The Misery of Man and the Mercy of God (Luke 10:25-37) John Patadros | Oct 12, 2025

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Well, I'm really thankful to be back here again.

It's always a joy.

I mean, it's only been a couple times, but thankful that I can serve you and this church, and particularly Miles just being able to give him some rest.

Congratulations.

I think you are here somewhere.

I can't see you.

You and Amber.

We're so grateful for you guys.

And just I think there's a sweetness in our fellowship as well.

Miles was gracious enough this past summer to come and fill in for Pastor Ian while he was on sabbatical.

And I think that just testifies to the degree of support that we can have within our fellowship and within among our churches, that we can do that with one another during different seasons and maybe more challenging seasons of life within the church, and that we can lean towards one another in that way.

So grateful again that I can open God's word with you.

And if you haven't already turned there, please go to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And for this morning together, we're going to be looking at what many people have called the most popular story that has ever been told throughout human history.

And it's the parable that we know as the Good Samaritan.

And I'm sure we would all agree with that statement because you can walk up to virtually anyone on the street and they can tell you at least some details about the story, regardless of who they are.

We've seen how the label of a Good Samaritan has been slapped on all kinds of people throughout the years.

It's been used in news articles.

I just read one this past year that came up on my feed.

It's been used in secular institutions and even some countries, Canada being one of them, where they have what is called the Good Samaritan Act and where protection is given to those who help people in need.

I mean, this story is known.

No one can deny this.

And yet I believe that this story is just as unknown, at least to the world at large.

Because what you'll never hear from them is who Jesus was talking to and what the original question was that began this entire account.

And by ignoring those details, this story becomes nothing more than a model for good behavior when Jesus has something of eternal value to share with this person and the crowd that he's speaking to.

In Luke chapter 19, right after salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus, that man who climbed up the tree, Jesus says these words, For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

That's his mission.

And so as Jesus engages with individuals and crowds of people, salvation is on his mind.

He wants to grant them eternal life.

He wants for them to receive forgiveness of sins.

And as we'll come to see, it's really no different in our passage.

And I'm gonna be honest with you, if people discovered what Jesus was actually saying here in this parable that we're gonna be looking at, I don't think the world would reference it at all.

Because he's revealing to us the misery of man's ruined condition, but the hope of the mercy of God to rescue us so that we can receive eternal life that only he can grant.

And that's not a message that the world wants to hear.

But that's what we need to hear.

And it's prompted by an unbelieving man who asks a question that's related to the most important subject in the world, and that is the matter of eternal life.

And so our first point is this: if you want to receive eternal life, Jesus is saying that you need to love God perfectly.

Let's read the first few verses of Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 25.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him 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.

One, he'll outsmart you.

So if one is willing to admit it, they'll be sorry for asking the question.

But secondly, as a result of that, it's gonna backfire somehow.

The first time we hear of Jesus being tested is in Luke chapter 4, when he was tempted by Satan, and Jesus says to him, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

And we all know it hasn't worked out well for him.

But this lawyer apparently didn't get that memo because he wants to test Jesus as well in order to bring a charge against him, or as it says in verse in chapter 11, to catch him in something he might say.

That's what it means.

He's challenging Jesus.

It's not a pure motive.

And he stands up as a student would before his teacher, but more than likely, based on what we'll come to know of him, he's wanting to be noticed by the crowd as wise or intelligent.

He wants to appear smart among those around him.

Jesus says a few verses earlier in verse 21 I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

And now we're presented with a man who appears to be wise in his own mind, but doesn't realize that God is opposed to the proud.

So outwardly he seems respectful because he stands up, he calls Jesus teacher, and then he asks him a question that's relevant to every one of us.

He says, What shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And I'll be honest, it's somewhat of a bizarre way to ask this question because if someone were to inherit anything, it's because they're part of what?

The family.

Imagine, you know, you walk up to someone who's not your relative and you ask them, Well, what do I have, what do I have to do to receive an inheritance from you?

