A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
LUKE 10:25-42
Lesson #31
ETERNAL LIFE AND MY NEIGHBOR
- Memory Verse: Rom 10:9
- Background:
- The lawyers that the Bible mentions were not the kind of lawyers with which we are familiar.
- Lawyers in the New Testament were interpreters of the Law of Moses.
- They are also called scribes in the Bible.
- They were experts in scripture and taught how to apply the Law of Moses to your life.
- They were a wealthy, privileged class.
- We have such a lawyer as this in Luke 10.
- Read Luk 10:25-29 The most important question one could ask
- “…Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”(25)
- What was wrong with the lawyer’s question?
- Notice that it is a lawyer who asks the question. A lawyer in that day knew the smallest detail of the Law of Moses.
- The lawyer was thinking to trick Jesus into saying that the Law had passed away. Then the religious leaders would have a legal reason for opposing Jesus.
- From the lawyer’s perspective, he was thinking that he had to “do” something to earn salvation.
- Because salvation is a free gift, man does not need to “do” anything because salvation is not gained by man’s works.
- Because God did everything necessary for man’s salvation when Jesus died on the cross for man’s sin, man only needs to believe by faith.
- The lawyer should have asked the question like this, “How can I have eternal life?”
- Then the answer is your memory verse in Rom 10:9.
- “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
- What was wrong with the lawyer’s question?
- Jesus had a unique way of turning trick questions back on the person that asked.
- Instead of directly answering the question, he gets the person to answer his own question.
- “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?” (26)
- Jesus said this expert in the Law of Moses spoke correctly in verse 27.
- As a top priority, love God with all your heart, soul, and might.
- Then love your neighbor as yourself.
- Then Jesus told him if he could do that he would have eternal life. (28)
- Here is the problem with the Lawyer’s statement!
- Jesus said this expert in the Law of Moses spoke correctly in verse 27.
- “…Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”(25)
Read Deu 6:4-6
Notice that the lawyer adds to the letter of the Law as it appeared in Deu 6.
What does the lawyer add?
The lawyer added the part about loving God with all your mind.
The lawyer added the part about his relationship to his neighbor. Yes, the Law did have a provision for loving your neighbor in Lev 19:18, but the lawyer quoted Deu 6.
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- Here is the problem for all humans:
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No one can fulfill the Law perfectly every moment of every day of his life.
Read Gal 2:16
Read Rom 8:3-4
Instead of being honest with himself and Jesus and trying to impress Jesus, the lawyer asked the question, “And who is my neighbour?” (29)
In other words, the lawyer wanted to know where to draw the line.
Is your neighbor only the person who lives next door? Or is your neighbor also the person who lives across the street? Or what about the man who lives two streets away from you? Legalism always requires a dividing line.
According to the Law of Moses, your neighbor is anyone who is poor, an orphan, a widow, a stranger, or a person in need.
That means the Samaritan was a neighbor to the priest and the Levite, according to the Law, but they did not want to acknowledge that fact.
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- At this point is where Jesus gives us the parable of the Good Samaritan.
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- Read Luk 10:30-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan
- Background:
- Other parables in the Gospels are symbolic in that you decide on the meanings of the different symbols or objects in the parable.
- In this parable there are no symbols. In this way it is a “typical” parable. In other words, the lesson to be learned is by example rather than by symbol.
- What do we know about the “priests” of that day?
- The priests in New Testament times were very legalistic.
- King David divided the priests into 24 groups. They served according to their order in the temple in Jerusalem for 1 week 2 times a year. For the remainder of the year, they were to live in one of the designated cities of refuge, ministering to the people.
- They had a lot of prestige, power, and wealth.
- What do we know about the “Levites” of that day?
- The Levites belonged to the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi was one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
- From the tribe of Levi, those who were descended from Aaron were to be the priests. The other Levites served in and around the temple in various other jobs.
- They took care of the implements used for animal sacrifice and everything that had to do with the temple itself.
- What do we know about the “Samaritans” of that day?
- The Samaritans were half -Jews. They were geographical neighbors to the Jews.
- After kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, the kingdom of Israel divided into two nations.
- The Samaritans were half -Jews. They were geographical neighbors to the Jews.
- Background:
The Southern Kingdom that remained more faithful to God was the Kingdom of Judah. It included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
The Northern Kingdom that fell away from God was called Ephraim. It included the remaining 10 tribes.
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- When the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Asyrians took leading Jewish citizens to Babylon and in turn imported Syrians into the Northern Kingdom territory called Samaria.
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These Assyrians intermarried with the few Jews that remained in Samaria.
These Assyrians brought with them their idolatrous religion.
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- Later the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians and assumed possession of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and its people.
- Finally the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah and enslaved the people, transporting them to Babylon to join those already enslaved from the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
- After 70 years in the Babylonian captivity, the Jews were released to return to the Promised Land.
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Hostility grew in Israel between the pure blood Jews and the mixed blooded Samaritans.
