It is my habit to walk to church on Sunday mornings. I leave my home at precisely 8:15 AM so that I can join my fellow elders for prayer at 8:30 AM. I don’t want to be later. Several months ago, as I was about to arrive at church I saw Mr. Onan (a gentleman in his 90s who recently passed away) standing outside of his house looking confused. I assumed that he was waiting for the person who is supposed to walk him over to the church to arrive, but no-one would come for at least 15 minutes. What was I to do? If I were to help Mr. Onan get to church I would be late to the elder prayer time. Today’s passage came to mind.
In this section of Luke 10 Jesus is being questioned (and tested) by an expert in the Jewish Law who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus initially answers the lawyer’s question with a question, “What does the Law say?” The lawyer answers correctly that the Law is summarized by love for God and love for neighbor. What the expert in the Law doesn’t understand is that he (and the rest of us) can’t measure up to God’s standard. His blindness is reflected in his follow-up question in which he seeks to justify himself, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus defines neighbor in a way which addresses the prejudices of the lawyer and the other leaders among the Jews, and exposes his sin.
In this sermon we will explain the parable and we will show how the parable applies to each of the three uses of God’s Law. Do you remember what they are? If not, look in the attached notes.
Finally, we shall see how Jesus alone exemplifies in reality the qualities of the Good Samaritan. He has rescued us at great cost to Himself.
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