Well, I'm sorry, sir, but you don't get anything.

Because unless you're part of this family or you're adopted in, which I can't see happening anymore, you don't get anything.

There's nothing you can do.

So obviously, this this lawyer is a little misguided, but I think we need to give him some credit because he chose to ask about the most important question and he came to the right person.

Not everyone does that.

But let me ask you, how would you answer it?

If a friend of yours or an enemy came up to you and put you to the test, what would you say about receiving eternal life?

I mean, you might quote Acts 16, verse 31, when that jailer asked Paul a very similar question and he said, What must I do to be saved?

Acts 16:31

And Paul says, Well, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

In that very moment, salvation came to him and his household.

Or maybe you would just quote Jesus in John 3.16, the most familiar verse in all the Bible, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have what?

Eternal life.

That would help answer this question.

You must believe in order to receive, but Jesus doesn't do that.

He knows this man is a lawyer, which means that he's an expert in the law, the five books of Moses, and so Jesus begins to answer it with a question and says, What's written in the law?

How do you read it?

And now the tables have suddenly turned because who's testing who?

We all knew this was gonna backfire, but nobody thought, at least he didn't think that this was gonna happen this quickly.

I wonder if you've had those times when you've prepared for an argument, you know, you know, you kind of have it all planned out, and you're thinking, like, there's no way that they're gonna have an answer to it, and all of a sudden, everything changes and it backfires on you, and you're thinking to yourself, like, how did this happen?

Like, how did they come up with that answer?

Like, I had this argument scripted out.

This is how he feels.

This this lawyer was not prepared to be tested, but nonetheless, he ended up scoring well on it because he provides Jesus the answer in verse 27 when he says that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

He actually quotes from two passages in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19.

And that's a summary of the Ten Commandments.

And it's the same answer that Jesus gave in Matthew 22 when another lawyer tested him concerning the greatest commandment in the law.

This is a good answer.

He scored well.

This man has studied, he knows the Old Testament scriptures, many, maybe even listened to Jesus as he's taught the crowds.

And the Lord says to him, You've answered correctly.

But then he surprises not only the lawyer, but probably most of us in this room, when he says, Do this and you will live.

He picks up on the language that the lawyer used in verse 25 when he asks, What must I do?

And Jesus says, Do this and you'll live.

This summarized the first four commandments of the law.

Never have any form of idolatry, never take the Lord's name in vain.

Always keep the Sabbath holy.

Love God perfectly, and you'll have life.

And this would happen if one could do it because there would be no need for mercy or forgiveness.

But what's the problem?

There's none righteous.

Romans 3.

No one can measure up, there's none who does good, no one can do this.

In fact, the intent of the law was to act like a mirror in order to show us our Savior so that we run to the Savior.

It was meant to lead us to Christ, which is the kind of response that Jesus is trying to elicit from this man, to recognize that he's broken before God, has violated the law, and could never measure up to that standard.

And what would have turned everything around right now is if he applied what we can call the ABCs of Christianity.

If he admitted that he's a sinner before God, that he's fallen short of his glory, and that he can never earn a righteous standing before him.

To secondly, believe, to believe all that Jesus says of himself, that he, being God, came in the flesh to suffer and die and be raised from the dead for our justification, and rather to test him than to trust him for salvation.

And then thirdly, he was to confess, to publicly declare that he's no longer his own, that he's turned away from his sin and submitted his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That would have changed everything for this man.

I like how Alistair Begg put it.

He said, Did you come today to test him or to trust him?

If you would come and trust him, then you would discover that he is a Christ who may be put to the test.

If you come simply to test him, then it will not be the route by which you come to trust him.

You see, this man's pride should have been crushed under the weight of the law, and rather than standing arrogantly in front of the Savior, he should have bowed low at the feet of Christ and he would have found mercy.

A place that so many of us in this room have been.

