Well, very simply, I have a question and eight words for you this morning. Or rather, a question and four pairs of words.
! And I'm quite confident in saying that this is actually one of the most important questions you will ever have heard in your life, or ever will hear.
That may not have been what you were expecting to come to when you came to church this morning, but I'm just going to talk about this for a while to give you some time to get used to this idea.
You're going to hear a very important question in just a few seconds. And here it is.
Do you understand the gospel? Do you understand the message of Christianity, the message of the Bible?
Maybe you're new to church this morning, and you're thinking, well, I don't even know what it is yet. And that's fine. You're very welcome, and we're happy to tell you.
But I imagine most of you have been to church at least several times before.
What do you think you're hearing when you're hearing the Bible preached?
Do you think you're mainly being given a list of rules? Or stories as a good moral example?
Or maybe something else?
Tricky thing is, if you think that's what you're going to hear, that's probably all you'll hear from it.
Thankfully, there are sections of the Bible, and especially of the Gospels, where Jesus' teaching is designed to check whether or not you get it.
Whether or not you understand.
And today's passage is one of those passages.
So this brings us to the first pair of words I talked about.
The first of four pairs of words.
The first two words, look out.
Look out. We need to be careful with this passage.
Precisely because it is a parable.
We might think, well, parables, they're stories, they're nice and easy.
Parables make everything easier to understand.
If you sort of grew up in the church and went to kids clubs or Sunday schools,
your Sunday school teacher would always revert to a parable because it's a story.
But that's not necessarily what it is.
Over the years, people have thought of the parables differently.
Quite famously, St. Augustine looked at this parable and gave a very sort of allegorical interpretation.
To be fair, he gave other interpretations in other works as well.
But he's got all kinds of details.
Like the inn is the church.
And the innkeeper is the apostle Paul.
And all kinds of details like that.
And that seems to be pretty prevalent for a long time.
But by now, people seem to think this is mainly about moral teaching.
It's an example story.
Telling this lawyer how he should live.
Jesus, however, explains the purpose of the parables in this way in Luke 8, verse 10.
If you want to just flip over to Luke 8, 10 on 8, 6, 5.
The purpose of the parables, he says,
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God.
But for others they are in parables, so that, seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
So that's echoing the words of the call given to the prophet Isaiah.
And often when you see chunks with several parables stuck together,
Jesus is repeatedly asking people to listen.
Those who have ears to hear, hear.
Listen, listen carefully.
Think about this.
Parables are not there to make things easy to understand.
They are there to divide the crowd.
Not to get them to fight with each other.
But it is to split them.
To understand who are the ones who understand,
and who are the ones who don't.
Not the ones who have the special magic code,
and those who don't.
Not those who are spiritually superior,
and those who are inferior.
But simply those who are willing to listen,
to what Jesus is saying,
and willing to understand whatever he's saying.
One writer very helpfully explains that parables start off like pictures,
then become like mirrors,
then become windows.
Parables start off like pictures,
then they become like mirrors,
and then become windows.
I think that's a very helpful way of looking at it.
And our job is to look very carefully,
and to listen very carefully,
and to let the parable doing this work.
Look at the picture,
look at the mirroring work of the parable,
and then look at the window.
See what it shows us.
What can we see through the window?
So the very simple question is,
are you listening?
Are you willing to hear whatever he has to say?
Well, that's our first two words,
look at.
And our next two words,
look around.
If we want to understand what the parable is about,
we need to get a sense of the context.
We need to look around what's going on here.
Let's start very easy,
the top of the page,
you'll see we're in Luke's Gospel.
And we're at the beginning of a section,
a very important section in Luke's Gospel,
that starts in 951,
which you'll see just on the same page as our passage.
And in Luke's Gospel,
geography is very important.
Where Jesus is matters.
He arranges it by where Jesus is.
And in 951,
we have a key turning point in Luke's Gospel.
When the days drew near for him to be taken up,
he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
And from that point in Luke,
he is very definitely,
very clearly,
very deliberately,
heading towards Jerusalem.
He is on his way to the cross.
So some people can explain that
the shadow of the cross is now
over the rest of the Gospel.
So from that turning point,
he has gone through a Samaritan village.
And he has sent out 72 people in pairs
on mission trips.
And they've come back to him.
