WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.940 Now, we're going to read scripture together. Now, the passage that David's going to preach from 00:00:03.940 --> 00:00:08.779 ! is Luke chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:38.759 And he said to him, 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:41.620 Jesus replied, 00:00:41.620 --> 00:00:55.100 Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:00.780 So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side. 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:07.040 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where Jesus was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:13.300 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:19.640 and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day, he took out two denarii and gave 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:24.620 them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him. And whatever more you spend, I'll repay you when 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:29.700 I come back. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:37.520 the robbers? He said, The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.879 Amen. This is God's own holy word. 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:49.699 Well, we turn this evening to Luke chapter 10 and verses 25 to 37, those verses that Chris read for 00:01:49.699 --> 00:01:59.739 us. One of the most famous and well-known parts of the Scriptures. Even people with little or no 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:08.079 knowledge of the Bible or Christianity have heard or heard of the story of the Good Samaritan. And even 00:02:08.079 --> 00:02:17.519 in our secular age, where there is, I suppose, great biblical illiteracy, it's a story that still 00:02:17.519 --> 00:02:25.300 retains some measure of cultural resonance. It's been the inspiration behind many acts of 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:32.800 selflessness and moral heroism that have stimulated great works of art. Laws have been passed bearing 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:41.080 its name. Many hospitals and charities have taken their own names from this famous story of Jesus. 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:49.580 And yet, for all its celebrated nature, it is, I think, one of the most misunderstood passages 00:02:49.580 --> 00:03:00.360 of the Bible. Most people think it's just a lovely story, helpful moral tale designed to encourage us 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:08.300 to be nice to other people, to be loving, to be caring, and so forth. And who could ever disagree with that? 00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:19.040 But is this why Jesus told the story? Was He just trying to encourage us to be nice and 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:25.680 helpful to our fellow human beings? Was He just trying to make us better citizens? 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:30.919 Is this story just a nice moral tale? 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:40.079 I suspect that for lots of people, that is exactly what they think. And that's not just people outside 00:03:40.079 --> 00:03:47.579 the church, that's people within the church as well. For many, this story has been sanitized. It's been 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:56.400 made safe. It's challenged. It's bar-blunted by familiarity. It's a story that no longer makes us stop and 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:03.520 think and reflect on the kind of lives that we're leading. It's a story that no longer surprises us. 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:06.120 But friends, it should. 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:10.900 For contrary to what many people think, 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:17.540 the parable of the good Samaritan is not some warm, cuddly, feel-good story. 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:27.180 It's more like a punch in the solar plexus. It's actually a shocking story. 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:37.079 It's one designed to provoke and challenge our moral complacency, designed to make us sit up 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:45.620 and take notice, designed to confront us with the reality of the living God and the rigorous and 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:49.060 righteous demands of His holy law. 00:04:50.479 --> 00:04:54.560 And I want to look at this passage tonight, 00:04:55.399 --> 00:05:01.259 highlighting three things that I think Jesus is doing here with this famous story. 00:05:01.259 --> 00:05:05.759 So, what are they? Let's look at them one at a time. The first is this. 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:16.180 Jesus is challenging here feelings of moral superiority. The setting, I think, is critical 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:22.519 if we're going to rightly understand the parable's meaning. And we're fortunate because we've a very 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:28.560 detailed account here in Luke of the circumstances that occasioned the telling of the story. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:34.780 Behold, verse 25, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:38.480 Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:47.540 So, this famous story is told in response to the questioning of a certain lawyer. Now, 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:54.899 it's not that this man was a solicitor or a lawyer as we think of them today. This man was a biblical 00:05:54.899 --> 00:06:01.879 scholar. He was a theologian. He was a man who was an expert in the law. That is the law of God. 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:09.739 Very religious, very righteous, very moral, very spiritual. He was an expert in the Scriptures. 