When we've tried to measure up to God's law and have failed, and just like everyone else, but when we've come to the end of ourselves, we believe and confess in the one who has measured up and can grant you and I eternal life.

It's the only way that anyone could be saved, including this lawyer, but he's unwilling to do that because it's it says in verse 29, but he desiring to what?

To justify himself.

Such an awful place to be.

He's gonna dig his heels in it and prove that he's righteous and defend himself before Jesus and the crowds.

Well, we can't relate to that, right?

Justify ourselves, defend ourselves, or excuse our sin.

And I think before we get carried away and want to point the finger at this lawyer who's standing arrogantly, we need to remember that this is not unfamiliar to us.

It actually began all the way back in Genesis when God asked the man in the garden, Have you eaten of the tree?

And do you remember his response?

He said, The woman whom you gave to me, she gave me fruit, and I ate.

The first man who attempted to justify himself in the presence of God was certainly not the last man to do it.

And all the ladies in one accord said, Amen to that.

And I imagine, though, that we've all been there, young and old, men and women.

I know what it's like.

I've been there.

When the truth of God's word and the truth of my life is laid bare, and I stand my ground and excuse and justify myself.

Maybe because we're unaware of our condition, you know, we don't see it, but afraid to ask God or even others if there's any wicked way in me.

Or maybe we do say our sin, but like one author said, we dangerously silence our conscience.

We suppress the truth, unwilling to confess what I already know about myself and what is clearly known by the people around me.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and he says to them, You are those who justify yourself.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

And then he says, But God knows your heart.

God knows your heart.

And that's a powerful reminder that even if others don't see it, God always sees it.

We need to be a people who, unlike this lawyer, confess to God what is already known to him.

And then if there's someone who we need to get right with, maybe even people that we're sitting with today, admitting to them that too often we find ourselves wanting to be justified.

But today I'm asking the Lord for humility in this area.

I wonder if you've picked up on how it's worded in verse 29, because some have suggested that Luke may be intending this dual meaning here.

Because we know in the gospel it's God who justifies the sinner rather than the sinner justifying himself.

So, on the one hand, yes, he is excusing himself, but now you're gonna stand before God and declare yourself justified this man is full of arrogance, and he begins to do this by asking Jesus this question Who is my neighbor?

Who is my neighbor?

But hold on a minute, you you you missed a significant part of the law from the answer that you gave.

Whatever happened to loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you either think you're living up to it, or you know you're failing, but you're unwilling to admit it.

But whichever one it is, you're ignoring the law, and so you revert to a question about who is your neighbor.

And we all know this shouldn't be interpreted as who is my neighbor so that I can go and love them.

No, we know this man already too well.

The question should be understood as, who is my neighbor, so that I'm justified in not having to love certain people.

Because according to the law in Leviticus 19, verse 18, it should be up on the screen.

Leviticus 19:18

It says, You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the son of your own people, but you should love your neighbor as yourself.

And so he wants to limit neighbor to his own people, and so he ignores verse 34 of that same chapter.

That too should be on the screen.

It says, You shall treat the so the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.

So, what does it really mean by neighbor?

What do you really mean?

You know, it's like when you're planning this event and and someone says to you, you know, you you gotta invite the entire family.

And you look at them and you're just like, well, what do you really mean by family?

Like, you don't mean like everyone who we call family, do you?

I mean, if you've planned a wedding or any large event, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We we don't have to include all those who fall under family, right?

What does the law really mean by neighbor?

I mean, we're just referring to our own people, aren't we?

I'm not required to love those who are outside of that.

Notice now that Jesus ignores the fact that the lawyer completely avoided the first part of the law, as if to say, if you want to take this discussion in that direction, I'm gonna go with you.

Okay, let's test your ability to fulfill even the second part of the law, and I'll show you now what it means to love your neighbor.

And so our second point is this if you want to receive eternal life, Jesus is saying that you need to now love others perfectly.

