Who Is Your Neighbor?
25 Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.“
28 “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
Luke 10:25–37
Who Is Your Neighbor?
25 Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.“
28 “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”
…do this and you will live…ah…ya,… right!
What does St. Paul say?
10…as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.
Romans 3:10-19 [CSB]
…do this and you will live…who me? Who…you?
I don’t think so…as no matter how hard we try… we fail…and so…
What is failure? Sin. What is earned by sinning? Death.
Life if you do, death if you don’t. Yes… do this, and you will live.
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?“
Don’t you just love lawyers? Always angling for the loophole. And if there is none, they make one up.
This is in the flesh in action! We are all lawyers because the Law of God is written on all our hearts—from birth to death.
That is why society is based on law.
That is why we have all those cop and legal shows like Perry Mason and Law & Order, to just name two.
The others are doctor and hospital shows to try and fix the mess we make—to find another kind of loophole to get us out of the death sentence (the curse) for not keeping the law.
Yes, we are all lawyers at heart…and living up to that stereotype too.
I mean, really… what do we do…?
29 But he [we], desiring to justify himself [and ourselves], said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Is there a loophole in God’s Law? Nope. Jesus even proves this when He goes up against the best lawyers there were…
Jesus points to the sins that were happening in their minds and hearts…but good lawyers they were!
I remember a Catholic Priest telling me that if he got into any real legal bind, he would hire four Jewish lawyers. He forgets…the Roman Catholic Church is little different than the Jewish church of Jesus’ day. They have just as much cannon law as the Jews had Talmudic law.
We are no different. Who is my neighbor, indeed!
Ya, like we don’t know…but we are always trying to justify ourselves…to excuse our own actions—as good Lutheran lawyers.
But, 20 …no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. [CSB][Romans 3:20]
With sin comes wrath…ours towards God for having come up with His Laws…and His wrath towards us for not keeping them as we were made to do.
So, who is our neighbor? Any and all.
Yes, even your enemies. Even those people you don’t like. Just like the Jews and the Samaritans. They were cousins, you know. Yet each thought they had the right to be called the real Jewish people.
But who was the more Jewish? Or the more Christian?
30 Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
Now, wait, a Samaritan would never do that? They are all swindlers and cheats—good for nothing low-lifers. Are they ALL really? And Levites and pastors…and our church elders…what about you?
Would you do what the Samaritan did? Or would you be like the Priest and Levite?
Would you walk on past…drive by as if that guy did not even exist—pretend you saw nothing? If it were a fellow Lombardian …or Glen Ellynite?
What if they were not of the best sort? What if you did not like their family? What if they were part of your own family?
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
So, YOU answer Jesus’ question—who? And then HE ASKS… : 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?“
So, who is your neighbor? Anyone who is in need of help…
—which a lot of the time is a lot of people! Even your enemy!
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.“
And Jesus says this to you…and to me….
Why? I mean… how can we do this when we cannot even do all the other commandments?
The answer lies in just who these actors in this story happen to be.
Who is the Samaritan?
Jesus, of course!
Who is the beaten and dying man? That would be us.
You see, since we don’t and cannot do the Law, and so, we must die. And before that, beaten and bleeding we do seem to be all too often. BUT dying we are.
And then Jesus comes along…that Samaritan Jesus…and says, “No, I will be in there…in your place…take your place…I will be beaten and die…for you…I will also pay the innkeeper…and bandage you up. Then I will come back and rescue you from your enemies—that is, THAT flesh that loves sin…and the devil, who sends his people to rob and beat us to death…which is the world.”
And only when He takes each of our places…only then can we “…go, and do likewise.“
Not because we need to earn something from God—to be justified. We cannot. Jesus already has. We don’t need to.
We do it because, like the Samaritan, we have nothing to prove—we are not part of any goody-good Israel, holier than thou…church going…Bible thumping hypocrite. We are just rescued sinners ourselves…going about the streets—about life…(how about being about our Father’s business?) and so… when we come across people like us…we lend a hand.
Why? Because that is what rescued sinners do. That is what sons and daughters of the Father do.
No, we don’t trust in our own ability to do this all that well. We trust in THE original Samaritan—Jesus—the outcast…the non-Jewish Jew…the …
Yes, Him… who… Jesus who… died like one…a sinner…disowned by all His people…all of Israel…just like the Samaritans were.
I mean the Samaritans were just as bad…but Jesus was talking to the Jews…
Roman Catholics are just as bad, but Jesus is now talking to us Lutherans…to you and me! So yes, “…go, and do likewise.“
We don’t need to justify ourselves. Don’t. Instead… just be condemned as a sinner, deserving death.
No, I am serious. You are. I am. We deserve all and every…any punishment devised. You must accept this. This is what God says about us—you and I both.
If you don’t, He won’t. If you don’t plead guilty of it all, Jesus won’t absolve you…forgive you… of it all.
He won’t justify someone who is not a sinner. You cannot be saved if you insist that you are not… not that bad… not as bad as…
… if you insist on justifying any least sin you have done (or left undone)…whether this is in just a thought, a dream, an idea…or a desire….
Don’t justify yourself. We don’t need to. Jesus does. He will and is—He did!
Listen to St. Paul again: 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [ESV][ Romans 3:21-24]
You are justified by His Grace as a gift…because of Jesus…all because of Jesus.
Now we…now “you go, and do likewise.” Now we can be part of His rescue mission. Helping others like us…other sinners who have fallen by the wayside…who are near death…who are our neighbors.
You… who have been lifted up…bandaged…fed and cared for…with enough money to keep us until His return…until He makes it so there will never be danger of it happening ever again.
But it is… even now… safe to walk…to go about our world…as Jesus has taken the brunt of it all…the worst that ever can be done…for us. It will harm us none, to stop and come near those in need of rescue. Thank God someone had for us.
Amen.
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