00:06:10.799 --> 00:06:18.919 He knew his onions. And because of that, he was confident in his own ability and in his right 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:29.819 standing before God, he had a very positive opinion of himself. It's likely, commentators debate, 00:06:29.939 --> 00:06:36.100 but it's likely that he was unhappy with some of the things that he'd heard Jesus saying about the 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:42.600 kingdom of God and perhaps thought that Jesus was in some way denigrating the law. And so, he wanted 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:51.300 to test Jesus, to trap Jesus into saying something that perhaps would reveal some measure of contempt for 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:59.700 God's Word. And so, the subject he wants to test Jesus on, the subject he wants to speak to Jesus about 00:06:59.700 --> 00:07:09.760 is the subject of eternal life. Teacher, verse 25 again, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:18.060 This is his chosen topic. This is the starter for 10. And it's a subject, you see, that this man 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:25.560 knows like the back of his hand. He's not going to have any need to take, you know, a 50-50. He's not 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:33.219 going to need to phone a friend. He's entirely at home on this subject matter. He knows his stuff inside 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:40.020 and out. Here is a lawyer, a biblical scholar. He's on home turf, and he's got Jesus just where he wants 00:07:40.020 --> 00:07:49.860 him. And his question to Jesus, I think, clearly reveals an attitude of religious pride, self-satisfaction. 00:07:50.780 --> 00:08:00.020 Because this is one of those questions that are asked without any real desire, in one sense, 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:07.060 to know the answer. Because this man already knew the answer, or at least he thought he did. 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:15.859 He knew that he, above all types of folks, was doing all that was necessary for eternal life. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:22.719 He knew all about it. And so, he comes to put Jesus in the spotlight. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:34.899 And yet, in just a few short, uncomfortable minutes, the tables are turned, and it's he that is put to 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:43.160 the test. And what Jesus is doing here in the story is bursting the bubble of this man's 00:08:43.160 --> 00:08:52.139 self-righteousness. He's taking a giant needle to the balloon of this man's self-importance. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:01.700 Jesus is showing him what he is really like. Sometimes we need that, don't we? Someone to tell 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:10.160 us the way that it really is. Someone to puncture our pride. So, we come to see ourselves not as we 00:09:10.160 --> 00:09:18.019 like to think or imagine, but as we really are. Because living our lives on the basis of a delusion, 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:26.159 it's not just sad, it's actually dangerous. Some of you here will be aware of the TV show 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:35.199 ran for a good many years here in the UK. It's called The X Factor. Anybody maybe heard of that, 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:44.639 perhaps? Created by Simon Cowell. Reality TV music competition. And I happened, 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:53.220 I wasn't an avid follower of this program, I isn't to add, but I did happen to watch a program which 00:09:53.220 --> 00:10:00.939 was one of the live auditions that took place across the country. And this one so happened to be 00:10:00.939 --> 00:10:09.379 from Glasgow. And it was quite incredible viewing. And perhaps the most remarkable thing 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:17.200 was the number of people who clearly had no discernible talent whatsoever, 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:24.519 and yet were utterly convinced in their own minds that they were going to win over the judges, 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:31.740 and they were going to make it to the big time. String of contestants, many apparently devoid of any 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:40.100 singing ability whatsoever, brazenly, unashamedly took to the stage to perform before a live audience. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:47.200 And as I say, many appeared absolutely convinced that they were in fact very good. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:55.740 Nothing could have been further from the truth. A staggeringly high proportion of these contestants, 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:05.100 it was clear that they believed something about themselves that was patently and obviously not true. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:13.519 Their deluded assessment of themselves and their talent was exposed and revealed as a fantasy 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:20.639 before a TV audience, I suppose, of millions. For many, that huge gulf between what they thought of 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:29.919 themselves and the awful reality was cruelly, but I suspect in the long term, helpfully exposed. 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:38.980 And that is exactly what Jesus is doing here. He's revealing to someone that what they thought was 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:48.019 true about themselves was in fact a complete fiction. He's exposing that gulf, you see, that so often exists 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:55.259 in our own minds between what we believe about ourselves and what is actually the case. We like to think, 00:11:55.460 --> 00:12:03.639 you know, we're good people. We consider ourselves pretty moral folk. We're nice. We're loving. We're 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:10.559 caring. We're thoughtful. We're not that bad. We're better than others. We'll be okay before God. But, 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:17.579 friends, unfortunately, the reality is very different. The truth is that most people 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:27.540 are quite deluded about their condition before God. And the truth is we are not as good as we like to 00:12:27.540 --> 00:12:38.300 think we are. The lawyer here is like so many of us. We think that we are morally upright. Deep down, 00:12:38.400 --> 00:12:45.100 we're good people. You know, maybe God should be glad there are folks like us around. We're confident 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:52.120 in our own righteousness. Will I go to heaven? Shall I receive eternal life? Well, of course. 