And so it's against the backdrop of this dialogue that we are now introduced to this incredible story that Jesus just made up.

Let's read it beginning in verse 30, in verse 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.

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, passed 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 on oil and wine.

Then he set 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 gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.

There is no greater teacher than the Lord, and there's no greater storyteller, as he amazes people with his wisdom and insight.

And so we're now introduced to a man who was traveling down from Jerusalem, and it says that because there's about a 3,000-foot drop over only 17 miles to Jericho.

So the road is very steep, but it's also very windy, which makes it perfect for robbers to just kind of ambush people and attack.

Which sadly happened to this innocent man.

And it says that he fell among robbers, which implies that he was completely surrounded and consumed by them with no place to go.

And they stripped him, they beat him and walked away, leaving him half dead.

So, unless someone comes to this man's help, he is left for dead.

There's no hope for him.

But the crowd listening to the story must have been excited when they heard that a priest happened to be passing by.

This is a man who would have known the law.

He held a high position of honor with God and the people he served in the temple, representing the people.

Surely he would be the one to help.

He knew what to do.

But it says that when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

He must have been walking that same path, had a look at him, but couldn't be bothered to stop and care for this half-dead man.

And obviously the people were surprised to hear this, but there was hope now because a Levite is introduced in the story as he makes his way over to the men.

These were men who helped the priest in the temple and held positions similar to how deacons function in the church.

They serve and they take care of practical needs.

So this would be a great time to apply his gifting and unlike the priest, prove to be a help to a dying man.

Here's another religious leader walking along the road.

There's no way he'll be as bad as the first.

He can't be.

It's like bringing home a bundle of apples.

I mean, what are the odds that the first two are completely rotten?

It's not likely.

I mean, especially when it's coming from a reputable source.

You expect them to be good.

At least the second one.

But no, it says that when the Levites saw him, he too passed by on the other side.

This man is just as rotten as the first.

And the crowd must be thinking well, if these two leaders won't help, Man, like who will?

Maybe he'll introduce just a common Jewish man, an Israelite.

He'll be the hero, he'll rescue this man.

But Jesus doesn't do that.

In fact, the first word in verse 33 is not but or then, it's the word Samaritan, and that would have landed on the people like a ton of bricks.

Like, why is he introducing a Samaritan in this story?

Like, these are people, according to the Jews, who are considered the scum of the earth.

They're unclean, they intermarried with the Gentiles.

What does a Samaritan have anything to do with helping a poor half-dead man?

They're probably not even shocked, but most likely angry because the Jews and Samaritans they didn't get along at all.

They're nothing but dirt to us.

That's what the leaders are thinking.

In fact, when the Jews were angry with Jesus and jealous of him, they said these words in John chapter 8, verse 48 Are we not right in saying that you are Samaritan and have a demon?

John 8:48

Don't lose that thought.

We'll circle back to it eventually, but for now, there was no greater insult than to refer to someone as a Samaritan.

So when Jesus drops this bomb on them in the story, the crowd is now fully engaged.

And Jesus says that as the Samaritan journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

Luke is slowing down the scene for us and fills in some really important details.

He says that the Samaritan went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine.

This was a costly treatment.

He then set him on his own animal, most likely a donkey, and so it implies that while the man rode, he walked to the inn, which was where he took care of him.

Verse 35 says, And the next day, meaning what?

That he was with the man all night.

We don't know if he was awake or asleep, but he remained with him.

This is an unbelievable, incredible treatment.

But it doesn't stop there because even though the Samaritan had other commitments, what does he do?

He pays the innkeeper two days' worth of wages to take care of him and promises that when he returns, he'll repay him for whatever more was spent.

In today's economy, it could be anywhere from$600 to$1,000 and even more.

There was no limit to how much he was willing to spend for this man.

It was actually an indefinite amount of money on behalf of a stranger who he happened to be passing by.

This is lavish.

It's an incredible form of compassion and generosity.

