Luke 10:25-37

1. This parable is recorded only in the gospel of Luke.

2. It is one of the best known and one of the most meaningful parables Jesus ever uttered.

10:25 And behold, a certain lawyer [an expert in the law] stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

1. The "lawyer" was a skilled teacher of the Mosaical law.

2. The word "test" means he wanted to find fault with Jesus.

3. He thought Jesus would lay down some new rule, which would cause Him to be out of harmony with the accepted teaching of the experts of the law.

4. This could expose Jesus to a lot of criticism and cause Him to lose popularity and possibly even destroy Him.

10:26 And He said to him, "What is written in the [Mosaical] Law? How does it read to you?"

10:27 And he [ the lawyer] answered and said, "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."

1. The lawyer quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.

2. Jesus gave the same reply when asked about the greatest commandment of the law. (Matt. 22:37-39).

3. Jesus told the young ruler loving neighbor as self was essential to inheriting eternal life. (Matt. 19:16-19).

Note: The chronological order of these events appears to be the parable of the good Samaritan occurred first, the account of the rich young ruler was second, and Jesus=s reply to the question of the lawyer was last.

10:28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; [continually] do this, and you will live."

1. The implication is the lawyer had not been keeping the law or had a very limited concept of who is a neighbor.

2. Jesus affirms eternal life is obtained by obeying.

3. ADo this, and you will live.@ (Lk. 10:28). See John 14:15; Luke 6:46; Hebrews 5:9.

10:29 But [the lawyer] wishing to justify [acquit] himself [of reproach], he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Luke 10:29-37

10:30 Jesus replied and said, "A certain man [a Jew} was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off [unconcernedly] leaving him half dead.

1. Jericho was 17 miles from Jerusalem, and lower in elevation.

• Jerusalem was a city on a hill and was about 2,300 feet above sea level.

• The Dead Sea near to Jericho was 1,300 feet below sea-level; so there was a drop of about 3,600 hundred feet between Jerusalem and Jericho.

• This road was notoriously dangerous for those who traveled alone.

2. About half of the priestly orders lived in Jericho and would often travel to and from Jerusalem. (1 Chron. 24:1-19).

• Each of the 24 orders served in the temple twice a year.

• The length of the service was a week.

10:31 "And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

1. This religious man likely taught you are to love your neighbor.

2. For some reason he did not show mercy to this wounded man.

3. He evidently did not consider the wounded man a neighbor.

4. He may have avoided investigating to see if the man was dead or not; because it the man was dead and the priest touched his body he would have been shut out from any function as a priest in the Temple and his great week, which came twice a year, would be gone. See Num. 9:11.

10:32 "And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

 1. "A Levite" was a priest's helper. (1 Chron. 23:24-32).

 2. He avoided the wounded man.

 3. He may have thought the man was a decoy of the bandits and it was too great a risk to check the wounded man.

10:33 "But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion [pity],

10:34 and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on {them;} and he put him on his own beast [donkey], and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

1. "Oil and wine" were common household remedies, sometimes used as a salve. (Gen. 28:18; Josh. 9:13; Isa. 1:6; Mk. 6:13; Jas. 5:14).

2. The Samaritan may have had to walk to the Ainn.@

AThe Next Day@

10:35 "And on the next day he took out two denarii [two day=s wages] and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.'

1. Samaritans and Jews were normally enemies.

• Jews were pure descendants of Abraham.

• Samaritans were a mixed race produced when Jews from the northern kingdom intermarried with other peoples after Israel=s exile to Assyria in about 722 B.C..

• Thousands of Israel=s leading citizens were deported.

• Some Jews were left behind in Samaria the capital of the Northern kingdom.

• The poor and handicapped Jews left inter-married with the foreigners who were brought into Samaria from Babylon.

• The fact the Samaritans were a mixed race and the fact when the Jews were rebuilding their temple under

• Zerubbabel, the Samaritans= offer to help was turned down created much hostility between Jews and Samaritans.

• See John 4:9.

• In the time of Christ the bitterness was so great between Jews and Samaritans that Jews would most often by-pass

• Samaria and go a good distance out of their way rather than take this shorter route between Judea and Galilee.

 2. This Samaritan came to the rescue of this man who was:

• A stranger

• An enemy

• Man of another race (most likely a Jew)

• Man who likely had no way of repaying him.

• Man who would require some of his time.

3. Good Samaritans

• Face danger

• Sacrifice time, talent, money

• Remain sensitive to the needs of others

4. There are a variety of things that keep some from being good Samaritans.

• Fear for life or liability suit.

• Bad experience

• Hardness of heart

• Ignorance

• Selfishness

• Limiting mercy to matters of money.

• Bad theology which limits to whom our mercy can be manifested.

• Christians only - See Galatians 6:10.

• Only family - 1 Timothy 6:10 is an obligation, but not the only obligation of Christians. (Gal. 6:10).

• Only those like us

10:36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' {hands?}"

10:37 And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

1. We are to show mercy to all men. ( Matt. 5:7; Col. 3:12; Lk. 6:36; Gal. 6:10).

• Poor

• Handicapped

• Other races

• Elderly

• Orphans and Widows (Jas. 1:27).

• Sick and lonely.

2. The principle of showing mercy applies to both individuals and congregations.

• It is essential that individuals show mercy.

• There are times when Christians collectively show mercy.

• Mercy is not limited to friends and relatives or even fellow-Christians.

• Mercy must be shown to all.

3. This parable sets forth it is the duty of the of the righteous to help a person even when the trouble he or she is having is his/her own fault.

• AHe has no one to blame but himself@ is not a valid excuse or reason not to help.

• God helps men in spite of their foolishness. So must we.

• We must not make too much of the fact the victim was traveling alone since both the priest and Levite were traveling alone and also the Samaritan.

4. We must help others even when there is danger involved.

• A doctor takes a risk when he works to save patients.

• It is impossible to avoid all risk.

5. This story certainly suggests the practice of the Golden Rule by all. (Lk. 6:31).

6. The wounded man was viewed quite differently by the characters in the story.

• The skilled teacher viewed him as a topic of discussion.

• The priest and Levite looked upon the wounded man as a problem to be avoided.

• The robbers looked upon him as an object to exploit.

• To the innkeeper, the wounded man was a customer to serve for a fee.

• To the Samaritan, the wounded man was a human being worth being cared for and loved.

• To Jesus all of them and all of us are worth dying for. (Heb. 2:9).