In The Footsteps Of The Master:The Life and Times of Jesus Christ

The Good Samaritan

August 14, 2011

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Luke 10:25-28• 25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the

test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27And 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.” 28And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”

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Matthew 22:34-40• 34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had

silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38This is the great and foremost commandment. 39The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

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Mark 12:28-34• 28One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing

that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

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The Shema• “The verse which Jesus quotes is

Deuteronomy 6:5. That verse was part of the Shema, the basic and essential creed of Judaism, the sentence with which every Jewish service still opens, and the first text which every Jewish child commits to memory. It means that to God we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the dynamic of our actions. All religion starts with the love which is total commitment of life to God.”

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Deuteronomy 6:4-9• 4“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD

is one! 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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Leviticus 19:13-18• 13‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The

wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD. 15You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. 17You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.’

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For Discussion• Notice the context of this instruction: “You shall

not take vengeance, not bear any grudge” OUCH!!!

• In what way do “all the law and prophets” hang on these two commands?

• What is mean by the statement that “you are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34) How is this?

• Does there seem to be some disconnect between Matthew and Mark? (Matthew—justifying himself, Mark—not far from the kingdom?)

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Luke 10:29-37• 29But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my

neighbor?” 30Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

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Scene 1• “The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a

notoriously dangerous road. Jerusalem is 2,300 feet above sea-level; the Dead Sea, near which Jericho stood, is 1,300 feet below sea-level. So then, in somewhat less than 20 miles, this road dropped 3,600 feet. It was a road of narrow, rocky defiles, and of sudden turnings which made it the happy hunting-ground of brigands. In the fifth century Jerome tells us that it was still called ‘The Red, or Bloody Way.’ in the 19th century it was still necessary to pay safety money to the local Sheiks before one could travel on it.

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Scene 1 (cont)• As late as early 1930’s H. V. Morton tells

that he was warned to get home before dark, if he intended to use the road, because a certain Abu Jildah was an adept at holding up cars and robbing travelers and tourists, and escaping to the hills before the police could arrive.”

• So, this is a scene very familiar in the time of Jesus, a story which could well happen at most any moment.

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Scene 2• A foolhardy traveler. Don’t go alone—seek safety

in numbers.• Robbers. Hit and vanish• Priest. He rushes past. Why? Could it be that he

could not tell if the man was alive or dead, and since it would render him unclean to touch a dead body (Numbers 19:11), he then could not have carried out his duties in the Temple?

• Levite. He also rushes past. Why? (Robbers did use decoys. Can we blame him for “safety first” in his travel?) [But he was traveling alone. And, helping others necessarily involves taking risks!!]

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Scene 3• The Samaritan. Who were the Samaritans? Why

were they despised? – In 722 BC Assyria defeated the 10 Northern tribes of

Israel. Many were deported. Many from Assyria came and homesteaded in the defeated land. The intermarriage of the two nations created a people called Samaritans.

– Seeking to keep their religious heritage, but unwelcome by Jews remaining in Judea, they set up similar, but with important differences, religion in their land. (John 4)

– The prejudice that followed was so great that Jews would not eat from a vessel that had been used by a Samaritan.

• But he cares for the victim, binding up his wounds, carrying him to an inn and paying for his continued care.

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Application• What is our responsibility to those who

have brought their trouble on themselves?• How do we minister to the needs of others,

hands on, or paying for services rendered?

• How attentive are Christians to be to social mores?

• How patient should we be when being challenged?

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Finally• What does did mean to “love God?”• Thanks, Bruce, for letting us see that it

means to “follow” God—be like Him.• Inasmuch as “God so love the world” (John

3:16), if we are to be like Him, then we must also love others. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:11)

• So, the second command is like the first (still calling us to be like God), “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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