You can't imagine this happening anywhere.

I mean, most people barely make eye contact as they drive by similar people like this on the side of the road.

And what do you believe a lawyer is thinking?

Like what's going on in his mind?

We almost forgot about this man because we're we're so wrapped up in this incredible story that Jesus says.

Well, we might have an idea because in the very next chapter, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and telling them how they love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace, and then Jesus, sorry, and then one of the lawyers says to him in chapter 11, verse 45, Teacher, in saying these things, you're also insulting us.

Like, do you actually think that Jesus is afraid to call you out when he wants to?

Because Jesus then turns to the lawyers and says in verse 46, it should be up on the screen, it says, Woe to you, lawyers also, for you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

In other words, they held up additional laws for others to obey, and they don't ease their burden by helping keep those laws.

They were oppressive people, and they had a reputation of living in the complete opposite way as this Samaritan, and so no doubt the lawyer is probably realizing that he's being indicted.

But Jesus is not done with him because if you're gonna test Jesus, you better be prepared to answer some revealing questions.

And so he asked the lawyer, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor?

Notice how Jesus worded this question.

He didn't ask who was the Samaritan's neighbor, which was what the lawyer wanted answered.

The question should not be, who are my neighbors, but rather, am I proving to be a neighbor to everyone around me?

Jesus doesn't always answer your question the way you want, but he will provide the answer that you need to hear.

And he asks him, Who's being a neighbor in this story?

And the lawyer unequivocally says, the man who showed mercy.

It's obvious.

And if he said anyone else, then possibly the crowds would be after him for it.

So Jesus says, You go and do likewise, and as far as we know, this conversation is over.

We don't know what the man says, what he does, we don't hear anything more of what happened, and it's only recorded here in Luke.

And this occurs very often in the Gospels, where conversations or discussions they end so abruptly, and we're left wondering, what do we do with this?

Because the point has been made, but the question is, what is the point?

What is Jesus teaching him here, and what is he teaching us?

Well, let's think about this command for a moment.

This is the second time that Jesus has told the lawyer to go and do.

You want to know what to do to receive eternal life?

Tell me what the law says and go do it.

Oh, and by the way, go do this perfectly.

This is the law of God.

And the very question you ask about loving your neighbor is described in the story of a man who you consider to be an outcast, but who is unrestrained in his compassion towards a perfect stranger.

You and I know how hard this is to do, even with those whom we love.

Let alone those we've never met before, and then to do it perfectly.

Well, that's impossible.

This doesn't happen.

If this is what the law demands, there's no way I can fulfill it and I'm ruined.

I can't go and do it.

No one can.

Which is what Jesus wanted to hear from this lawyer.

That he can't do it, that he's unable to rely on his own effort to keep the righteous demands of the law, and rather than justifying himself, he needs to plead with the one who can only justify him.

The only one who has perfectly obeyed the law on behalf of sinners.

But we don't hear that from this lawyer.

In chapter 18 of Luke, there's another story of a ruler who asked Jesus the exact same question.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus takes the exact same approach.

He gives him the law, and the man has the same attitude.

Well, I've kept all of these ever since I was young.

It's basically what this lawyer is saying.

So Jesus pretends that he has in Luke 18, and then he says to him, Okay, sir, there's one more thing you lack.

Sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven.

And the question is, is Jesus saying that you can buy your way into heaven?

No.

He's trying to peel back the layers of this man's heart so that the man recognizes that he's a lawbreaker, that he's a sinner because he refuses to see it.

That's what the law does.

It exposes our sin so that we run to the Savior.

And rather than earning our way to God, we are to fall at the mercy of a Savior.

He wants us to see that the law only reveals the brokenness of our condition, but Christ has the power to rescue us.

And I want you to know that we are no different than either of these men, the ruler or the lawyer.

We don't have any more ability, power, or even desire to keep the law in order to receive eternal life.

We're in an equal state of misery before the living God, but there is hope.

