Luke 10 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
Once again a religious leader seeks to trap Jesus through a line of questioning asking him what he must do to inherit eternal life, but Jesus responds to his question with a question asking the lawyer what was in the law and how he read it. Surprisingly, the lawyer actually understood something of the weightier matters of the law focusing on love for God and for one’s neighbor. But when Jesus affirms his answer and exhorts him to follow these laws, immediately the lawyer asks another question saying “who is my neighbor”? It was this last disingenuous question that led to Jesus telling the parable of the Good Samaritan describing the awful event of a Jew being robbed, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road that led from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Of course, the most surprising detail in the whole story is that it is a Samaritan and not a Jew, or even the best of Jews in terms of Levites or priests, who helps the helpless traveler. This significant detail serves both to heighten the interest in the story as well as to bring a deep conviction to the lawyer that his privileged status ensures no understanding of the law of God in terms of it practical application if he does not draw close to the heart of the one who has made the law.
The most significant difference between the Samaritan and the religious figures is that instead of walking on the other side of the street, the Samaritan filled with compassion draws a beeline right toward the sufferer. But then he does a lot more than that. First he pours oil and wine upon his wounds. If he already had these items with him, he must have had a particular use for them. If not, did he purchase them from somewhere? Next, he binds up his wounds, but how? Does he tear his own clothes to make bandages? Then he sets him on his own beast of burden choosing to walk himself instead. He takes him to an inn and takes care of him for the night. In the morning he must be on his way, but the sufferer still needs more convalescence, so he gives the innkeeper two denarii to care for him while he is away and promises to repay any extra expenses that the innkeeper may incur upon his return trip. Whether or not he ever sees the wounded traveler again we don’t know from the story, but his intention is to take care of his every need while he is in that helpless estate.
What would cause this enemy of Israel to take such good care of the man when his own people chose to walk on the other side of the road instead? Clearly his decision was motivated by a genuine love for his neighbor, regardless of his perceived race or tribe or tongue. But when Jesus tells the lawyer to go and do likewise, he is not expecting that the lawyer can mimic the actions of the Samaritan for he does not know how to love a neighbor in this way proving that he cannot do anything to inherit eternal life. Ultimately, the parable is simply that, a story that points us to the perfect man Jesus Christ who does love God with all of his heart and does love his neighbor as himself, even laying down his own life on his behalf.
The lawyer was right in his understanding that one must love God and one’s neighbor to inherit salvation, but none of us comes anywhere close to the love that this Samaritan displayed, which should make it very plain to us why we need a loving savior to give us our inheritance rather than we trying to earn it in some way. Nevertheless, the law of God still stands. This pattern of love for God and neighbor is still as applicable today as it was then. And anyone filled with the Spirit of Christ will begin to take on the characteristics of the Good Samaritan. He may not immediately lay down his life for his neighbor, but at least he will begin to display signs of compassion rather than merely walking on the other side of the road.