And they've told him about
all the wonderful things that happened.
And then just before our passage,
in verse 21,
Jesus prays a prayer of praise.
And he's praising God
because the word has been working
as it should have been.
And it's been subverting the order.
It's been subverting
the way people expect things to work.
The wise and understanding
don't get it.
But children do.
It's quite reminiscent of
Mary's song at the beginning
of Luke's Gospel.
Where she is praising God
in what we call the Magnificat.
She's celebrating how
God just gloriously works
in tockly-turvy ways.
The rich goes away empty
and the humble is lifted
and everything seems upside down
from what you'd expect.
And Jesus is praising God
because that is exactly
what's happening.
The wise and understanding
don't get it
and the children do.
Then he blesses his disciples.
And he tells them
they are blessed
because they see,
they understand.
verse 23 of chapter 10.
So Luke is on this theme
of understanding
and not understanding.
He's focused on that idea now.
And just at that moment,
behold,
look,
a lawyer stood up.
Not like a solicitor
or a barrister or anything.
But probably an expert
in Jewish law.
Possibly one of the Pharisees.
And standing would normally
be a sign of respect.
But he's not fooling Luke.
He's not fooling the Holy Spirit
inspiring him.
Verse 25,
he wants to put him
to the test.
And from that point,
we have two cycles
where the lawyer
asks a question,
then Jesus responds
by asking a question himself,
then the lawyer responds
and Jesus responds.
And then it happens again.
Lawyer asks a question,
Jesus asks a question,
lawyer responds,
Jesus responds.
And the parable is the setup
for Jesus' second question.
So that's where we are.
So in this first cycle,
this first time around,
the lawyer's question,
verse 25,
what do I do to inherit
eternal life?
It was a common enough question,
although you'd think
the clue was in
the word inherit.
You don't do things to inherit.
But it was a common enough question
and that's what he asked.
And Jesus responds
with a question,
what is written in the law?
How do you read it?
And so he responds
in verse 27.
And you notice
that his answer
is exactly spot on.
This guy is a brilliant theologian.
He gives the exact same
summary of the law
that Jesus gave,
as we read in Mark earlier.
That wasn't necessarily
a common way
people framed it.
You have to know the law
well enough
to know that you take
a bit of Deuteronomy 6.5
and then Leviticus 19.18
and that's the top commandment.
Jesus knew that
and this lawyer knew that.
This man knew his Bible
better than anyone
in this room.
This man would have
passed his presbytery exams
with flying colours.
You wouldn't have any problem
with the toughest
theology test.
And so Jesus' response
he responds very simply
well then there you are
then go and do that.
You know what the law says
do it.
That's the standard
you know it
just do it.
So then comes
the second cycle
with the lawyer
asking a question
before Jesus
asks a question.
And note that he's gone
from wanting to test Jesus
he's gone on the back foot
and he's needing to
justify himself now.
So comes the question
in verse 29
and who is my neighbour?
It reminds me of
some of you may have seen
the real thing
and I saw the film about it
David Frost
interviewing
Richard Nixon
after the Watergate scandal
David Frost
was interviewing him
and if you watch
the play
or the film about it
people are very frustrated
with David Frost
for not asking
harder questions.
Nixon had resigned
after the Watergate scandal
where seven people
had gone to break in
to these apartments
to steal information.
But eventually
Frost is given
some transcripts
of other conversations
that they found
that people hadn't really
highlighted before.
and so Frost
reads to Nixon
this key quotation
this whole investigation
rests unless
one of the seven
begins to talk.
Well Nixon wasn't
supposed to know
about anything
about these seven
at this point
but he's saying
one of the seven
and so of course
what's Nixon's response?
Now what do we mean
when we say
one of the seven?
He knew exactly
what we mean
David Frost
knew exactly
what we mean
and Nixon knew
that Frost knew
and Nixon knew
that everybody
at home would know
every knew
what one of the seven
meant.
