The Good Samaritan

But if you have your Bible turn with me to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 as we continue to make our way through this beautiful gospel that helps us understand the greatness of our our Lord. And today we're going to talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan. You know the story don't you? Of course you do. You know all about this story because you grew up in Sunday school learning about the story of the Good Samaritan. And as you grew up in Sunday school and your teacher taught you about how this one individual, this Samaritan would bestow this kind of love upon this unknown stranger, then we would see how much we should love the Lord and how we should show love to other people.

The problem with that is is that that's not what the story is about. We think that we understand the story of the Good Samaritan, but we don't. And so this morning we want to help you understand why Jesus would even tell this story and the implications of that story for those who are listening on that day when Jesus told the story. The point of the story is very crucial. There's only one point to the story. That's why we didn't give you an outline today because there's only one point. So no sense in giving you an outline when there's only one thing you need to emphasize.

And that is how to inherit eternal life. Because that's what prompted a story, right? So the story has to do with eternity. The story has to do with your eternal destiny. That's what the story is about. That's why Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. Let me read it to you one more time just to fix it in your mind.

It says in verse number 30, Jesus replied and said a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers and they stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down on the road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise the Levite also when he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other side. But a certain 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.

And 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. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? And he said the one who showed mercy toward him. And Jesus said to him go and do the same. This story is in response to a dialogue that Jesus had with a certain scribe, a certain lawyer. There was this lawyer who came to Christ and he had an assumption and that was that somehow eternal life could be earned.

I would inherit it by something that I did. So the lawyer came with an assumption. An assumption that a lot of people had that somehow there's something I can do that will gain me favor with God. Something that I do that God will look upon me and and be blessed because I am so generous and kind and loving that he would grant me eternal life. That question was asked by this scribe, by this lawyer because that was the topic of the day. Eternity. Where we would spend eternity. And we saw over our last couple of weeks that that was a question asked of Christ on several different occasions.

And when Jesus came preaching he came preaching about the eternal kingdom of God. Everything was about eternity because that was what was uppermost in the thinking of a Jewish mind. Where will I spend eternity? And Jesus is the eternal king and he came to bring an eternal kingdom and so he would speak things pertaining to that kingdom. And this man would probably hear the the the statement that Jesus said earlier in Luke chapter 10 when the 70 would return from their ministry of of preaching the gospel and casting out demons and healing people with sickness and even raising people from the dead.

They would come back with great joy and Jesus would respond by saying listen that's a good thing but if you really want to rejoice rejoice that your names are written down in heaven. Again Jesus would always move man from from the here and now to the there and then because that's what eternal life is about. And so this man probably hearing what Jesus said would ask himself the question is my name written down in heaven? How will I know if if I'm going to go to heaven? And so he would interrupt Jesus with this assumption what must I do to inherit eternal life?

So that assumption was followed by a question by our Lord. He would say you tell me what is it that you recite every day? What is it that you read in the law of God that that's very important? Because Jesus is going to have this man measure his life against the ultimate standard the law of God. This is Jesus's way of of presenting the truth. This is an encounter that Jesus has with a man. When it comes to understanding personal evangelism you must understand what Jesus did with this man. He would confront him with the law of God.

So this man would come to realize that he would fall short of the perfect standard that God had set. So Jesus just very simply says well you tell me what do you read in the law? What do you recite every day? After all you you have those little boxes around your wrist. You you tie them around your your head and you know what the law says. So you tell me what it is you recite every day. And from that lawyer's assumption to our Lord's question comes the lawyer's explanation. He simply said well you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

As if he would be saying something that others would marvel at. And Jesus would respond with this declaration. You got it right. You do that you'll live. You'll have eternal life. Based on Leviticus 18 verse number five. Leviticus 18 5 says that if you keep the statutes of God you keep them perfectly you will live. So Jesus because he came to fulfill the law of the prophets said if you do that you will live. If you love God perfectly. If you love God totally. If you love God completely. If you love God intensely with every aspect of your being.

If you love God unconditionally. If you love God without reservation. If everything you have is wrapped up in God and you love him with all that you have and then in turn you love your neighbor as you love yourself. Heaven's yours. You got it. That's the standard. You keep it. You're in. At that point it would have been wise for the scribe to say I can't do that. Because then he has one of two responses. One is to throw himself on the mercy of God and say I can't do that. I mean there are some people I love but most people I don't love.