00:12:52.820 --> 00:13:00.460 I go to church. I'm a good, loving person. I've been baptized. I believe in God. I say my prayers. 00:13:00.659 --> 00:13:08.240 I'm spiritual. I watch songs of praise every week. I love animals and children. I don't do anyone any harm. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:17.159 Friends, when our confidence rests on all these good things that I am doing or have done, it is resting 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:26.080 on a shaky foundation. And this is why Jesus told this famous parable. The story of the Good Samaritan 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:35.259 is in effect a demolition job on that kind of human or religious pride that is in fact in all our hearts. 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:42.720 So, that's the first thing that Jesus is doing here, challenging feelings of any kind of feelings we 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:49.759 have of moral superiority. And that brings me to the second thing Jesus is doing here. 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:59.659 The way He does it is by this. He is expounding the true meaning of God's law. Jesus is expounding 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:09.980 the true meaning of God's law. He takes the law that this man apparently knew so well and expounds and 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:19.759 explains its meaning to him. They encounter the parable that follows all about the law of God and its demands 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:31.559 upon us. And so, Jesus responds really by turning the question about eternal life back on His Inquisitor. 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:39.919 What is written in the law, verse 26, how do you read it? This expert in the Scriptures, he replies by 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:46.700 quoting from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. And his answer simply rolls off the tongue. 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:52.340 Love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:59.600 Love your neighbor as yourself. Now, certainly this man knew his Bible well. 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:09.400 His answer is right on the mark. And we know that elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus Himself distills out 00:15:09.400 --> 00:15:14.180 these two commandments as summing up the essence of God's moral requirements. 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:24.059 And it may well be that the lawyer was taken aback by Jesus' answer. Jesus had a reputation, perhaps, 00:15:24.199 --> 00:15:31.419 for radical ideas, challenging teaching, and here He simply, you know, applauds the lawyer's traditional 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:37.799 orthodox biblical answer. You've answered correctly, Jesus replied. Verse 29, do this and you will live. 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:46.379 Literally, He says, keep on doing this and you will live. And the lawyer looks silly. He's answered his 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:53.799 own question. Jesus hasn't been put to the test at all. And so, He pushes for some further clarification. 00:15:54.959 --> 00:16:04.599 Perhaps He wanted to save face. Maybe He detected an edge to Jesus' reply. But whatever it was, 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.620 He's immediately on the defensive, He's immediately on the defensive, and He attempts to justify Himself. 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:14.259 Desiring to justify Himself, verse 30, He said to Jesus, 00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:26.639 and who is my neighbor? He wants Jesus to explain, expound the law. And so, Jesus does just that. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:36.220 And what becomes clear is that the lawyer, for all his Bible knowledge, hadn't really understood the law 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:48.199 at all. He could quote it, but he didn't really understand it. And I think what this man, and I think 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:59.720 countless other sins, did not, could not grasp, was the depth of the law's demand. The law of God, 00:17:00.680 --> 00:17:10.860 our Creator, reminds us that as human beings, we are accountable to Him, and that we owe Him love and 00:17:10.859 --> 00:17:20.259 devotion. We are to hold nothing back from Him. We are to give Him our all. He wants us to love Him 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:26.379 with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Not only that, but He wants us also to love those around 00:17:26.379 --> 00:17:33.639 us. He wants us to meet the needs of our neighbors with all the joy and enthusiasm that we meet our own 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:44.620 needs. And that's why Jesus tells the lawyer, do this, and you will live. I once heard a sermon on 00:17:44.620 --> 00:17:53.860 this passage many years ago in which the minister explained to us that in this text, there's a mention 00:17:53.860 --> 00:18:00.020 of being born again, conversion, even faith, and these things are not really that important. 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:07.119 The key thing that Jesus asks of us is not faith and trust, but simply that we love God and our 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:13.960 neighbor as ourselves. Do this, and you shall live. Live like Jesus, the minister said. All will be well. 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:19.500 Live like Jesus, and you'll have eternal life. Live like Jesus, and you'll go to heaven. 00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:28.220 A more profound misunderstanding of this text and of Christianity itself, 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:39.180 it would be hard to imagine. Lots of people read these words. Oh, they're beautiful, wonderful, 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:46.019 admirable. They contain such a noble aspiration. Let's all just love God and love one another. