Who’s a good neighbor?
We as a society, mostly keep to ourselves. We have all heard the saying: that “Good fences make good neighbors”. You tend to mind your own business and do not interact with people that you don’t know
You don’t know who your neighbor is, because you choose to keep them at a distance.
Luke 10:25–37 AV
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed
1. What must I do to inherit eternal life?
First question asked by this Lawyer
Lawyer = A religious leader, an expert in the law of Moses
He stood up to feign respect
He was attempting to set Jesus up
Luke 20:20 AV
20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
Reporters still employ this technique when questioning a politician that they don’t agree with
He asks an odd question
Luke 10:25 (AV)
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
What do you do to inherit something?
• You get born into the right family
• You don’t DO anything
• Inheritance is not a payment for services rendered
His question shows a fundamental misconception about the Grace of God
Do you have to earn Eternal Life?
• A lot of People think so
• If I’m good enough etc…
Jesus answers his question with a question of his own
Answering questions with questions is a good way of maintaining a dialogue
• You are not just lecturing – You are engaging
• You are asked…You don’t really believe that everyone that doesn’t believe what you believe is going to Hell do you?
• You ask…Do you think that no one should go to hell?
• When they answer – Maybe some people should (Hitler etc)
• you have just opened the door to talk about final authority
• Who gets to decide?
• Based on what?
Jesus responds:
You are the expert what do you think?
The Lawyer’s reply:
Luke 10:27 AV
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
The impossible commandment:
Deuteronomy 6:5 AV
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Jesus said:
Do this and live
Luke 10:28 AV
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
• This is not saying how to become a Christian
• This is showing why we need to become a Christian
• It can’t be done without the Lord
2. Who is my Neighbor?
Luke 10:29 AV
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
Second question asked by the Lawyer
A feeble attempt of self-Justification
Justification:
The act of God declaring you to be just (innocent)
Based on what Christ has done for you
• He started to squirm
• realizing he has failed he tries to justify himself
Romans 3:20–24 AV
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The opposite of Justification by God is Self-Justification
Proverbs 21:2 AV
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Justifying yourself by making excuses goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible:
Genesis 3:9–15 AV
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The lawyer attempts to justify himself by asking “who is my neighbor?”
• Jews believed that only fellow Jews were neighbors – outsiders were called strangers.
• It is easy to be good to those who are like you
The Good Samaritan
The Lord responds with the Good Samaritan
Luke 10:30–36 AV
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
The Samaritans were despised by the Jews
• Mixed Jew/Gentile
2 Kings 17:24 AV
24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
• Wrong religion
• Assyrian religion mixed in with Judaism
2 Kings 17:26–28 AV
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
2 Kings 17:41 AV
41 So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
Picture of a lost man
• robbed
• stripped
• beaten
• left for dead
Ephesians 2:1–5 AV
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Religion and/or the law won’t help
Scribe (law) passed by on the other side
• Justifying himself using the Law
• Not allowed to touch a dead body – he might be dead already – a lost cause
Leviticus 21:10–12 AV
10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
Priest (religion) passed by on the other side
Religion won’t save you
Remember it’s about being born into the right family
› John 3:3
3. The Answer to both questions
Eternal Life is NOT earned
• by the stuff WE do
This Lawyer is quoting to Law of Moses in his attempt to justify himself
• Deuteronomy ends with Moses not going into the promised land
• because of his disobedience at Meribah-Kadesh
James 2:10 AV
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
The Good Samaritan is Jesus
He comes by your way
When no one else can help
• He does
• He carries you
• He pays your debt
He expects his followers to do just that – follow his steps
1 Peter 2:21 AV
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
We are to pick up the torch of the Good Samaritan
• The church has both Jews and Gentiles (Samaritans)
• But we have the correct relationship
Eternal Life can not be earned
By doing good
by loving God with all your Heart, Mind and Soul
by loving your neighbor as yourself
It’s an impossible commandment
Galatians 3:24 AV
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Eternal life is only available through the Lord Jesus Christ
He is the only one that can pay the debt
As Christians, we are commanded to share that good news
remembering, not to get distracted with results
Luke 10:17–18 AV
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
The reward is knowing that
• you are where you are supposed to be
• you are doing what you are supposed to be doing
• and knowing that you are saved if you have put your faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
1 John 5:13 AV
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.