The lawyer knew
who his neighbour was
he didn't need
to ask this question
but he's wanting
to justify himself
and so it's in response
to that question
and who is my neighbour
that Jesus tells
this story
setting up
his question
that will respond
to that
and so
we've had two pairs
of words
we've got two more
and these two pairs
will summarise
the parable for us
and the first thing
that Jesus says
it's not a nice
saccharine answer
but it's firm
and I think very loving
he's telling him
be quiet
if you want to go
less polite
he's telling him
to shut up
part of what
this story does
is shock him
into silence
so let me explain
many people
these days
probably as part
of a reaction
against that
Augustine interpretation
that I mentioned
with the innkeeper
of St. Paul
and all of that
they want to see
this story
as sort of a
moral example
so
he tells a story
and then the answer
is so go and be
like this Samaritan
nice and simple
after all
he does tell him
to do that
in verse 37
but there are
problems with that
it's not quite
that simple
parables aren't
there to make
it easy
if it was a
moral story
for the lawyer
just to follow
the example
of the Samaritan
surely
the Samaritan
would have been
the victim
and it would have
been a priest
came along
and didn't help him
a Levite
came along
but then an Israelite
a teacher of the law
came along
and he saved
the Samaritan
so you be like
the teacher of the law
that saved the Samaritan
but you notice
that Jesus
blocks him off
from identifying
himself as the hero
at every point
so
he would hear
this parable
and he knows
that this is
a story
for him to identify
with
and a common way
in this period
of time
to describe
all the people
of Israel
to say
the priests
the Levites
and all
the people
of Israel
or
the priests
the Levites
and the Israelites
and now that
the kingdom
had kind of
deteriorated
it wasn't about
the king so much
it was about
the priest
and the temple
and so they said
the priests
the Levites
and the Israelites
and so
he's expected
to hear Israelites
that he can identify
with
so the priest
comes along
and the teacher
of the law
knows he's not
a priest
so he knows
that's not meant
to be him
and then a Levite
comes along
and he knows
that's not meant
to be him either
so surely
the next one
the Israelites
and he'll be able
to identify
with the Israelites
but a Samaritan
comes along
there is no way
on earth
he's going to
identify with
a Samaritan
he's not going
to think that
he's meant
to be the Samaritan
Israelites
and Samaritans
hated each other
and Jesus
has succeeded
in blocking him
from seeing himself
in the Samaritans
you see in verse 37
he can't even
bring himself
to give the simplest
answer
which would be
the Samaritan
he just says
the one
who showed mercy
he knows
what the character's
name is
the character's
name is
the Samaritan
but he can't
bring himself
to say it
and you'd think
as well
wouldn't you
that the story
would have run
a little bell
from that story
in Chronicles
maybe we don't
know that as well
but he would have
known that really
well
he knows that
Samaritans
have helped
Israel in the
past
so it shouldn't
be that crazy
an idea
and then look
at the two
questions
verse 29
who is my
neighbour
well Jesus
is just echoing
that question
who turned out
to be this
man's neighbour
well who is
this man
it's the man
on the floor
as this picture
turns into
a mirror
and the man
sees who
he is meant
to be in
this story
he sees
he is on
the floor
half dead
beaten up
he is not
the hero
he's a mess
the man's
question
exposed his
heart
you see
you can't
really expect
me to
love everyone
can you
surely there
are limits
I mean
some people
frankly
they don't
deserve my
love
some people
aren't worthy
I mean
some people
are Samaritan
scum after
all
I'm better
than
not everyone
deserves my
love
and Jesus
is saying
you want to
know what
you bring
to the table
in terms
of loving
people
well let me
give you a
picture
of you
and everything
you do
to bless
and love
your neighbours
you look
like
a man
half dead
beaten up
bloodied
bruised
useless
that's right
that's what
you look
like
that's what
your apparent
obedience to
the law
looks like
that's how
impressive
you are
that's what
he's telling
him
so you can
get rid of
all these
delusions of
you being
really obedient
and really
brilliant
and just
be quiet
fortunately
though that's
just where
the story
begins
because along
comes a
Samaritan
and for the
longest time
I mean it's
the Sunday
school cliche
isn't it
they took
the Samaritan
to be
Jesus
following
Augustine
sort of
made it
an allegory
where the
man is
Adam
fallen Adam
and Jesus
comes and
saves Adam
