THE LATER JUDEAN MINISTRY

-The Parable of the Good Samaritan

-Luke 10:25-37

-In this passage it seems that a group had gathered to Jesus and He was teaching them.  While

 doing so a lawyer, one skilled in the Law of Moses, stood up and asked a very good question,

 “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

                        -“We need not suppose that the lawyer who ‘stood up,’ and proposed to our Lord the

                         question out of which this parable grew, had any malicious intentions, nor even a desire to

                         perplex and silence the Saviour.  The question, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ was

                         not an ensnaring one.  He is said, indeed, to have put the question to Christ, ‘tempting him.’ 

                         But to tempt properly means to make trial of, and whether the tempting be good or evil, is

                         determined by the motive from which it springs” (Trench, pg 109).

                        -Jamieson, Fausset and Brown noted that this lawyer “…’tried,' or 'tested Him' [ekpeirazoon

                         (NT:1598)]; in no hostile spirit, yet with no tender anxiety for light on that question of

                         questions, but just to see what insight this great Galilean teacher had.”

-Jesus simply turned the question back to the lawyer - “What is written in the law? how readest

 thou?”

            -Coffman made some very accurate and important observations regarding these words of

             Jesus:  “A number of important deductions are mandatory from this response of Jesus.  First,

             there is the premise that one may find in the sacred scriptures the true answer to the question

             of what must be done to inherit eternal life.  Second, there is the deduction that every man is

             responsible for reading the answer himself.  Third, there is the implication that the sacred

             scriptures give the same answer to all who faithfully read them” (1975, pg 224).

-The lawyer then answered by quoting scripture.  We know that he gave a good answer in the

 fact that Jesus confirmed it.  Yet, notice that Jesus told the man, “this do, and thou shalt live.”

                        -The man had a knowledge of the truth but was not applying it to his life and living

                         accordingly.  We know this by the lawyer’s attempt to justify himself with another

                         question - “Who is my neighbor?” 

                                    -In order to justify himself, he would need a restricted scope attached to the word

                                     “neighbor”, one which he already had in his own mind as did other Jews - a neighbor

                                     was a fellow Jew. 

                                    -Therefore, in such a limited scope, ill will and the absence of compassion to all others

                                      could be justified in the sight of this lawyer and his fellow Jews.

            -In response to this second question, Jesus gave the Parable of the Good Samaritan and

             widely broadened the scope of the word “neighbor” - far beyond that which the lawyer had

             hoped for.  [Again, for the purpose of our study, we will not delve into the details of the

             parables, but will focus on the main point.]

                        -Notice, the man who showed compassion was a Samaritan, a fact that the lawyer

                         couldn’t bring himself to utter following the parable.  When asked who was the neighbor

                         to the injured man, the lawyer didn’t say, “the Samaritan” but said, “He that shewed

                         mercy on him.”

           -Jesus then repeated the requirement of applying the truth of the scriptures into life’s

             actions - “Go, and do thou likewise.”

                        -Remember, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (Jas 2:17).