There is a light at the end of this dark tunnel, and it's found in our last point.

And that is, if you want to receive eternal life, Jesus is saying that you need to love the merciful one who has perfectly obeyed the law.

I wonder if you caught how this lawyer answers Jesus' final question when he asked, Who proved to be a neighbor?

The lawyer doesn't say it was a Samaritan.

Maybe he couldn't even get himself to say that word.

He doesn't say it was a third man, but he says, the one who showed him mercy, which is exactly what happened.

He's good at answering questions.

He understood that this is excessive kindness, it's unheard of.

But his problem is, although he can identify mercy in a story, he's unable to see that he is that man who is in need of mercy.

Jesus is describing him, but Jesus is also describing himself in this story.

This lawyer can't see that he's no different than this half-dead man.

In fact, he's a fully dead man in his sin and needs to be rescued by someone, and that someone is standing right before him.

And as Jesus is progressively revealing himself and his mission, we stand here on the other side of the cross, and through eyes of faith, we see that this parable is so much more than about a noble man who committed a respectable deed.

Because let me ask you this just like the Samaritan, who is the only one in all the Gospels in which it is said of him that when he saw, he showed compassion.

Is it not the Christ?

We see this over and over again in the Gospels.

Matthew 9, verse 36, it'll be up on the screen.

Matthew 9:36

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless.

Matthew 14, verse 14, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Matthew 14:14

Mark 6, verse 34, when he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Mark 6:34

It was only a few chapters earlier from our parable in Luke chapter 7, when Jesus meets with the widow.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And then shortly after our passage in Luke 15, you remember this from a couple weeks ago when Mark took this up.

The father in this parable is depicted as God.

And when the son returns home, it says, When the father what?

And you say, John, are you suggesting that Jesus is alluding to himself in this account as the good Samaritan?

I am.

And I think there are overtones of the gospel all throughout this.

The Samaritan is contrasted against the two religious leaders who saw and did nothing, but when this man sees, he acts as a savior and rescues the man, who no one else can and no one else will.

This is who Jesus is.

This is the heart of God.

Notice that the Samaritan comes to the place where the man is, goes to him in verse 34, and is found doing what?

Binding up his wounds.

Reminding us of Psalm 147, which says that God heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds.

The Samaritan then sets him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him, making us think of those words in Isaiah where it says that he himself bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Who else would act like this?

He sees the condition of a man, condescends by taking on the very form of a man, and then prefers the miserable, broken sinner over himself.

And then the climax is in verse 35.

When the next day he took out two dinari and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.

In other words, the man who was beaten on the side of the road will be no innkeeper's debtor.

The Samaritan will pay his price, whatever the cost, in order that this man could experience freedom.

This is a picture of the gospel.

He paid a debt he did not owe, because I owed a debt I could not pay.

And what could this half-dead man do but hope and pray that someone would rescue him, and someone did?

I like how D.A.

Carson puts it.

He says, You cannot help but draw the inference when you read the book as a whole and see how Jesus comes, in fact, to do at the most profound level for all of the broken people whom he saves, exactly what the Samaritan did in the physical realm for one broken, unidentified, half-dead man.

We now circle back to what we said earlier about the Jews in John 8 calling Jesus a what?

A Samaritan.

And chronologically, that takes place shortly before this account.

And perhaps Jesus plays off on that and says, You want to call me a Samaritan?

Well, I am the Samaritan in this story.

I'm the one who you have treated with contempt, who is despised and rejected by men, but I'm also the one who perfectly obeyed the law, the compassionate one who bears the broken, the bear bears the burden of sinners, and then pays their price to free them from the sting of death.

That's who you need to see me as.

Not as someone that you should justify yourself in front of, but who came to justify the sinner and to give you eternal life.

As Jesus pleads with this lawyer through this story that he would receive the very mercy that he himself has come to identify.

Like, don't you see that you are like that broken man?

