(From a message given August 21, 2022 at Beatty Baptist Church)

Jesus calls us to love one another—to love our neighbors, and to love our enemies. Our Lord did not leave it up to us to define who our neighbors or enemies are, nor did He leave it up to us to define what loving them means. If left to ourselves, we might define love as not wishing someone harm, or doing a minimum amount of good to someone. But that is worldly love. God’s love is different. It is not merely the absence of hate. In the Bible, love is of the heart and it spontaneously displays itself in actions… extravagant actions, because it genuinely cares for the other person.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is not just about overcoming prejudice or stereotypes. It’s about loving others with a godly love, even if they don’t personally deserve it. Jesus didn’t define a neighbor as someone who has never done you wrong. Jesus showed love even to Judas. His love is our example. We are to reflect the character of God. God doesn’t turn a blind eye to sin, but neither does He treat people as their sins deserve. This is the way we are to show love to others. We are to do good to those who hate us. We are to bless those who curse us. We are to pray for those who persecute us ¹. Love is patient and kind. It shows mercy and grace ².

Agape love is sometimes defined as unconditional love. I would better define it as love that is purely based on the character of the lover, not on the merits of the one being loved. God loves us, not because we deserve that love, but because it is who He is… it is an essential part of His character.

The parable of the good Samaritan is about the kind of love we are to have for others. It is found in Luke chapter 10. The context begins in verse 25:

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, 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?

So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

And He said to him, You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.

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

Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come back, I will repay you. So which of these three do you suppose was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?

And he said, He who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, Go and you do likewise.

This passage begins with a lawyer asking Jesus a question. This was not a Glen Lerner or Ed Bernstein kind of lawyer. He was a scribe: an expert in the Law and the Jewish rabbinic traditions. The scribes were made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, with the majority being Pharisees, so this man was probably a Pharisee.

Part of the job of a scribe or lawyer was to teach the younger Hebrews the meaning of the Law, so when this man addressed Jesus as “Teacher”, he was speaking as an equal.

The lawyer asked a question he knew the answer to… or at least thought he knew the answer to, and he wanted to know if Jesus knew the correct answer as well. He was testing Jesus. Many Bible scholars think he asked the question maliciously. While it is a possibility, I don’t think that’s the case. It sounds to me like something he would ask other teachers of the Law. Perhaps he wanted to show off his knowledge before those who were listening on. If Jesus gave the wrong answer, he could correct him. If Jesus gave the right answer, he could commend him. Either way, he would elevate himself in the eyes of those around him.

The question was, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a very important question. He wasn’t seeking an answer for himself personally because he thought he knew the answer (as we see in verse 27). Perhaps he was seeking confirmation that he had the right answer, but more likely, he wanted to know if Jesus agreed with him.

This question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” implies a couple of things:

• There is something called “eternal life,” or perpetual life. We don’t cease to exist after we breathe our last. Some time after physical death, we shall be judged. The wicked will be forever miserably cut off from God, and the righteous will live joyfully forever with God. The Old Testament speaks of this in several places, for example in the first part of Daniel chapter 12.
• The Sadducees did not believe in life after death, meaning this lawyer was probably a Pharisee.
• The question, “What shall I do…” also implies it is possible to earn eternal life. This was a common belief back then and still is so today. Never mind the lawyer used the word “inherit” which has nothing to do with earning something.

We know salvation is a gift, obtained by God’s grace through faith. We would expect Jesus to respond with words to that effect. But He didn’t give the lawyer such a straight-forward answer. Instead, He asked this expert in the Law, what the Law actually says. This is the same technique the rabbis and laywers used to teach the Law. They would ask their students, “What do you read?” This left no room for opinion or theorizing. It’s a good way to teach the Bible. What does the Bible actually say?

And the expert in the Law didn’t respond, as we would expect, with the ten commandments. Instead he quoted from the Old Testament. Verse 27:

So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

The first part of this is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. He quoted from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the day, which reads a little different than our Old Testament.

The Jews call this the Shema because it begins with the phrase “Hear, O Israel“, and the word for “hear” is shama. You can think of this as their creed. The Jews read it twice a day, morning and evening, and it was printed in their phylacteries, the little boxes of scriptures they bound on their foreheads and forearms.