And so I can't love my neighbor as I love myself. And even the people I do say I love I don't love them like I love me. And I know I don't love God as I should. I want to but I don't. And so for the right response he would say I can't do that. Help me. What do I do? And throw himself on the mercy of God like the publican did in Luke chapter 18. But instead he would justify himself because that's the only other response. Either throw myself on the mercy of God and beg his forgiveness and beg for some way somehow that he would intervene on my behalf or to justify yourself.

So that those around you would know that you are a righteous person. And so his response was who is my neighbor by the way? The response was his own personal justification. If you tell me who my neighbor is then I can tell you whether or not I love him as I love myself. Unless of course you have redefined who my neighbor is. Now this is very very important for you to understand. Because you must know what he believed. And how do you know what this lawyer or this scribe believed? Well if you have your Bible turn back with me if you would to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew chapter 5. We're going to tell you what this scribe believed. I know what he said. You know what he said. But what did he believe? Most people say things they don't believe. They want you to think that they believe what they said. But that's not necessarily the case. Especially in this man's life. Jesus would preach a sermon. We know the sermon. It's called the Sermon on the Mount. It deals with kingdom living. It deals with a king who come and presents his kingdom to people who so desperately need to be a part of his glorious wonderful kingdom.

We know this story because it's the first recorded sermon of our Lord in scripture. There's a similar one in Luke 6. Some believe that in Luke 6 that we covered months ago is the same sermon. It could be. The difference is is that this one was on a mount and the one in Luke 6 was on a plane. So they could be different sermons. But they said virtually the same thing. Which would lead us to believe that Jesus would say the same thing every time he preached. Which is probably a good thing for a preacher to do.

Just to make sure that he was consistent every time he opened his mouth. And of course Jesus was. And so he would virtually say the same thing because there wasn't a tape ministry. So people could tape him on the Sermon on the Mount and then distribute those tapes to all of Galilee and all of Judea and in Jerusalem. And so people in the wilderness could could get a cd from Jesus and and and put it into their their player and listen to it maybe on their ipod or whatever they had. They didn't have those kind of things.

So to hear Jesus you had to go hear him speak. And if you didn't hear him speak then the trickle down effect would get to you. And there were lots of scribes and and lots of pharisees who were a part of the crowd to follow Jesus wherever he went. Because they wanted to hear about Jesus. They wanted to hear about what Jesus had to say. And so in this recorded sermon this first recorded sermon of our Lord he begins by giving the identity of those in his glorious kingdom.

He says virtually blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He begins with identifying those who are a part of his kingdom. It's an invitation that he gives. And after he talks about the identity of the people in his kingdom he then moves to the responsibility of those people in his kingdom. And that is they are salt and they are light. Well listen if you are part of the beatitude lifestyle, if you are one who mourns over your sin, if you are one who is poor in spirit, if you are one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, then your life is going to be such that you will be salt, you will be light in a world of darkness and decay.

So he begins with the identity of those in his kingdom, moves to the responsibility of those in his kingdom, and then moves from there to talk about the authority of those in his kingdom. He talks about how he came to fulfill the law and the prophets. And that that is what he came to do. And those in the kingdom of God submit to everything that God says.

So much so that not only do they submit to it and keep it, they teach others as well to keep the law of God. So he talks about the authority that people have in his kingdom. They submit to the laws of God. They submit to the authority of God in their lives. You with me so far? Good. And then in verse 20 of chapter 5, he says, now, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, then you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, that was an indictment against the religious establishment of the day.

Jesus would speak against their self-styled righteousness, developed because they had somehow in a human way achieved something that would grant them the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus says that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And then Jesus begins with giving six successive illustrations that deal with the morality and the purity of those who are in the kingdom. And he wants to illustrate how it is that the religious establishment had developed this self-styled righteous system. And he begins with the phrase in all six illustrations by saying, you have heard that it was said by the ancients of old, but I say to you. In other words, this is what your rabbis have taught you. This is what's been passed down from generation to generation.

