Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor...

This week we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. As Jesus was engaging in a conversation with His disciples about a short-term mission trip that they had just returned from, a lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test. 

This lawyer was setting a trap by asking the question "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Now this question, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Jesus, what must I do so that I can experience eternal life with God in Heaven? What must I do to be right with God so that I can obtain a ticket to Heaven?”

The reason why this question was a trap was due to the fact that there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

Instead of providing an answer to the lawyers’ question, Jesus, sensing the lawyer’s insincerity, responded by turning the tables on the lawyer. The lawyer, unable to resist the temptation to show off how much he knew about God, responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Deuteronomy.

Jesus, hearing the lawyers answer to his own question, responded by affirming the lawyers answer. And in affirming the lawyers answer, Jesus quoted a section from a letter in the Old Testament of our Bible called the book of Ezekiel. Jesus basically said to the lawyer “You answered your own question correctly. Now make sure that you are living your life in obedience to your answer. To be right with God so that you can obtain a ticket to Heaven make sure that you are living your life in obedience to the Lord’s command to love the Lord with your total being and to love your neighbor as yourself, because you will show your love for the Lord by how you love your neighbor.”

The lawyer responded to having the tables turned on him by Jesus by asking Jesus a second question. "And who is my neighbor?" The lawyer recognized that his plan to trap Jesus had backfired. The lawyer desperately desired to vindicate himself. And the lawyer desperately wanted to demonstrate how smart he was and how much he knew about God. So the lawyer doubled down in his attempts to trap Jesus. 

Once again, the lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus. The lawyer thought that he had trapped Jesus again because there was great disagreement when it came to the answer to this question. And the lawyer believed that however Jesus answered this question, Jesus would end up offending someone.

, Jewish people who were right with God were under obligation to love other people who were insiders that were right with God, but Jewish people did not have to love people who were outsiders who were not right with God. So there was great debate when it came to who was an insider and who was an outsider. There was a great debate when it came to who was right with God and who was not right with God. There was great debate over who needed to be shown love and who did not need to be shown love.  And now Jesus was being forced by this lawyer to enter into this debate.

Luke tells us that, once again, Jesus replied to the lawyers question by not directly answering his question. Instead, Jesus told a parable. Jesus began this parable by explaining that as a Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The Jewish man who was on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who robbed him, beat him, stripped him naked and left him half dead on the side of the road.

However, by chance a priest happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. Yet, when this insider of insiders saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he responded by moving to the other side of the road.

Jesus then explained that just by chance, a Levite happened to be traveling on the road to Jericho when he came upon this half dead man lying on the side of the road. Yet, when this insider saw his fellow Jewish man beaten, naked, and left half dead on the side of the road, he also responded by moving to the other side of the road. Today, we jump back into this event from history as Jesus then continued His parable by revealing a third character in Luke 10:33-35:

  "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'

Now if you were a Jewish person in the crowd listening to Jesus parable, at the moment Jesus referred to a Samaritan, you would have gasped in disbelief. You would have gasped in disbelief because of who the Samaritans were. You would have gasped in disbelief because of how Jewish people felt about Samaritans. You see, Samaritans were people who lived in Samaria. And at one time, Samaria was a part of the northern Kingdom of Israel.

Then, in 722 B.C., the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In order to help control the regions that they conquered, the Assyrians developed a strategy that involved deporting large numbers of Jewish people and replacing them with large numbers of people from the nation of Assyria. The Assyrians who moved to Samaria worshipped false gods and simply added the worship of the One True God to their worship of their false gods.

Over time, the Jewish people began to intermarry and adopt the religion and culture of the Assyrians. The Samaritans rejected all of the Old Testament except the first five books and refused to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Instead, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt Gerizim in 400 B.C. Now as you might imagine, the Jewish people did not respond well to what was happening in Samaria. And over time a great deal of animosity built between the Jewish people who lived in southern Israel and the people who lived in Samaria.

The Jewish people came to view the Samaritans as “half breeds” and wanted nothing to do with them. So, if you were a Jewish person you would have gasped at Jesus introduction of a Samaritan into this parable. Samaritans were viewed as outsiders. Samaritans were viewed as people who were far from God. Samaritans were viewed as those who did not need to be shown love. Samaritans were viewed as the enemy.