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:55.180 Everything will be fine. Let me ask you tonight, have you ever tried it? Do this, and you will live. 00:18:55.180 --> 00:19:06.100 Friends, those words of Jesus are a dagger to the heart because they utterly convict us. 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:15.640 Do this, and you shall live. Which one of us can do it? These words of Jesus condemn us utterly. 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:25.580 These words of Jesus, in one sense, are not good news. This is not the gospel. This is the law that 00:19:25.580 --> 00:19:32.840 brings condemnation to our hearts. These words are bad news. I can tell you this evening, 00:19:33.580 --> 00:19:40.140 if you can love God 100 percent, and you can love your neighbor 100 percent all the time, 00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:47.860 if you can live an absolutely perfect life of love. You will receive eternal life. 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:58.560 What one of us can do that? What one of us can do this and live? It's not good news, is it? 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:08.720 You see, Jesus is trying to get the lawyer and us to see and to think a little more deeply about the 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:16.619 implications of God's law beneath the rules and the regulations to the attitudes of heart and mind 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:23.879 that God really wants to see in His people's lives. He wants us to understand what the demands of God's 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:32.400 law really are. And actually, they're very scary. And I find it interesting that on the other occasion, 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:39.560 Jesus is asked this question in Luke's gospel, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The other is in 00:20:39.560 --> 00:20:49.340 Luke 18, verse 18, by the rich ruler, that on both occasions, Jesus points His inquisitors to the law 00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:58.740 and to the righteousness required there. Both times, Jesus seeks to bring about conviction of sin. 00:21:00.699 --> 00:21:04.279 Remember what He says to the rich ruler when He's told, 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:12.019 all these I have kept since I was a boy. Jesus tells them, sell everything you have and give it to the 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:21.180 poor. When Jesus tries to show the righteousness and love that God requires, He speaks about loving and 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:29.539 caring for the needy and the poor. And friends, Jesus tells this story to explain what neighbor love is 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:39.400 all about. The parable is a mirror being held up to this man's life and to this man's heart and to ours 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:47.900 also. And the story is so familiar to us. It's a story, isn't it, of extravagant love. A Samaritan, 00:21:48.140 --> 00:21:54.259 we know that the Jews hated the Samaritans. They prayed that the Samaritans would be kept out of the 00:21:54.259 --> 00:22:01.360 kingdom of God. In John 8, when the crowd is vilifying Jesus, they insult Him by calling Him a 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:11.159 Samaritan and one who is demon-possessed. But in Jesus' story, it's this despised Samaritan who finds a man 00:22:11.159 --> 00:22:18.359 beaten up at the side of the road and who risks his life to stop and help him. The Jericho Road was a 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:27.159 notoriously dangerous place, winding, descending, seventeen-mile journey through all sorts of limestone 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:34.600 cracks. It was a notorious, I said, haunt of robbers and thieves. It was not the kind of road to travel 00:22:34.600 --> 00:22:41.460 alone. And so, it would have been no surprise to his hearers that this lonely traveler comes a cropper. 00:22:42.340 --> 00:22:49.560 He's set upon, he's beaten, he's robbed, he's left for dead. And upon seeing this poor man lying, 00:22:49.800 --> 00:22:55.980 bruised, and battered by the roadside, a priest and a Levite, the men of the cloth, 00:22:55.980 --> 00:23:02.039 walked quickly by on the other side of the road. They're being sensible, they're being reasonable. 00:23:03.579 --> 00:23:08.860 Didn't want to get involved. Didn't want to share the same fate. Perhaps they didn't want to become 00:23:08.860 --> 00:23:15.180 religiously unclean. And we remember that Jesus is speaking to this expert in the law. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:23.160 The priest and the Levite are representative, really, of his faith. And yet there's no evidence 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:31.500 of neighbor love on show from them. Instead, it's a hated, despised Samaritan who stops and cares. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:39.680 It's the outsider who breaks into his schedule, puts himself out, gives time, money, medical attention. 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:47.320 The Samaritan gives love, he gives advocacy, friendship, gives of himself. Now, you read the 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:54.659 story. It's an over-the-top goodness, isn't it? Here's some money to the innkeeper. If there's any 00:23:54.659 --> 00:24:06.599 more expense, I'll take up the tab. This is the picture that Jesus is painting. The response of the 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:16.339 Samaritan is one of overwhelming generosity and kindness, no expense spared. And Jesus is telling the 00:24:16.339 --> 00:24:26.439 lawyer, friend, this Samaritan is doing what you're not. Here's what you've not been doing. Here is the glaring 00:24:26.439 --> 00:24:34.119 omission in your life. Wake up, friend. You're not even close to loving your neighbor as yourself. You're nowhere 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:45.480 near fulfilling the demands of God's law. You know, that passage in Matthew 25, and the great picture of the last 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:52.440 judgment. And Jesus is dividing the sheep and the goats, distinguishing, I suppose, those who were 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:58.720 Christians from those who only claimed to be Christians. And the basis of judgment he uses there. 