You know, Judaism is a lot like Catholicism. They're very parallel in how they operate. And in Judaism, it was everything the rabbis said. If you go to a Jew today and talk to a Jew today and you say, listen, have you read what the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 53 about the suffering servant?

And the majority of them will say, well, we never read that before. The rabbis never told us about that because they are subject to what the rabbis teach. That's why at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, they would marvel at the words of Jesus because never a man spoke like this man would speak because he didn't do it like the other rabbis did. They would quote rabbi so-and-so who quoted rabbi so-and-so who quoted rabbi so-and-so. And yet Jesus came and didn't quote any rabbis. He just quoted scripture.

He just spoke the truth. And so they would marvel at his words because never a man would speak as this man has spoken to us. And so Jesus would come and say, you know, you've heard that it was said by the ancients of old. But I say to you, this is what's been passed down from generation to generation to generation. He speaks first of all about murder, that he moves to adultery, that he moves to divorce, that he moves to swearing, that he moves to revenge, and then he moves to love.

And this tells us what the scribe in Luke 10 believed. Okay. Still with me? Good, good. Verse 43 of Matthew chapter five, you have heard that it was said, and Jesus would speak, you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy. That's what the rabbis taught. And notice there was an omission and there was an addition to the law of God.

You see, in order for me to meet God's standard, I must omit those things that are impossible for me to keep. And I must add those things that will make it easier for me to keep the law of God. And that's exactly what the rabbis did. There was an omission and there was an addition. You have heard that it was said by the ancients of old, by the rabbis of old. You have heard that it was passed down from generation to generation. You shall love your neighbor. But what was omitted? The phrase, as yourself, that was omitted.

Why is that? Because there is nobody in this room or nobody on that mountain 2,000 years ago who loves their neighbor like they love themselves. Nobody does that. And don't sit here and think, well, I do. No, you don't. Nobody loves their neighbor like they love themselves. But they would omit that because it would be easier for them to keep. And then he said, not only have you heard that it was said by the ages of old that you should love your neighbor, but that you should hate your enemy. That was the addition to the law of God.

Nowhere did Jesus ever say you had to hate your enemy. I mean, come on. But you see, that made it easy for them to keep the law of God. Because you see, if you're not my neighbor, you're my what? You're my enemy and I can hate you. And if if I like you, then you can be my neighbor and I'll love you. But I'm never going to love you like I love myself. But if at any time I decided I want to love you anymore, you're my enemy and I can hate you. So now I can keep the law of God. I'm good to go. Heaven's mine.

And Jesus says very clearly, you've heard that it was said. But I will let you know something. This is what the law of God really says. And this is so important to understand, because this will help you into the mind of the scribe in Luke chapter 10, who says, well, around my wrist and around my forehead, I have Deuteronomy 6,4-5. The great Sheba. I love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength. And I love my neighbor as myself, because that's what it says.

And I recite it twice a day. But that's not how he lived his life. Because Jesus would in doubt, indict what they were taught by the religious establishment. You see, they never loved their neighbors like they love themselves, simply because they would thank God they weren't like other people. Remember Luke chapter 18, where the Pharisee said, I thank God that I am not like that publican over there. That's how they live their lives. But the law of God, the book of Proverbs would state, if your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat.

If he is thirsty, give him water to drink. That's what the word of the Lord would say. God never said to hate your enemy. In fact, God's people were commanded to do favors to the enemies in Exodus chapter 23 verses 4 and 5. Do favors for them. In Psalm 7 verses 4 to 5, David knew that it was wrong for him to do any kind of evil against his enemy. David knew that. He was the king. And so when Jesus said, you have heard that it was said by the ancients of old, by your rabbis who pass it down from generation to generation, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

That was the logical extension of their consumption with self. They were consumed with self. And so they would say, love your neighbor and you can hate your enemy. And Jesus said, that's what you've been told, but that's not the truth. Here's the truth. He says, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the task gatherers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. First thing he says is that love is impossible.