and so
people wanted
to veer away
from that
because they
saw the
weaknesses
in it
but
let's not
throw the
baby out
with the
bath water
because Luke
has put
clear indicators
in here
to show
who it
is
now Jesus
obviously
isn't literally
from Samaria
but as I
mentioned
where Jesus
is matters
in Luke's
gospel
and what's
Jesus doing
he is
travelling
from Samaria
to Jerusalem
he's
figuratively
a Samaritan
not literally
just like
Jesus is not
literally a thief
in the night
but he does
compare himself
with a thief
in the night
sometimes
but he is
the one
who is
travelling
from Samaria
to Jerusalem
and so
our final pair
of words
the lawyer
asks
who is
my neighbour
Jesus
first of all
just be quiet
don't think
too much
of what you
can do
to love
people
but here's
the second
answer
who's my neighbour
I am
that's Jesus
answer
who's my neighbour
I'm your neighbour
and I've come
to get you
I have come
to be the neighbour
that you
desperately need
even though
you think of me
as an enemy
I've come
as a neighbour
to fulfil
the law
for people
like you
I want you
to know
who your neighbour
is
it's me
and I'm coming
he's saying
this parable
of course
as he knows
he's on the way
to Jerusalem
where he will
be beaten
and bruised
and not just
half dead
but dead
and he's coming
with oil of comfort
to ease our pain
he's coming
with wine
to wash our filth
he is coming
to carry us home
to help us
all at his own cost
and so this is
where the mirror
becomes a window
because now
through this window
we can see
what the good news
of Jesus
means
and he's saying
this to a proud
self-righteous
lawyer
he's preaching
salvation
and good news
to this proud
religious man
is that not
more mercy
than you can
handle
it's more grace
than I can get
my head around
we read earlier
in our assurance
of pardon
I'll just read a bit
earlier from that
Romans 5
one will scarcely
die for a righteous
person
though for a good
person one would
dare to die
but God shows
his love for us
in that while we were
yet sinners
Christ died for us
so it's hardly
surprising that by
the end of
chapter 11
in Romans
Paul just says
oh the depth
of the riches
and wisdom
and knowledge
of God
one minister
I know
said that
if you had to
summarise the Bible
in one word
it would be that
word
oh
that's when you
know that you
get it
when all you can
say is
oh
and it's at
that point
we're ready to
hear the
concluding exchange
the two responses
that are between
them
the lawyer
is so poor
at loving people
he can't even
bring himself
to answer the
question saying
the Samaritan
is the hero
of the story
that's exposed
his heart
and so when
Jesus responds
saying go
and do likewise
all he is going
to hear is
more rules
and in a sense
that's what he
needs
he has made it
very clear
he doesn't love
his neighbour
but he needs
to justify
himself
but he needs
to see himself
he cannot
keep the law
there's absolutely
no way he can
do it
he's utterly
hopeless
that's one of
the uses
of the law
it shows us
our sin
it shows us
our helplessness
and our desperate
needs
the law
brings us
to the point
where we say
in the words
of this morning's
prayer of confession
I do not know
what else to do
but to hope
and pray
for your mercy
but we don't
have to be
like the lawyer
we can ask
Jesus to save us
we can acknowledge
who the Samaritan
is
and Jesus
gladly
saves us
so when we
hear the command
go and do
likewise
we don't hear
a heavy burden
but an invitation
that we are
more than happy
to accept
don't we
there's actually
something we'll be
seeing a bit more
tonight
in 1 John
so do come
to this evening's
service
to look at that
together
but for now
the parable
will have done
its work
among us
do you get it
do you understand
Jesus' message
do you see
what he's saying
if not
it's not too late
it's not that
it's completely
hopeless for you
now
but you need
to ask yourself
what is gripping
your heart
so it's blocking
you from
understanding
this message
blocking you
from seeing
more than
just a set
of rules
like the
lawyer did
who do you
hate
or what do
you love
more than
God or
neighbour
that would
stop you
from seeing
here a set
of rules
but if you
see here
through this
wonderful window
that Jesus
has given
us
God's great
love for us
saving us
paying the
cost for us
bringing us
back to life
as he goes
on to
Jerusalem
goes to
the cross
pays our
price
and comes
back to
life
to restore
us
then all you
need to do
is ask
and you will
receive
as we were
singing earlier
and your
heart will be
full of
praise
to God
we would
just be
responding to
him saying
oh
the depths
that is
when we
know
that we
understand
the gospel
let's pray
shall we
desde
Thank you.