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[0:00] Last week, we looked at how the disciples were arguing about who is greatest among them.! Jesus said that greatness is found in humility and service.

[0:14] ! And that same theme is what we see in our gospel reading this morning from Luke chapter 10. A certain lawyer asked our Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life.

[0:28] So Jesus asked him, what is written in the law? The man answers correctly by giving the summary of the law. The same thing we say each and every week as we begin Mass.

[0:42] You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells this lawyer, if you do this, you will live.

[0:57] But then the lawyer asks the question, who is my neighbor? That is a question we should all be asking.

[1:08] In a day where people are becoming more and more socially isolated, we need to be reminded of who our neighbors are. The lawyer sounds a bit like Cain.

[1:21] If you remember that story, Cain, after he killed his brother Abel, the Lord then inquired of Cain to the whereabouts of his brother Abel.

[1:33] And Cain said, am I my brother's keeper? Well, the proper answer to Cain's question is yes. Yes, we are our brother's keepers.

[1:46] And this becomes abundantly clear as our Lord tells a parable, a story of the good Samaritan. A man was making his way from Jerusalem to Jericho when suddenly he's jumped by some thieves.

[2:03] The man was beaten, he was robbed, and he was left for dead. As the poor beaten man lay on the side of the road, three men then approach this desperate soul.

[2:17] The first was a priest. Watch out for those priests. This cleric simply ignored this beaten man.

[2:29] He crossed the street and continued walking on the other side. The next guy was a Levite. Now, Levites were those who looked after the temple.

[2:41] Not all Levites were priests. Some were, but not all. Levites were kind of like deacons in that they made sure that everything was the way it was supposed to be for worship in the temple.

[2:56] And like the priest, this Levite crosses the road and he ignores the plight of this poor beaten man. The final person to approach was a Samaritan.

[3:09] And as you have heard many, many times, Samaritans were hated by their Jewish neighbors. According to the Israelites, priests were great.

[3:22] Levites were great. Samaritans, not so great. As a matter of fact, they were seen as animals, unclean, and viewed with great hatred and contempt.

[3:34] But unlike the priest and the Levite, this Samaritan did not cross the road and ignore the plight of this beaten man. Instead, we read the following.

[3:47] And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and he bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

[3:58] And he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii.

[4:10] And he said, In other words, this unclean, this unwanted Samaritan.

[4:46] Jesus then tells this Jewish lawyer to go and to do likewise. To be like this hated Samaritan.

[4:58] Now this story is not simply about doing good. The church has interpreted this parable by noting that we are the man. We are the man that has been beaten and left for dead.

[5:12] Satan and the demonic realm seek to destroy us. Sin has left us helpless, crippled, and it has left us for dead. But it is Christ who is the good Samaritan in this parable.

[5:27] He is the one who sees us and has compassion on us. He binds up our wounds. He heals us through his sacraments.

[5:38] And he does this by taking us into his inn, the church. And he promises us that he will come again. And he will receive us unto himself.

[5:50] But our Lord is also the one who willingly became the beaten man left for dead on the side of the road. He was despised and rejected by men.

[6:05] He was a man of sorrows. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

[6:17] But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him.

[6:28] To quote Isaiah chapter 53. You see, Jesus rescues us by taking our suffering and our pain upon himself. He takes the blows for us.

[6:40] But unlike the man left for dead, he actually experienced death for us. Our Lord fulfilled the commandments to love God and neighbor even to his own death.

[6:56] And he showed beyond words such sacrificial love and care through his cross. So when Jesus tells this lawyer and tells us to go and do likewise, He is merely exhorting us to be his image bearers.

[7:14] We are to love not merely with our words, but through our deeds. And being united to Christ through his sacrificial love, we are in his care.

[7:26] As he pours out his medicine of immortality to us through the sacraments, where we receive his grace and his life in his ark, the church.

[7:39] Therefore, dear people of God, our mission is now to practice what we've received in Christ. To practice love and grace beyond just mere words.

[7:55] To live a truly great life. By living a life of humility and service towards our neighbor. Amen.

[8:05]  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.