Love is impossible. Love is the highest of all virtues. And no one can love unless they've experienced God's wonderful love. Love your enemies. That's impossible. But God wants them to gain a perspective. So he begins by saying, the most important thing of all is to love. You don't do that by virtue of the fact that you say, love your neighbor and you'll admit as you love yourself and you add, hate your enemy. Love is very important to God because God is love. There'd be a man who would come to Jesus in Mark chapter 12 at the end of his earthly ministry, a scribe, a lawyer, a man like the one in Luke chapter 10, not the same incident, but a different one.

And it says in verse 28, one of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that he had answered them well, asked him, what commandment is the foremost of all? What's the greatest of all commandments? Jesus answered, the foremost is hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You should love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment singular than these because the commandment is to love. That's the greatest of all commandments to love. It begins with loving God and the natural by-product of that is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And the scribe said to him, right teacher, you have truly stated that he is one and there is no one else besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as himself is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

And when Jesus saw that he'd answered intelligently, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom. In other words, you know what the law says, but you haven't given yourself to the one who wrote the law. You haven't loved your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Oh, you've answered intelligently because you know intellectually what the law says because you wear it around your wrist and you wear it around your, your head, but yet you're not in the kingdom. You're not far from it, but you're not in it.

And the Lord would offer one more opportunity for this man to respond by saying, well, how would I ever get into it? But he never did. See, love's important to God. And so he would say, love your enemies. Not only is love important, but love is literally impossible. Love your enemies? You've got to be kidding me. Who does that? Jesus did. Jesus did. When did he do that? Well, throughout his ministry he did. And yet remember on that eve of the crucifixion, when they came to get him in the garden of Gethsemane, there was, there was a miracle that took place in that garden.

It was the last of all the miracles of our Lord before his resurrection. And it was the least of all the miracles that he ever accomplished. And yet, because it was the least, it truly was the loudest of all the miracles he ever performed, because it was the loveliest miracle he ever performed. It's when Peter would take a knife and cut off the earlobe of the high priest, high priest's servant's ear, and Jesus would, would heal the man's ear. He who said, love your enemies, loved his enemies even to the very end, right?

I mean, did Jesus really actually have to perform that miracle? I mean, come on. So he doesn't have an earlobe. Big deal. He can get along in life without the lobe of his ear. Unless of course he, he wore an earring, but we all know that true men never wear earrings, right? Only got a few laughs there. But it was a very small thing, but it was the loudest of all miracles because he who said, love your enemies, loved his enemies into the very end. Love is important to God, but love is impossible for man.

Possible. He also said it's impractical. Pray for those who persecute you. What? So he says, pray for those who persecute you. And they will persecute you, especially if you follow Matthew 5, 1 to 10 or 1 to 12, and you live the kind of life that God wants you to live. They will persecute you. And you pray for your persecutors, not because of what they did to you, but because of who they are. They are people created in the image of God with fallen natures who are in desperate need of redemption. So therefore you pray for your persecutors.

That's what Jesus did. Did he not pray for those from the cross? He said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing. They have no idea. Love is so important. It's impossible and impractical. That is the love of God. And then he would say these words, in order that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. You know something about love? Love not only is important, love not only is impossible and impractical, love is impartial.

It's impartial. The God who embodies love causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust and causes the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous. There is no partiality with God. And those who love their neighbor as they love themselves show no partiality, don't show favoritism. And then he says, for if you love those who love you, what reward have you? And that's what the Pharisees did. They loved those who loved them. That's why they said, love your neighbor. Because if your neighbor is one who loves you, then you can love them.

And Jesus comes back and says, you know what? If you love those who love you, you're no better than a tax collector. You're no better than a pagan, than a gentile, because that's what pagan people do. It's no big deal to love somebody who loves you. The worst of all sinners do that. And Jesus says, love as important as it is, as impossible as it is, as impractical as it is, and as impartial as it is.

It's very impressive when you love those who do not love you, see? And then he closes with these words, verse 48, therefore, therefore, based on this and everything else he said to the previous five illustrations, be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. You must be exactly as I am, or you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Who can do that? Nobody. That's the point. With man, it's impossible. But with God, all things are possible, right? Now, why do I tell you all that? Because now you know what the man believed in Luke chapter 10.