The Samaritans built their own temple in Shechem with their own priesthood and their own form of religion.
At the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, this hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans was so strong that the Samaritans were not allowed to worship in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Also, orthodox Jews would not travel through Samaritan land, but instead they would travel far out of their way to avoid any Samaritan contact.
We can see the extent of this hostility in John 4 when Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well on Samaritan territory.
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- The actions in the parable:
- “from Jerusalem to Jericho” (30)
- The name, Jerusalem, means = the vision of peace.
- It was the seat of blessing, history, religion, and privilege.
- It was the center where God said the Jews must worship Him.
- The city of Jericho was the city of a curse. (Jos 6:26) This city was known as the city of sin.
- At the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, about 12,000 priests lived in Jericho when they were not fulfilling their duties in Jerusalem.
- The road between Jericho and Jerusalem was rocky, winding, and dangerous, haunted by robbers and considered unsafe.
- The name, Jerusalem, means = the vision of peace.
- “from Jerusalem to Jericho” (30)
- The actions in the parable:
However, robbers did not usually molest priests.
This road was called, “the pass of blood”.
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- The “certain man” in the parable:
- This man is obviously a Jew because Jesus’ audience for this parable was Jewish.
- Jesus was aware of the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans as well as the dangers on this particular road.
- The first person who passes the injured man is a priest. The next person is a Levite.
- What was the response of these two people who pass by the injured man?
- They saw the injured man, but they pretended they did not see him. We know of their pretension because they distanced themselves from the injured man by going to the other side of the road. (31)
- Why does Jesus use a priest and a Levite in His parable?
- The priest and the Levite knew the Mosaic Law very well.
- They knew the letter of the Law, and they knew the intent of the Law.
- The “certain man” in the parable:
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The priest represents ritualism, ceremony, and tradition that cannot bring man eternal salvation.
The Levite represents legalism that can neither make man righteous nor give him eternal life.
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- The third person who passes by the injured man is the Samaritan. (33)
- What were the Samaritan’s actions?
- He had compassion on the injured man. (33)
- He poured oil and wine on the man’s wounds. (34)
- He bound up the man’s wounds. (34)
- He put the injured man on his own donkey. (34)
- He took the injured man to an inn. (34)
- He cared for the injured man for the rest of the day. (34)
- He left the amount of 2-day’s wage to care for the man. (35)
- He promised to pay for all other expenses over and above the 2 day’s wage.
- When ritualism, ceremony, tradition, and legalism cannot give man salvation, the Samaritan represents Jesus Christ who comes to bind up man’s wounds and sins so that man can have eternal life.
- What were the Samaritan’s actions?
- Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” (36)
- The lawyer answered, “He that shewed mercy on him..” (37)
- The lawyer did not give the correct answer according to the Law of Moses.
- The correct answer is that all are neighbors to the injured Jew. However, some do not act like neighbors even when they know what is the right thing to do.
- Jesus’ command to the lawyer, “go and do thou likewise.”(37)
- The Bible does not tell us if this lawyer repented of his inability to live up to the Mosaic Law and received Jesus as his savior.
- Probably, he continued to try to live up to the Mosaic Law, failed miserably, and then felt unworthy of salvation as he always had done.
- One more thing to notice in the parable:
- Jesus says that these people who passed by the injured man came along “by chance”. (31)
- We can see Jesus’ sense of humor here, for there is nothing that happens by chance or by luck in God’s kingdom even though most people believe in luck.
- This is true especially for the Christian. There is no such thing as luck, chance, or fate. Everything is in the sovereignty of God.
- Why did Jesus say “by chance”?
- This is what the majority of people think happens in life.
- The idea of luck or chance denies God’s hand in the direction of your life.
- What is the central truth of this parable?
- Read Mat 22:35-40
- Only as we give our hearts to the Lord and love him first are we saved. Then the Holy Spirit is free to work through us to love other people.
- The Holy Spirit breaks down the walls of hatred, bigotry, and prejudice and causes us to see the needs of other people rather than the walls of our prejudice.
- The third person who passes by the injured man is the Samaritan. (33)
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- Read Luk 10:38-42 Jesus with Mary and Martha
- The chapter ends by introducing us to a family that became very close to Jesus. This was the family of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. They lived in Bethany, a short distance from Jerusalem on the other side of the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus often stayed in their house.
- When Martha complained that Mary did not help her enough, Jesus said, “Mary hath chosen that good part.” (42)
- How does the parable of the Good Samaritan relate to the situation between Mary and Martha?
- Both speak about the priorities of life.
- Having Jesus as the top priority of your life and doing His will are the most important aspects of life.
Homework
Luke 11:1-13
- Application of Luk 10:25-42
- What is your top priority for any given day?
- How is this priority manifested in your life?
- Which do you relate to most, Mary or Martha? Why?
- Preparation for Luk 11:1-13
- Read Luk 11:1-13
- What specific things do you learn about prayer?”
- Read Luk 11:1-13
- Memory Verse: Eph 6:18