However, this Samaritan did six different things for this injured Jewish person that demonstrated that he loved this Jewish person as a neighbor. First, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to engage the injured Jewish man. After all, the robbers could have been hiding in the distance waiting to attack him as well. Second, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to bandage the wounds of the injured Jewish man.

Third, the Samaritan took the time and the risk to anoint the cuts with oil and wine, which would have soothed the wound and disinfected the wound. All of these actions would have exposed the Samaritan man to potential danger. Fourth, the Samaritan took the time and effort to load the man on his mule while he walked alongside the mule. Fifth, the Samaritan took the time and effort to take him to the inn in Jericho.

And sixth, the Samaritan took of his own resources to provide care and comfort to the injured man by staying the night and paying for his future care by giving two days wages. In the culture of the first century, two days wages would have paid for the injured Jewish man to stay at the inn for twenty-four days in order to recover from his injuries. After telling this parable, Jesus then asked the lawyer a very pointed question. A question that Luke reveals for us in verse 36:

 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"

Now can you imagine the scene as Jesus asked the lawyer that question? Can you imagine the tension that would have been present? Can you imagine the tension that comes from knowing the right answer but not liking the right answer? After all, Samaritans were outsiders. Samaritans were far from God. Samaritans did not need to be shown love. Samaritans were the enemy. Can you imagine how long it took for the lawyer to provide the answer to that question? Luke then reveals how the lawyer answered Jesus question in verse 37:

And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

Now did you notice the lawyer’s response? I mean, he could even say the word Samaritan, could he? Instead the lawyer stated "The one who showed mercy toward him." However, Jesus does not let the lawyer off the hook, does He? Instead, Luke tells us that Jesus commanded the lawyer to go and do the same. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved.

You see, Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because love is not a noun. Love is a verb. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because there is a difference between knowing the truth about God and doing the truth of God. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because love is proved or demonstrated by our actions. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because being a neighbor is not about location or race. Jesus commanded the lawyer to love just like the Samarian loved because being a neighbor is about our actions regardless of location or race.

And it is here, in this event from history that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor. Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we not allow ourselves to get sidetracked from the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus to instead engage in theological debates that are designed to show how much we know about God. Instead, inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we live out the truth about God in a way that demonstrates that we know God.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we love everyone as our neighbor, because love is proved, or demonstrated, by our actions. Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we be willing take and risk our time, treasure, energy, effort, and sometimes even our safety for the person who is far from Jesus.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we resist the temptation to restrict what Jesus commands us to do in order to make Jesus commands and demands more manageable. Instead of attempting to restrict or reduce Jesus commands and demands, as followers of Jesus we are to recognize that Jesus commands us to love everyone as our neighbor because loving our neighbor is about our actions regardless of location or race.

And inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we remember that inviting people to follow Jesus is often a slow process that takes time. You see, as Jesus engaged this lawyer, did you notice that Jesus was content to let him walk away without sharing with him the message of the gospel? Jesus let this lawyer walk away to ponder the issues in his heart that were exposed by Jesus.

When we read the accounts of Jesus life in the Bible, we discover that one of the main ways that Jesus engaged those who were far from Him was to ask good questions. And in the same way there will be times when people around us are not ready to hear the message of the gospel. And because of the reality, inviting people to follow Jesus will sometimes mean that we engage people in a way that does not always share the message of the gospel but instead simply asks them questions about where they are at when it comes to a relationship with Jesus while living a life that represents Jesus well. 

So here is a question for us to consider: If you were to find yourself as a character in this parable, which character would you be? Or better yet, if those closest to you were to place you as a character in this parable, which character would they say you would be?

Would you find yourself in this parable as the priest, who was considered an insider of insiders, but who was unloving to his fellow insider, let alone to anyone who was considered an outsider? Would you find yourself in this parable as the Levite, who was also an insider but who was also unloving to his fellow insider, let alone to anyone who was considered an outsider?

Or would you find yourself in this parable as the Samaritan, who while considered an outsider, loved the insider as though he was a fellow insider? If you were to find yourself as a character in this parable, which character would you be?

Because, inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the risk to treat everyone as our neighbor...