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:07.120 Prayer? No. Bible reading? No. Church attendance? No. Not that these things are bad? Of course not. 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:13.640 He says, no, I was hungry. You gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:18.040 I was a stranger. You invited me in. I needed clothes. You clothed me. I was sick. You looked 00:25:18.040 --> 00:25:24.180 after me. I was in prison. You came and visited me. All those people you helped and cared for, that was me. 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:31.100 Now, in Matthew 25, the hungry, thirsty, strangers, sick, imprisoned are other believers. 00:25:32.340 --> 00:25:38.280 But nonetheless, this concept, this idea comes up in the Bible in other places. 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:50.019 Proverbs 14, 31, he who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker. Insulting the poor is like 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:58.500 insulting God. Proverbs 19, 17, he who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. Why does God say that? 00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:09.440 there's a very famous story told um i'm not exactly sure where it came from but uh it's a story of a 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:19.440 very wealthy woman um and she had uh one heir that was a nephew and uh whenever she was around this 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:27.180 nephew the milk of human kindness oozed you know out of him towards his aunt he was deferential 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:35.000 to the point of obsequiousness so over the top was his affection for her that she used to wonder 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:42.720 i wonder what he's really like and his present in her presence he was such such a nice person 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:51.920 and so she resolved to find out and she i suppose dressed up as a bag lady camped outside his front 00:26:51.920 --> 00:27:00.240 door he couldn't stand the sight of her hated this old tramp being at the door kicked her shouted at 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.500 her verbally abused her eventually called the police to get her moved on 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:11.460 then she knew what he was really like 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:18.200 and god knows what we're really like in the way that we treat others 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:24.759 and in particular the way that we treat our brothers and sisters in christ and in the way 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:32.500 that we treat the poor the marginalized those in need friends this is what the law of god teaches us 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:40.259 and this is the kind of love that god looks for it's not something cosmetic superficial it's something 00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:46.640 deep and real and lasting and god says when you know i see how you treat those around you 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:55.840 and the needy on your doorstep then i know what you're really like i know where your heart really is 00:27:55.840 --> 00:28:05.980 the way we treat our neighbors reveals what is in our hearts 00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:11.360 and you saw jesus is challenging yes this man's moral complacency 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:19.539 by explaining to him the true and frightening demands of god's law he's challenging feelings of moral 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:26.979 superiority he's expounding the depth and the power of god's law but that brings me to the third thing 00:28:26.979 --> 00:28:36.240 here briefly and finally why what's the point of all this and the third thing here is this 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:47.319 is here jesus is revealing our need of divine mercy actually our need of him 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:54.660 there's the punchline which of those three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell 00:28:54.660 --> 00:29:03.420 among robbers he said the one who showed him mercy and jesus said you go and do likewise 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:13.539 the story indicates that you cannot confine restrict the showing of mercy cannot confine it to the people 00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:21.700 we like or who like us tim keller writes not everyone is your brother and or sister in faith 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:30.880 but everyone is your neighbor and you must love your neighbor anybody and everybody out there 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.240 is my neighbor is my neighbor what was it uh charlie brown 00:29:35.240 --> 00:29:42.580 used to say of course i love the human race it's just lucy i can't stand 00:29:42.580 --> 00:29:47.140 but of course it's lucy that is the measure of love 00:29:47.140 --> 00:29:54.520 and it is easy for us to hide behind vague generalizations about loving people 00:29:54.519 --> 00:30:00.240 but this story kind of asks us you know how much are we prepared to go and do 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:07.220 the apostle john writes 1 john 3 18 dear children let us not love with word or tongue but with actions 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:14.400 and in truth it's not enough to say i don't do anybody any harm it's not enough to say it's none of 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:19.660 my business it's not enough to say i'm too busy it's not enough to say well these people are not really 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:29.259 my type because this famous story is not primarily designed i think to teach us our moral duty it does do 00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:39.140 