He was a scribe. He was a lawyer. He knew the religious law inside and out. But he knew it intellectually. He knew it in his mind, but he didn't live it out practically, because it was impossible to do that. No man can love his neighbor as he loves himself. The story of the Good Samaritan is a story that you will never, ever do, because you can't do it. Not only can you not do it, you won't do it. You just won't. And that's the story of the Good Samaritan. That's why Jesus gives the story that he does.

It's not a story about a command to Christians to love one another. That's not what the story's about. You can apply some principles to that if you'd like, but that's not the crux to the story. The story is about a man who with limitless love, lavish kind of love, bestowed upon a stranger is what it means to love your neighbor who, by the way, is anybody who has a need. Anybody and everybody who has a need needs to be loved by you this way and this way only, or you'll never get to heaven. That's what the point of the story is.

And this scribe, this religious lawyer would come and he would say to the Lord as if he could, he could blow something by Jesus. And he would just bypass the whole loving God part, right? Because, I mean, after all, who's going to debate that? Because people say they love God all the time. And how are you going to debate that? Well, how do you know someone loves God? How do you know someone really loves God? They love their neighbor, right? That's how you know. People can spout off, yeah, I love Jesus.

I love God. Me and Jesus, we're like this. We're together. But the manifestation of that love is seen in how you treat other people. That's what 1 John is all about. See, your brother has a need and you shut up your bowels of compassion toward him. How dwelleth the love of God in you? The answer is it doesn't dwell in you. Just doesn't. It's not there. It's just not there. So John says, and so this man would say, here's my explanation. What do I recite every day? This is what I recite every day. Jesus says, do it.

Leviticus 18.5. Do that, you live. By the way, who is my neighbor? Because you see, he would love his neighbor, but he wouldn't love his neighbor as he loved himself, even though he said it. Because what he believed was what Matthew 5 was all about. You've heard that it was said by your rabbis. Love your neighbor. But they would omit loving your neighbor as you love yourself. And they would add, hate your enemy. Well, Jesus knows all that because he's already preached on that, right? He's already said this stuff.

He's already spoken about it. But now he wants this man to come face to face with the reality that he doesn't measure up. So he gives him a story. It's a parable. Story about a man who went down to Jericho from Jerusalem. When you go to Jericho, you do go down. And there was a road. Those of you who went with me to Israel 10 years ago traveled that road by bus. It's a windy, rocky road full of caves. It's a dangerous road. Very dangerous road. It was the way from Jerusalem to Jericho. And because of all the caves and all the rocks and how it would wind around inside the crevices of the valley.

And of course, the drop from the road to the valley below is hundreds of feet. Very dangerous road. It's called the bloody way. That's the name of the road. The bloody way. Because robbers and muggers and rapists would hide out in those caves and rocks. And to go from Jerusalem to Jericho, you'd have to travel that road. And they would look for ways to rob people, take advantage of them. So Jesus takes a very familiar road, a very familiar route, and gives this man a story about a man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

Some 17, 18, 19 miles away, dropping some 3,600 feet. He would make his way from Jerusalem, the city of God, to Jericho. He says that he fell among robbers. And they stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half dead. This poor guy, man, he was beaten, bloodied, bruised, and broken. He was all tore up. They didn't rob the guy. They stripped him naked. And they beat him to a pulp. And he was bleeding. They took everything he had, this poor guy. There he was. And by chance, a certain priest, well, the scribe would know who priest was.

I mean, he was a religious man. So by chance, there was a religious man who was on the same road. Going down on that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. It's a very simple story. It's not a hard story to interpret. It's very simple. There was a man who was beaten. He was robbed. He was stripped. He was left to die. He was left naked on the side of the road. And the roads, you can travel that road today. It's not very wide at all. It's not very big. This priest came walking down the road and saw this man.

He passed by on the other side. Now, to pass by on the other side is not a very far distance at all. And yet, that's what he did. And likewise, the Levite. Wow, here was another religious man. The Levite was an assistant to a priest. Scribe would know him very well. Also, when he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other side as well. Jesus is setting the man up to help him understand who his neighbor really is. He wanted Jesus to define his neighbor. So Jesus is going to do that. He's going to define to him who his neighbor is.