But I have come to bind up your moon your wounds.

No one else could do this for you, but only one.

And this offer goes out to anyone who is still bound in the shackles of their own sin.

And he will adopt you into his family.

He will.

But you need to admit, believe, and confess that Jesus is Lord and He will give you the gift of eternal life.

At the deepest level itself, D.

Carson says again, the only ultimate good Samaritan is Jesus Himself.

Because he comes to us stripped down and pays our price, bears us to a place of safety such that we don't have to bear anything at all, and gives us life.

Who else treats people like this but the Lord?

Who's the only one who has perfectly obeyed the law?

And to all of us who have received this precious gift of life, this parable becomes to us so much more than just wanting to do good for the sake of goodness, as the world would describe it, but wanting to do good for the sake of the gospel.

And so I want to ask three questions that are directly drawn from this parable if you've received this gift of eternal life.

Firstly, are you willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of compassion?

Secondly, are you willing to bear the burden of the broken?

And then thirdly, are you willing to pay the price for all kinds of people?

And I want to use these three questions and apply them specifically in the area of hospitality, which can look so different depending on our circumstance.

I mean, it can happen right after the service as you look to greet those, whether it's even before the service or after, and maybe there are newcomers in here, and that that is an expression of hospitality, where you welcome people in and you embrace them in the same way that Christ has embraced you.

It happens in the home or at work with those we know and we don't know.

In fact, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 2, it says that hospitality is to show love to strangers.

Hebrews 13:2

And maybe the author had this story in mind when he wrote those words.

And I know that we can go through seasons of life with it being on the lower priority, but I think this parable reminds us that hospitality is a lifestyle that's consistent with the gospel.

It's worthy of the gospel because it reflects the heart of God.

So if I can encourage you, maybe target one person or one family every so often and say, I'm gonna develop a culture in my life of willing to be inconvenienced in order to bear a burden for all kinds of people.

And not just those I call my own, not just those I'm familiar with or I'm just comfortable with, not just my inner circle.

Because did you notice that the man who was robbed is completely unknown to us?

We have no idea.

Some people have assumed that he is Jewish because of where he was traveling, but Jesus intentionally doesn't tell us.

Maybe because what we've come to know about this Samaritan is he'd be willing to do it for anyone, regardless of who it was that was on the side of the rope.

It didn't matter who needed help.

And I wonder if that's your heart.

Are you willing to be inconvenienced, to bear a burden for anyone who needs it?

And some people may think, well, isn't that kind of uncomfortable?

Isn't that awkward to kind of put yourself out there to introduce yourself to people you don't know, or to pray with someone that you just met for the first time?

Well, let's ask the Samaritan when has compassion ever been equated with comfort?

Or better yet, let's ask the Savior, how would he describe what he did for us?

And I think the biblical language would be it was mingled with agony but joy.

And that's what was required for us to receive eternal life.

And so out of the abundance of his mercy, we can now love God and love others, not to earn our way to him, but as evidence of his transforming power of the gospel that he's produced in us.

And on a weekend like this, there is nothing more that we can be thankful for than the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to live a life that is worthy of the gospel.

Because it is glorious and it's offered to all who would choose to believe, and it's placed before us even right here as an example of how we ought to live our life.

Let's pray together.

God, we just want to thank you for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we just want to thank you that you came into this world to seek and to save the lost.

And there is a company of people, even in this room, who either have been lost and we have received forgiveness, or there are those who are still lost in their sin and can bow their knee even today and receive the forgiveness that you are offering.

And it is a free gift of salvation.

We just pray that you would continue to work in the hearts of those people.

And we just thank you that for all of us who have received forgiveness, that we can worship you with gladness, with gratefulness, with gratitude in our hearts because of what you have done in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

May you be honored and praised now and in our life as we lead a life that is consistent with what you have accomplished for us.

Encourage us, bless us, and may our hearts now be infused to worship you now.

In Christ's name.

Amen.