that but it is designed to reveal our moral bankruptcy it's designed to expose our guilt before god 00:30:39.140 --> 00:30:47.860 our failure to love god and to love others as we should jesus is showing us the bad news here 00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:56.559 so that we can better appreciate the good news so what is the good news here 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:06.199 well the good news is this is that there was another man who traveled the jericho road 00:31:06.199 --> 00:31:17.559 only he traveled it towards jerusalem not away from it and he traveled it in the shadow of a cross 00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:28.379 and he traveled it to show us extravagant love and he traveled it to pay the debt of our sin 00:31:28.379 --> 00:31:38.679 we may not be able to love god 100 and to love our neighbor as ourselves a hundred percent 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:48.620 but friends there is one man who did just that and he did it for us he did it for you 00:31:48.620 --> 00:31:57.640 and it's the man telling the story it's the man on his way to jerusalem it's the man going to the cross 00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:05.000 to show us the meaning of love it's the man who's come to do for us what we could never do for ourselves 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:15.480 very often the allegorical interpretations of this parable many of the early church fathers get a 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:21.759 get a pretty bad press and certainly some of them are super ingenious and somewhat fantastical 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:34.539 but nonetheless i think they have this in their favor they point us to that man they point us to jesus 00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:43.899 and the good news we find in him so this parable is meant to drive us not merely to great moral effort 00:32:43.899 --> 00:32:52.339 but actually to despair of our own righteousness and to look in faith to jesus christ because in the end 00:32:52.339 --> 00:32:58.059 the one who truly fulfills this parable is the lord jesus himself 00:32:58.059 --> 00:33:05.419 to those of us like the lawyer who think we can work our way into heaven by being good or religious 00:33:05.419 --> 00:33:05.980 people 00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:14.059 jesus confronts us with moral bankruptcy let's not kid ourselves on he says 00:33:14.059 --> 00:33:20.200 you are not and shall never be good enough or loving enough or righteous enough 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:29.960 we're all moral failures we all fall short we all need a savior we all need a new heart a new power a new 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:37.160 motivation we all as as cory was reminding us this morning need a new birth we need jesus christ in our 00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:41.080 lives in all his grace mercy love and righteousness 00:33:41.079 --> 00:33:53.559 to receive that love you must see yourself as the person lying at the side of the road dead in trespasses 00:33:53.559 --> 00:34:01.159 and sins maybe battered and bruised and beaten up by this world 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:13.400 every other religion every other philosophy has walked past on the other side of the road unable to 00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:23.400 bring you the help you need friend you need to see jesus as your good samaritan because it's only 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:30.920 as jesus and his love overwhelms us indwells us penetrates our hearts 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:35.639 that any of us can even think begin to think of loving like this 00:34:36.680 --> 00:34:41.480 only when we know ourselves to be loved by him in this incredible manner 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:46.599 can we be transformed to love others as he has loved us 00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:56.519 we cannot do this by ourselves we need to be united to jesus christ 00:34:56.519 --> 00:35:05.159 it's only as god's love is poured into our hearts through the holy spirit that we can be changed to 00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:07.639 live like jesus the true good samaritan 00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:15.559 for he's the one who's shown us mercy he's the one who's crossed the great divide he's the one who on 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:20.359 the cross displayed sacrificial costly love towards his enemies 00:35:20.360 --> 00:35:30.360 jesus and once it's not just our good samaritan he is the good news he is our righteousness he is the gospel 00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:40.039 and we need to experience the touch of his hand on our broken lives rescuing us lifting us up 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:43.559 out of up out of the mud and the mire of our sin 00:35:43.559 --> 00:35:54.039 only when his mercy captures our hearts only when our souls are united to him by faith then 00:35:54.039 --> 00:36:00.519 and only then can we rise as his disciples 00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:13.239 and albeit imperfectly rise to the challenge of these words to go and to do likewise 00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:33.000 our good samaritan our great savior and his wonderful gospel 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:42.359 he can change us no one else will no one else can let's pray together 00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:53.719 father we confess that we are sinners we fall short of your just demands 00:36:54.919 --> 00:37:01.959 we are lawbreakers not just on the outside but on the inside oh lord we need a new heart 00:37:03.239 --> 00:37:10.119 we need jesus christ in our lives every day and so our god we pray that you would pour out your holy 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:19.960 spirit upon us that your love would be poured into our hearts through the holy spirit that we might 00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:35.799 be more like jesus our true good samaritan and in whose name we pray these things amen