Because you see, he wants to justify himself. And if he can name his neighbor as his Levite friend, or his priest friend, or his Pharisee friend, or his family friend. If you can name my neighbor as those closest to me, I'm good to go. Heaven is mine. But if you've redefined neighbor. In other words, if you have if you have redefined the law in your mind, Jesus, as to how we have redefined the law in our minds, I'll have a problem. And Jesus doesn't redefine the law. He just explains the law. And then Jesus says, but, word of contrast, a certain Samaritan.

Now remember what the what the Levite believed. You've heard that it was said by the ages of old, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. That's what was told. That's what they believed. That's what they taught. So Jesus takes his enemy. A Samaritan. A half-breed. A Jew who intermarried with the Assyrians. And who believed that Mount Gerizim was the holy mountain, not Mount Moriah. And so Jews would despise those of Samaria. They would hate the Samaritans for what they believed and what they did.

But Jesus says there was a certain Samaritan who followed the priest and who who followed the Levite.

He was on a journey. Came upon the man. And when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. There was something on the inside of this man that was different than what was on the inside of the Levite and on the inside of the of the priest. There was something on the inside of the man. Because compassion is an inner term. Compassion is something you feel on the inside. And this man had pain, agony on the inside for this man who was stripped naked, who was beaten, left to die on the side of the road. And there was something in this Samaritan that was different than what was on the inside of the priest or on the inside of the Levite.

He had compassion on him. Came to him. Went up to him. He bandaged his wounds. He would take oil and pour it on those open sores. He would take the wine and pour that on the open sores as a as a kind of antiseptic to to cleanse the wounds. He would bandage the man. And then he put it on his beast. So he inconvenienced himself because he was riding the beast. And now the man would take his place on that beast. And who knows where the Samaritan was going. But evidently his schedule was postponed because of this one line by the side of the road who had been beaten and had been left for dead.

And so he puts him on the backside of his beast and brings him to an inn. And he didn't just drop him off and say, hey take care of this guy for me. No, he stayed with him. He stayed with him overnight. And then it says, and on the next day. So we know he stayed overnight with him, right? 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. So he would bandage the man. He would pour oil on his wounds and he would use his his wine to cleanse the wounds.

And he would take that man, put him on the backside of his beast, take him to a place there somewhere. It couldn't be on the road because there's no place for an inn on that road. It's so windy and so rocky that there's no place there. So we had to travel a distance to get him to some place where he could spend the night with him. And then on the next day, said the innkeeper, you know, I have to, I have to leave. But here's two denarii, two days wages to take care of this man until I come back. And when I come back, whatever needs there were, I will take care of that.

I will repay you. Now there is nobody that will do that to anybody and everybody. Nobody. The man asked, who is my neighbor? And Jesus responds by saying, who isn't your neighbor? Everybody. And anybody who has a need is your neighbor. That's the point of the story. Anybody and everybody who has a need is your neighbor. And if you're going to go to heaven, you must limitlessly, lavishly pour your love into that individual as you would want someone to do to you because, or as you would do to yourself, if it was you doing it to yourself because you love yourself so much and you are to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Remember, he didn't believe that. He just believed that you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Jesus says, no, you love your neighbor as you love yourself.

And if you want to go to heaven, that's what you're going to have to do. So Jesus asked this question. He goes from a dialogue to a monologue to an epilogue. So if you want an outline, I guess that's a good outline, right? He goes from a dialogue because this man asked the question based on an assumption that you can inherit eternal life by something you do. And Jesus and this lawyer had this dialogue back and forth. And so because the man asked the question, who is my neighbor? He goes from a dialogue to a monologue and Jesus gives this whole story to describe your neighbor.

It's anybody and everybody who has a need. So the answer to who your neighbor is, is simply who isn't your neighbor. That's the answer that Jesus gives. And so Jesus then responds by saying this, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? Again, Jesus asked the question. You tell me, you tell me. And the man was so arrogant that he wouldn't say it was a Samaritan. He was so arrogant he would just say the one who showed mercy. He wouldn't even name the man's ethnicity because he was so arrogant and so prideful and so hating of the Samaritans.

