…a lawyer stood up to put Him [Jesus] to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law…he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself…He said to him, You have answered correctly…he, desiring to justify himself, said…And who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead…Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He (the lawyer) said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37
In our verses today, a lawyer (scribe) tests Jesus regarding who his neighbor really is. This man was insincere in his request of Jesus. Like the Pharisees, this scribe and other scribes, in the religious leadership, were looking for any opportunity to accuse Jesus of breaking the traditions of the elders that they believed in rather than God’s Holy Word. Note how gracious and kind Jesus was the man. Yet, Jesus tells the story of the “good Samaritan” to expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders teaching the people to not associate with sinners, Gentiles and, Samaritans. In the story, Jesus uses a priest and a Levite to represent the Jewish people. A priest is a Levite from the tribe of Levi, chosen by God to be the priesthood for the Israelites. However, not all Levites were priests. But, they were of the priestly tribe of Levi. We see, in the parable, the meticulousness of the Levite and the priest to remain ritually clean instead of helping a man beaten and lying on the side of the road. Jesus portrays the Samaritan as compassionate for his fellow human being, doing all he can to care for the man. In Exodus 19:5-6, God told the Israelites, through Moses, that, “if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The Israelites never fulfilled that part of the covenant. Instead, they became a people who thought they were “special,” becoming arrogant, corrupt and, legalistic in their worship of God and their dealings with people who were not Jews. Though Jesus was a pious Jew, He showed compassion, beyond our comprehension, for all people, setting the proper example for His bride, the church, to follow as they witness to the lost in this world. Meekness and humbleness are marks of the true Christian in all ages. Give God the glory for what He has done through His Son, our Savior and Lord!
Source: S C Ball February 10, 2023
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