Image: “The Sermon on the Mount” by Carl ​Bloch (dated AD 1877)

Starter

If you had to sum up morality ​in one or two principles, how ​would you do it?

CONTEXT

Jesus was a masterful teacher both in ​what he taught and how he taught it. He ​had the uncanny ability to transform ​dialogues with brilliant replies, even in ​the midst of testy situations. Sometimes ​he couched his teachings in pithy, ​memorable sayings. Other times He ​creatively illustrated his lessons in ​powerful stories and metaphors. The ​great Jewish rabbi spent significant time ​teaching and spoke on a variety of topics. ​He taught about the kingdom of God: ​God’s restorative reign of the future ​which had broken into the present with ​Jesus. He taught about the reversal of ​states in God’s kingdom, with blessing to ​the poor and suffering, but woe to the ​rich and happy – how the exalted would ​be humbled, and the humble would be ​exalted. He taught about discipleship and ​the cost of following him. He taught about ​hell, the narrow door of salvation, and the ​need for repentance. He taught about the ​future: the soon-to-come destruction of ​Jerusalem and its temple, the persecution ​of his followers and the need for ​perseverance, his return at the end of ​time, judgment day, giving an account for ​our lives, and being ready. He taught ​against the sins of the religious leaders ​and confronted their hypocrisy. He taught ​about prayer, faith, judging others, ​forgiving others, our words, anxiety, ​money, and love. But in today's story, an ​expert in religious law tests Jesus by ​asking him one of the most important ​questions anyone could ever ask.

The Test

10:25 Now an expert in religious law ​stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, ​what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

In the Bible, eternal life is not merely life ​without end, nor is it what many people ​conceive of as being in “heaven” (i.e. a ​blissful realm where the spirits of the ​righteous dwell in God’s presence). The ​Old Testament prophet Daniel spoke of ​eternal life, saying, “Multitudes who sleep ​in the dust of the earth will awake: some ​to everlasting life, others to shame and ​everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2, NIV) ​The Bible teaches that when human ​history comes to a close and God judges ​the world, all people will be resurrected ​from the dead: the wicked will be bodily ​raised to everlasting punishment and the ​righteous to everlasting life. Eternal life is ​life of the age to come – physical, ​resurrected life in creation restored. It is ​life the way it was always meant to be: ​perfect harmony with God and harmony ​with one another, free from all sin, ​suffering, sickness, and death – all in a ​world set right forever.

The Answer

26 He said to him, “What is written in the ​law? How do you understand it?” 27 The ​expert answered, “Love the Lord your ​God with all your heart, with all your ​soul, with all your strength, and with all ​your mind, and love your neighbor as ​yourself.”

Jesus responds to his question with a ​question. He goes back to the religious ​law of the Torah, this scholar’s area of ​expertise. As God’s Word, the Scriptures ​were authoritative and decisive. In reply, ​the expert stitches together two quotes ​from the law, with the first being drawn ​from a passage at the very heart of ​Biblical Judaism.

28 Jesus said to him, “You have ​answered correctly; do this, and you ​will live.”

Over a thousand years before Jesus, God’s ​people Israel were enslaved and ​oppressed in Egypt. In the Exodus story, ​God dramatically intervened to rescue his ​people by the power of his great might. ​After saving them, he made a covenant ​with Israel through Moses, saying that if ​they lived as his people, worshiping him, ​honoring him, and obeying the laws he ​gave them, he would bless them and ​prosper them in the promised land. “Keep ​my decrees and laws, for the person who ​obeys them will live by them.” (Leviticus ​18:5, NIV) Over time, many Jewish ​interpreters began to understand this ​blessing in a more transcendent way – ​blessed-life was the result of obedience ​not only in this age, but also in the age to ​come. Jesus seems to agree when he ​affirms the expert’s answer: eternal life is ​the result of obedience.

Verse 27 is a summary of Jesus’s ethic in ​a single sentence. Jesus stands in ​agreement with the Jewish law, the ​Torah, affirming the ethical heart of ​Biblical Judaism. In Matthew’s gospel, ​Jesus cites these two commands as the ​greatest commandments, saying that, ​“All the law and the prophets depend on ​these two” (Mt 22:40).

The Parable

29 But the expert, wanting to justify ​himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my ​neighbor?”

This is not Jesus’ first teaching on love in ​Luke’s Gospel. In chapter 6, Jesus ​provocatively called for a love that ​surpassed what they understood to be ​required in the Old Testament law. Jesus ​taught, “If you love those who love you, ​what credit is that to you? For even ​sinners love those who love them… But ​love your enemies, and do good, and ​lend, expecting nothing back. Then your ​reward will be great, and you will be sons ​of the Most High, because he is kind to ​ungrateful and evil people.” For Jesus, ​there are no bounds on who we are ​supposed to love – including our ​enemies. In Jesus’ reply to the expert, he ​employs a frequent teaching method of ​his by sharing a fascinating parable, ​creatively conveying his lesson through a ​colorful, concrete story.

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going ​down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and ​fell into the hands of robbers, who ​stripped him, beat him up, and went off, ​leaving him half dead. 31 Now by ​chance a priest was going down that ​road, but when he saw the injured man ​he passed by on the other side. 32 So ​too a Levite, when he came up to the ​place and saw him, passed by on the ​other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was ​traveling came to where the injured ​man was, and when he saw him, he felt ​compassion for him. 34 He went up to ​him and bandaged his wounds, pouring ​oil and wine on them. 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 silver coins and ​gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ​‘Take care of him, and whatever else ​you spend, I will repay you when I come ​back this way.’

36 Which of these three do you think ​became a neighbor to the man who fell ​into the hands of the robbers?” 37 The ​expert in religious law said, “The one ​who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus ​said to him, “Go and do the same.”

As one dictionary put it, the word ​translated “mercy” is “kindness or ​concern expressed for someone in need.”

What does this story teach about Jesus?

What does this story teach about us?

PREVIEW

Jesus, the great Jewish rabbi, was not ​without his fierce opponents. Jesus spoke ​boldly against the sin and hypocrisy of the ​religious leaders of his day. Together, they ​conspired to kill the troublesome teacher. ​Each of the Gospels dedicate considerable ​space to the final week of Jesus’ life. The ​following story fast forwards to the ​beloved figure’s betrayal and arrest. In ​the next study, we’ll uncover the meaning ​of one of the most significant events in ​Jesus’ life: his death.

Questions

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The Jesus Story is brought to you by Christ Community Church of San Jose

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.