The second part of his answer is from Leviticus 19:18, which reads:

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

So we have two commands: one dealing with our relationship to God, and the other our relationship to man. Of all the commands this lawyer could have answered with, these were the best. They summarized the Law perfectly. Jesus called them the greatest commandment in Matthew 22.

The common theme in both commands is love: You shall love the Lord your God and you shall love your neighbor. We might have expected the lawyer to focus on obedience to God, but he focused on love. This showed he knew what the Law was about. And Jesus commended him for his answer in verse 28:

And He said to him, You have answered rightly; …

But eternal life does not come about through having the right answers to biblical questions. Jesus didn’t say, “Your theology is right: don’t worry! You’re in!” No, He said:

…do this and you will live.

Do this: love God with your whole being: heart, soul, strength, and mind—don’t hold anything back. And love your neighbor as yourself. It sounds easy, but this is just a summary of the Law. Paul said in Romans 13:8 and 9:

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not give false testimony,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

All of the other commandments in the Law define what it means to love God and love your neighbor. To live it out you’d have to keep every commandment in the Law perfectly, continuously, for your whole life. It’s really an impossible task. But perhaps this lawyer didn’t think so. Verse 29:

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

Now we see the real reason for the first question. The lawyer asked the first question so he could ask this question. This guy wanted to justify himself… to make himself look good, righteous, worthy of eternal life. He wanted others to look at him and think, “Yup, he’s going to heaven for sure!”

I think it likely, as he taught his own students to love their neighbors, he asked them the same question: “Who is my neighbor?“. The scribes and Pharisees taught you’re supposed to love your neighbor… but they said that only applied to their fellow Jews. It did not apply to the gentiles or Samaritans. In fact, they believed it was their God-given duty to hate their enemies… and Samaritans were their greatest enemies.

“Who is my neighbor?” That’s looking for loopholes. When you look for loopholes in God’s law, you’re missing the spirit of the law. You’re seeking ways to subvert the law to your own ends. I’m sure this man didn’t think he was doing that, so Jesus told him a story to help him answer the question and close the loophole. Verse 30:

Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, …

The man in the story is, by implication, a Jew. Jesus picked someone the lawyer would have identified with. If he were a foreigner, the lawyer might not have cared what happened to him.

The man in the story was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road between these two towns was 17 miles long. It descended 3000 feet through the arid wilderness. It was the most traveled road in Judea because Jericho was a Levitical city with about 12,000 priests living there at the time. So it was common to see priests and Levites on that road.

…and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

While the Jerusalem-to-Jericho road was much traveled, it was also dangerous. There were many bandits hiding in the rocky landscape looking for people to rob and kill. According to Josephus, Herod the Great had laid off 40,000 men after they built the temple in Jerusalem. Many of them became bandits on this road. The road had such a bad reputation that it was called the “bloody way.” The road retained its reputation even to recent times. One person who travelled it in the 1850’s wrote…

“It is famous at the present day as the haunt of thieves and robbers. No part of the traveler’s journey is so dangerous as the expedition to Jericho and the Dead Sea. The Oriental pilgrims who repair to the Jordan have the protection of an escort of Turkish soldiers; and others who would make the same journey must either go in company with them, or provide for their safety by procuring a special guard. I was so fortunate as to be able to accompany the great caravan at the time of the annual pilgrimage. Yet, in spite of every precaution, hardly a season passes in which some luckless wayfarer is not killed or robbed in going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. The place derives its hostile character from its terrible wildness and desolation. … The ravines, the almost inaccessible cliffs, the caverns, furnish admirable lurking-places for robbers. They can rush forth unexpectedly upon their victims, and escape as soon almost beyond the possibility of pursuit. … The idea of a[n] … ‘inn’ on the way was not invented … but borrowed from the landscape. There are the ruins now of such a shelter for the benighted or unfortunate on one of the heights which overlook the infested road.”

