

the hands

of robbers?

Here comes

the big

point that

Jesus is

making,

and another

unexpected

twist.

What was

the question

in the

first place?

This

wasn't it.

The question

was who

is my

neighbor?

Who

counts as

my neighbor?

Who exactly

do I need

to love?

But Jesus

kind of flips

it around.

Instead of

who is my

neighbor,

which of

these three

was a

neighbor

to the

man?

in other

words,

it's almost

as if

Jesus is

saying,

you know,

you're

trying to

limit the

scope of

who you

need to

love by

getting me

to define

exactly who

is your

neighbor.

But what

does it

really look

like to

love your

neighbor?

It's far

more about

how you

treat others

than about

how that

person is

related to

you.

it's far

more about

how you

treat others

than about

that person's

relation to

you.

And I

think,

you know,

the more I

meditate on

this,

this is one

of the

wisest

moments of

instruction

I think

I've ever

heard of.

We realize

that Jesus'

wisdom,

I mean,

it's out

of this

world.

It's from

heaven.

We'll come

back to this

question in

a second,

but let's

go back to

the first

question,

the who

is my

neighbor

question.

Think about

the answer

we get to

this question

from the

parable.

Jesus set

this whole

story up

deliberately

to show

us that

my neighbor

could be

anyone.

My neighbor

is really

defined as

my fellow

human being.

regardless

of the

differences

that I

may have

from him.

Whether

Samaritan

or Jew,

that doesn't

matter.

Where you're

from,

the color

of your

skin,

the difference

of language,

even the

social tensions

and conflict

between your

people and

theirs,

that's all

irrelevant.

Your neighbor

is anyone,

it's any

of your

fellow human

beings,

regardless

of the

differences

you may

have to

them.

I mean,

that's not

how we

usually use

it.

We usually

use that

word to

refer to

those who

live right

next door

to us,

or right

on the

property

right next

to ours.

And that's

okay,

that's true.

But Jesus

forces us

to expand

who should

be included.

what about

a stranger

that you

just happened

across who

comes from a

different ethnic

background and

is from another

province?

Is that

person my

neighbor?

Well,

that's exactly

what this man

was in the

story.

Jesus basically

says,

yes,

love your

neighbor applies

there,

too.

And so maybe

that's the first

thing to take

from this.

God desires

that we don't

try to limit

our neighborly

love to only

certain people.

Everyone we

find ourselves

near,

everyone we

come across

is our

neighbor.

And I know

that's not

what introverts

like me

like to hear.

Loving people

who are

different than

us is hard.

But it

could be as

simple as

just meeting

that most

visible and

obvious need

that they

have.

You may

not be a

gifted

conversationalist,

but that's

not really

required to

help that

elderly man

across the

street lift

that thing

into his

car.

Or maybe

you see

someone who

just looks

like they're

overheated

and they

need a glass

of water.

Does it

matter whether

they're young

or old,

tall or

short,

Caucasian,

East Indian,

Filipino,

friend or

stranger?

it shouldn't.

So God

desires that

we not

limit our

neighborly

love to

only certain

people.

Everyone we

come across

is our

neighbor,

is someone

God wants

us to

love just

as we

love

ourselves.

So Jesus

really does

answer the

man's

question.

But then I

think we

really need to

reflect on

the question

that Jesus

asks the

lawyer at

the end

too.

It's a

little different

isn't it?

Which of

these three

do you

think was

a neighbor

to the

man who

fell into

the hands

of robbers?

Which of

these three

do you

think was

a neighbor

to the

man?

And I

love the

way that

Jesus

reverses that

question all

of a sudden

there.

We try to

use the

same sort

of things,

Jen and I,

as we

encourage our

kids.

Sometimes

they've

lamented,

as maybe

we all

have,

that nobody

at a

particular

gathering

or event

was their

friend.

What they

mean is,

you know,

nobody there

initiated with

me.

Nobody played

with me.

Nobody was

the same

age and

gender as

me.

Nobody there

was my

friend.

But we

always try to

encourage them.

We've got to

flip that

around.

Instead,

we've got to

always be

asking,

who is

here that

I can be

a friend

to?

Who can

I initiate

with?

Who's got

nobody else

talking to

them or

playing with

them?

And that's

the same

sort of thing

that Jesus

is doing

here.

You know,

don't worry

about defining

exactly who

is your

neighbor.

Be a

loving neighbor

neighbor to

anyone you

come across.

Don't think,

you know,

who do I

have to

love?

Are there

any of my

neighbors here

at this

thing?

Instead,

think,

who's here

that I can

show neighborly

love to?

Who needs

a neighbor?

I mean,

this is the

sort of thing

that if we

really live

like this

and with

this mindset

and heart,

this will

so change

who we are

as a

church and

what we're

known for

in our

community.

There's

lots we

could meditate

on here.

We could

think about

the things

the Samaritan

did for the

man who

was wounded.

What an

amazing picture

of how it

looks to

love someone,

to really

love someone

as yourself.

It's lavish.

It's such

a giving

love.

It goes

well beyond

the extra

mile to

care for

this man.

Do we

love our

fellow man

like that?

Or are we

just content

to do the

bare minimum?

But then,

what really

astounds me

is that there's

one more

layer to

this whole

conversation.

At the end

of this

conversation,

question,

what is

Jesus'

main

point to

this

man?

Is it

just that

the lawyer

needs to

adjust his

thinking when

it comes to

how he

defines

neighbor?

And be a

little more

broad in

the definition.

I see

another layer

here.

Pieces of

this conversation

which get

to the

heart.

Which

character in

the parable

represents the

lawyer?

It's

probably

both the

priest and

the

Levite.

This man

wasn't a

priest, but

he considered

himself well

versed in the

scriptures,

well studied in

the word of

God, a

religiously

devout man,

just like the

priest and the

Levite in the

parable.

people.

And what is

Jesus demonstrating

through the

priest and the

Levite in the

story?

I think he's

showing that you

can have the

right answers

to the big

questions and

yet lack the

love and

compassion spoken

of in those

answers.

answers.

You can have

the right

answers without

having the

right heart.

You can know

the most

important thing,

the greatest

commandment.

You can know

what you need

to do to

inherit eternal

life, to

love God with

all your heart.

You can know

that truth and

yet not do

it.

You can know

that you should

love your

neighbor as

yourself.

And even

what that

looks like.

And at the

same time be a

person who

lacks compassion