Choosing a Better Way
Vs 25-29 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 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. “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This section begins with “just then…” so we need to look at what was going on just before this man came up to Jesus. Earlier in the passage, the 70 Jesus had sent out had returned. Jesus addresses His disciples: “The eyes that see the things you see are blessed! For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.” The disciples had witnessed things and seen things the prophets and kings of old had only been able to hope for. They had prophesied them and look forward to them, but were unable to witness them. Those things had finally come to pass and the disciples had front row seats to all of it. But there were those who still couldn’t see. They were witnesses to all Jesus had said and done, yet they were still skeptical. One of those was an expert in the law and he was ready to test Jesus’ understanding and knowledge. The Greek word for test is ekpeirazó, which means to test thoroughly or to tempt. I think it quite amazing that this “expert” in the law wants to test the Son of God, but that is what blindness can do.
So, he asks Jesus his “innocent” question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Greek word for eternal is aiónios, which does not mean the same thing we would understand as eternal life. The word does not refer to duration but rather the quality of the age of life. Here, the man is asking Jesus what it means to have a life that comes from God. Jesus puts it right back on him; “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” You’re the law expert, Jesus is saying, so you tell me how you interpret it. The man answers with two passages of Scripture: Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5. And he is deemed correct by Jesus. But this man wanted to narrow down the definition of what a neighbor was. The Greek words for wanting to justify are theló and dikaioó and they mean a will or a desire to show one’s self to be righteous. He wanted Jesus, and everyone else listening, to see that he was righteous and had fulfilled the law of God. He thought he knew what Jesus’ answer would be when he asked who his neighbor was. He was about to be surprised.
Vs 30-37 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. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 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. 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.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
This is probably the most well known parable of Jesus. Most of us have heard several sermons and/or Bible studies on it. I wondered if there was anything else I could get out of this story? And as always, there is. That’s one of the things I love about studying God’s Word. There is always something else I can learn, even from a familiar passage like this one. The first thing Jesus’ listeners would understand is the road between Jerusalem and Jericho was very dangerous. Josephus writes of this saying, the road was “famous for it’s lurking dangers, especially robbers.” So, this man met with a disastrous fate. He was robbed, beaten and left for dead. Then Jesus tells of three different people who happen to come by. The first two are a priest and a Levite. This would not have been a huge surprise as priests and Levites would have been frequent travelers on this road as they are trying to avoid Samaria. Both these men pass the beaten man by on the other side. In other words, they got about as far away as they possible could. So, what might be the reason they didn’t show this man mercy? There could be a number of excuses. One is they may have thought him dead, or at least about to die, so, they didn’t wish to come into contact with anything “unclean”. They would be following the command in Numbers 19:11-12 which says, “The person who touches any human corpse will be unclean for seven days. He is to purify himself with the water on the third day and the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. They could have reasoned, “our duties in the temple outweigh dealing with this dying man.” Whatever the reason, they did not show this man any compassion. Jesus had, throughout His ministry, shown how the religious body of the day had corrupted and misread Scripture, heaping hardship on the people. That He would use them as an example here would not have surprised the people at all. They were, however, about to be shocked.
The people were probably expecting Jesus to tell them an ordinary, everyday Jewish man was the next person to pass this man by, but instead, it is a Samaritan who happens by next. Not only that, he is the one who shows compassion. Surprise, shock and even outrage would have been the emotions as the crowd listened. Given that Jesus had His own experience with their lack of hospitality just a few days earlier, probably surprised even the disciples. As we have discussed before, the Samaritans and Jews despised one another both culturally and religiously. Originally, the Samaritans were a part of the northern tribes of Israel who were not deported to Assyria. They then intermarried, thus, they were not excepted when the Jews returned back to the land. They also worshiped at a different temple. When the kingdoms divided, Jeroboam built Shechem, which is in a valley near Mount Gerizim, as the first capital of the northern kingdom. He then set up two alternate worship sites so the people would not go back to Jerusalem. One was in Dan and the other was very close to Shechem in Bethel. At some point, the community set up a temple on the mountain where Abraham had built an altar (Genesis 12). And so, the entrance of this Samaritan man was unnerving. Not only that, this Samaritan was, in the Greek, splagchnizomai, or moved with compassion from his inmost parts. He bound the man’s wounds, put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took time out of his own day to take care of him. Then, he gave the inn keeper the equivalent of two days wages to continue the man’s care with the promise of more when he returned. To say he went above and beyond is an understatement. It was extraordinary mercy.