– Horatio Hackett

I don’t think anyone took that road lightly. I’m sure the man in the story was not out for a leisurely stroll. He had to take that dangerous road, for it was the only way to get to Jericho from Jerusalem. But he didn’t make it. The bandits attacked him, stole everything he had, beat him within an inch of his life, and left him for dead. Obviously, these robbers were not the man’s neighbors! Verse 31:

Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

As I said, this road was traveled by priests and Levites going to and from Jerusalem. That this priest was coming down the road indicated he was traveling from Jerusalem—his time of priestly service was over. Seeing the naked, bloody man lying there, he likely thought it safer to keep going. This was a dangerous area and having an beat-up man there proved it. He didn’t want the same thing to happen to him. He wanted to get home quickly with no incident, so the priest gave him a wide berth and continued on his way.

And likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

The Levite didn’t do any better. He also looked at the man, a bit more attentively, then continued his journey on the other side of the road.

I wonder if the lawyer, as he listened to this story, identified with the priest and Levite, or if he condemned their actions. I think he knew they were in the wrong. He knew the priest and Levite weren’t very neighborly. But perhap the next character in the story would be better…

Verse 33:

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

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, an Orthodox Jew and New Testament scholar said:

What’s missed is that in the contemporary Jewish context, as soon as the story mentions a priest and a Levite, everybody knows the third person will be an Israelite. It’s like going from Larry to Moe to Curly. The shock is that the third one is a Samaritan, and Samaritans were the enemy.

Samaritans were half-breed Israelites that came from the Assyrian resettlement policies of the northern ten tribes. They had intermarried with Gentiles. They had their own temple and their own Law. The Jews despised them more than Gentiles. And the feelings were mutual: Samaritans hated Jews just as much.

We call this the parable of the “Good Samaritan.” That was an oxymoron to Jews. An equivalent phrase today might be the “Good Palestinian,” (although there are Israelis and Palestinians today who are friends—you just don’t see them in the news). To us, you can think of it as a “good liberal” to a political conservative, or “good conservative” to a political liberal, a “good Democrat” to a Republican, or a “good Republican” to a Democrat, although the Jews’ and Samaritans’ animosity towards each other was much greater.

This Samaritan may have had his prejudices against the Jews, but when he saw this wounded man, all of that was set aside. Here was a human being in need. It says he had compassion on him.

Jesus is the only One the gospels say felt compassion for others. To have compassion means you share in someone else’s pain. If you truly love your neighbor, when he suffers, you willingly suffer. And this suffering is more than a feeling. The priest and Levite may have felt bad for the wounded man, but they did nothing to alleviate his suffering. Compassion leads you to act to reduce or eliminate the suffering you see as much as possible… as much as if you are the one suffering in that way.

The priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan all saw the wounded man. They likely all felt sorry for him. But only the Samaritan had compassion. Only he did anything to help. Verse 34:

So he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The Samaritan did not pass by on the other side. He was concerned more for the wounded man than for his own safety. The road was still dangerous. The bandits were probably still close by. He might be attacked himself. But he disregarded the danger. He didn’t care about the inconvenience or delay in getting to his destination. He cared only about the other man.

He bound up his wounds and used oil and wine to protect against infection. No doubt he intended these things to be used for some other purpose.

He put the man on his own animal, meaning he’d have to walk himself.

He didn’t drop him off at the nearest QuickCare where the professionals could take over. He took him to an inn and took care of him himself.

Jesus was very specific in His description of what the Samaritan did. The lawyer needed to see neighborly love in action—to see it in detail, not in generalities. He needed to know the kind of love God requires is for us to get personally involved—even inconvenienced.

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

The Samaritan saw to the needs of the man all night, but he couldn’t stay. So he ensured the injured man would be taken care of by giving his own money to the innkeeper with instructions to take care of him while he was gone. Two denarii was equivalent to two day’s wages, and would allow the man to stay at the inn and be fed for 2 to 3 weeks. He also promised to pay the innkeeper back for any additional needed expenses. The Samaritan did not set any monetary limit to his renumeration. He was willing to freely give whatever was necessary to pay for the recovery of his cultural and religious enemy. He had true love for his neighbor.

The parable being complete, Jesus asked the lawyer a final question:

So which of these three do you suppose was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?

This was the second time Jesus queried the lawyer for his thoughts. I find it interesting that Jesus did not answer any of the questions Himself; He got the man to answer them.