Ah, the guy who showed mercy. That's the guy. And Jesus says, go and do likewise. You want to go to heaven? That's what you got to do. To anybody and everybody in the world who has a need that you come across, you're going to have to give up time, money, effort, scheduling everything, and to love them as you love yourself. But nobody can do that. Not only can't you do that, you don't want to do that. Oh, you want somebody to do that to you, but you don't want to do that to anybody else. See, this is an indictment against fallen humanity.

That's what this is. It's an indictment against fallen humanity. And what Christ does is bring him face to face with the reality that he can't do it. He cannot fulfill the law of God. He needs to throw himself on the mercy of God and beg, oh, I can't do that. If that's what my neighbor is about, if that's who my neighbor is, and that's what's required of me to get to heaven, then I can't, I can't do it. That's all Jesus wanted to hear was, I can't. Because with man, it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

But he never came to that point. In fact, the story just ends. Just ends. As if the Lord is speaking to you. Because some way, somehow, you think that there's something you can do to inherit eternal life. You can make it. And Jesus says, you really think you can?

And you say, yeah, I think I can. I think I can do enough good things to make it. I think that Jesus will be pleased with my actions. Really? Jesus said, let me give you a story.

If you had to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, this is what it looks like. Because if you do this, you love God with everything you have. If you do this, if you do this, you do what only God can do, and only what God wants to do. But because you're not God, you can't do it, and you don't want to do it. And so the Lord is ready to offer forgiveness, extend grace to a man who would say, oh, have mercy upon me, oh Lord, for I am a sinner.

I can't do that. I don't even want to do that. You know what the Lord does? He forgives us because we don't love as He loves. He forgives us because we hate our enemy. He forgives us because oh, we so much love ourselves. He forgives us of that because that's the kind of God we serve. In this, our Lord would stand ready to forgive, ready to extend eternity to a man who asks a simple question, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, well, if you think you can inherit it, this is what you've got to do.

If you do this perfectly, totally, completely, unconditionally with everyone and everybody who has a need, heaven's yours. And the man's self-righteous pride was like water thrown on his conscience to dampen any conviction that the Spirit would bring his way. And he was so arrogant because he loved his neighbor, but he wasn't about to love his neighbor as he loved himself. He hated his enemy. Instead of coming to grips with the fact that, Lord, I hate my enemy. I hate him. I can't do that. I despise the Samaritans.

The Lord knew that. Why do you think He put the Samaritan in the story? Because He knew that, right? And our Lord would stand there ready to forgive this man so He could leave with the assurance that His name was written down in glory. But we have no account of this man ever coming to saving faith, none. We know nothing of him from this point on. But the implications of this story are far-reaching to people like you and me today. And Jesus just says simply to us, to you, if you want to get to heaven, you can't do it.

You can't do it no matter how hard you try because you'll never love your neighbor as you love yourself. Just won't do it. Just can't. And you won't. Love is driven by Christ. Love is important to God. It's impossible with man, completely impractical, completely impartial, but impressive if it's driven by the Christ. And the Bible says that when you're saved, that God demonstrated His love toward us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, that God sheds His love abroad in our hearts.

And the fruit of the Spirit is love. And the only way you can even begin to love your neighbor or even those in your family, it's because of what God does in your heart to transform your wretched, sinful, selfish, rebellious, hard, calloused heart. And when He does that, His love is shed abroad in your heart so you can begin to reach out in a selfless, selfless, sacrificial kind of way to those in need. But, but you'll never get to heaven on your own merits. It's only by the grace of Almighty God.

And as this man would come face to face with Jesus and Jesus would stand there ready to forgive, so He stands today ready to forgive all those who truly repent of their sins and come to Him and say, Lord, I can't do what you require. The law is just too strict. I can't be perfect as you yourself. I can't do that. And Jesus says, yeah, I know.

That's why I gave you the law to show you how sinful you are. You come to me. I'll forgive you your sins. You might stand righteous before me. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for today and the truth of your word. What a story to realize, Lord, that not only can't we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we don't love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We just don't. Just show us how, how sinful and how far short we follow the glory of God. If there'd be one here today who does not know you as Lord and Savior, we do pray that today would be the day of their salvation.

They've come to grips with the reality of their inability to get to heaven on their own. But the ability of God to save them from their sin that they might have entrance into your glory. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you say and all that you do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.