Jesus then asks the question – “who was the neighbor?” The answer was so obvious. It is like the commercials I have recently seen on TV where Slash (one of the greatest guitarists of our age) auditions for a high school band. Who do you think they’re going to pick? The law expert has no choice here. He couldn’t even bring himself to say the Samaritan. Instead he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Suddenly, he was not justified. He could not claim that kind of righteousness. He had been undone by the unthinkable, and then Jesus tells him, “Go and do the same.” Do you want to be righteous? Show this kind of love. Do you want to be justified? Show this kind of compassion to those around you. Who is our neighbor? They are the ones we pass by on the streets everyday. They have been beaten down by life. They are hurting and suffering. They are hungry and thirsty and homeless. Brandon Heath sang a song that came out several years ago called Give Me Your Eyes. The chorus goes like this: Give me Your eyes for just one second. Give me Your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missin’. Give me Your love for humanity. Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten. Give me Your eyes so I can see. Our neighbors are all around us. They are the people who are hurting, and in need of comfort, mercy and love. We have the opportunity to choose a better way. The way of seeing people through the eyes of God. The way of seeing everyone as our neighbor.
Vs 38-42 While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Here we are introduced to some of Jesus’ closet friends. Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus, who is not mentioned in this passage, frequently opened their home to Jesus and His disciples. This would involve a great deal of preparation. If you can imagine the scene with me: Martha is trying to get everything ready. There is food to gather and prepare, mats to be laid out for sleeping, animals to tend to… Lots of tasks! We often shake our heads at Martha, but, if we were really honest, she would be most of us. She can understand her brother sitting in there with all the men, but her sister too? She is left alone to get everything done. Wouldn’t you (me) be just a bit upset by that? Shouldn’t Mary be helping? She can listen from the kitchen while she helps with the meal after all. From a practical point of view we would be right taking Martha’s side. But, we will learn, it’s all in how you look at things. Martha goes to Jesus with her “righteous” complaint. “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” She, like the law expert, believes herself to be the righteous one in this matter. But Jesus doesn’t look at things from a practical point of view. He looks at things from a spiritual point of view. From that viewpoint, taking the time to sit at His feet is more important than making sure all the mats are out for bed, or the bread is baked for dinner. Jesus says to her, Martha, you worry about a lot of things, but one thing is really necessary.
The Greek word for one thing is oligos, which actually means something small or brief. Jesus is saying to Martha, I am only here for a brief period of time, so, it is necessary that you listen. Yes, you are serving, but you have a oligos or brief opportunity to spend time with me now. This really stood out to me in this story. The time we spend with Jesus will not be taken away from us. In all reality, when I sit down to remember things, cleaning the kitchen or making the bed will not even enter my mind. On the other hand, the time I spend with my husband, my family and my friends stays in my memory. The time I spent with a group of believers praying every Tuesday morning in an upper room has stuck with me throughout the years. The time I obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit and went to a co-worker house to encourage her will never be forgotten. Watching God at work in a mighty way in London will stay in my memory for my life time. There are so many times when I need to make the choice between doing what is practically necessary and spiritually beneficial. I need to choose the better way.
And that is what God is asking of us each and every day. Choose a better way. Look around you and see the way God sees. See people through His eyes. They are your neighbors, and God has put them in your path for a purpose. Choose a better way. Take time to spend with God as often as possible. It is those times that will stay with us. Choose those things that will be spiritually beneficial. I can guarantee you, your life will be changed forever.
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