If Jesus were to have answered the questions directly, to give a doctrinal answer, the lawyer might not have received it. If you’ve ever had Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door, you know you can’t argue them into faith. They won’t receive what you have to say. But they do like to teach, so you might be able to reach them with the right questions, just as Jesus did with this lawyer.

The man responded in the only way he could…

And he said, He who showed mercy on him. …

He carefully avoided saying “The Samaritan.” It was difficult enough just to say what he said.

… Then Jesus said to him, Go and you do likewise.

Jesus gave a command. The proper answer to the question is not theological: it is practical. To know who to love is not enough. One must do it. Love in the Bible is not feelings or theology. It’s action.

Jesus told the man to do more than just take care of those in need. He was to love his enemies—extravagantly! Remember the command that was quoted earlier: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In the parable, who’s the neighbor? “He who showed mercy.” The Samaritan was the neighbor. The lawyer must also love his neighbor, including those who are his enemies: the Gentiles, the Samaritans.

Senator John McCain was a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. He was shot down in 1967 while over North Vietnam and captured. He spent 5 and a half years as a POW. He was beaten almost daily, and tortured. He wrote this in his book, “Character Is Destiny“:

“There was one other occasion during my imprisonment that moved me greatly as evidence of God’s transcending love. During the time I was held in solitary, I was caught, not for the first time, communicating with my dear friend in the cell next to mine. For my transgression, I was kept overnight in a punishment cell tied very tightly in ropes…

“On this particular night as I sat on the stool cursing my bad luck, and straining against the painfully tightened ropes, the door suddenly opened and a young gun guard I had occasionally seen wandering around the camp entered the room. He motioned to me to remain silent by placing his finger to his lips, and then, without smiling or even looking me in the eyes, proceeded to loosen the ropes that bound me. His kind action completed, he left without uttering a word to me. As dawn approached, he returned to tighten the ropes before he finished his watch and another guard might have discovered what he had done.

“In the months that followed, I occasionally saw my Good Samaritan when I was moved from one part of the prison to another. He never allowed himself a glance in my direction, much less spoke to me, until one Christmas morning, when I was briefly allowed out of my cell to stand alone in the outdoors and look up at the clear, blue sky. As I was looking at the heavens, I became aware of him as he walked near me and then, for a moment, stood very close to me. He did not speak or smile or look at me. He just stared at the ground in front of us, and then, very casually, he used his foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We both stood looking at his work for a minute until he rubbed it out and walked away.

“For just that moment I forgot all my hatred for my enemies, and all the hatred most of them felt for me. I forgot about the Jerk, and the interrogators who persecuted my friends and me. I forgot about the war, and the terrible things that war does to you. I was just one Christian venerating the cross with a fellow Christian on Christmas morning.

“I saw him again occasionally. But he never looked at me or attempted to speak to me. We never worshiped together again. But I have never forgotten him or the kindness he showed me as a testament to the faith we shared. That experience helped to form my lasting appreciation for my own religious faith, and it took the faith of an enemy to reveal it to me, the faith that unites and never divides, the faith that bridges unbridgeable divisions in humanity, the faith that we are all, sinners and saints alike, children of God. I became a better man, a stronger man, a more faithful man, who, for at least a moment, could love his enemies.

John McCain experienced love from an enemy. This changed him from a man who hated his enemies to a man who loved them. It’s a inspiring story… but even this is not sufficient to inherit eternal life. The Law requires love to be expressed perfectly for one’s entire life—and not just to our neighbors but to God as well. but none of us love our neighbor perfectly. I don’t and you don’t. None of us love God perfectly. So salvation cannot be earned.

That’s the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. If you want to earn your salvation, it’s much harder than you think. It’s impossible. You can only receive it as a gift of God’s grace.

The good Samaritan helped the wounded man at his own expense. He did not require any repayment. When God saved us, He did so at his own expense. It cost Him much more. But He did not require that we earn it or repay it. Salvation is a gift. It is acquired only by faith: faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. Faith that Jesus paid it all, leaving nothing left for us to pay.

If you want eternal life, don’t try to earn it. Trust in Jesus who completely paid the penalty for your sin, and you will inherit eternal life.