Parables
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THE PARABLES OF
JESUS, #027
A
Chronological Study
"To Him who opened His mouth in parables and
uttered things hidden since the creation of the world."
Psalm 78:2
"The Good Samaritan"
Luke 10:25-37
The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37 [NASB]
Our parable begins with this legal expert. In the context of the story he would be an “expert” in the laws pertaining to the Jewish culture of the day. That legalistic culture was steeped in the “Oral Tradition” of the Pharisaic interpretations of the Laws given to Moses. Those interpretations had wandered from their original meanings into a system of “works” in order to remain holy under these oral traditions. In general the religious hierarchy found the common man (and woman and child) to be loath-full and steeped in the mire of sin. These oral traditions were taught in the synagogues and preached in the market places as the leadership sought to control the population with these works based laws.
In the background of the story is the continuing development of an attempt to build a legal case against this Jesus who was preaching the grace of God and not works. As Jesus gained more and more of a following… jealousy was arising in these religious leaders. Some were following and listening to what Jesus said in an attempt to gather damning information. Some were becoming more bold and approaching Jesus with trick questions trying to catch Him in a denying of their traditions. Trying to legally trap Him. Thus enters our “legal expert” into our story (this term is also used of the Temple Priests). He has come to Jesus to “trap” Him into saying something that contradicted “the Law.”
But Jesus knows why this man has come. His answer will be completely “by the Law.” He will then tell a parable to this lawyer that will trap him into having to consider his own shortcomings “according to the Law.” The man has come with great hubris. He has come thinking, “Ah, yes, I know the Law of God and I can trap Him – and we can destroy Him and His teachings.” Jesus wants to bring change into this lawyer’s heart, He wants his life to be changed and consider the Grace and compassion that God requires of those who belong to Him.
Our legal expert, a man of “works,” asks his first question, “What do I have to DO to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, the Son of God, who is totally knowledgeable in His Father’ desires, asks our expert and turns the table on him, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?” His answer is totally accurate as he speaks for the Jewish “Shima” about how to please God. “Love Him with your all of your heart, soul, strength and mind – and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus sees that the expert has accurately quoted the Law, but what he says is not how he lives his life. Jesus tells him, “You have answered correctly; do this and live.” Jesus was probably looking him right in the eyes when He said this. Having not caught Jesus in his first question he asks a second. He’s driven by his inner convictions that only holy people [holy Jews] can ever be considered as neighbors – certainly not sinners, Jew or otherwise. In the background of the expert’s answer is his interpretation of Leviticus 19:18, where the text preceding the Shema [Leviticus 19:16-17] says, “your people” and “your countryman.” Therefore he thinks: “I need to love my Jewish righteous brothers, because they too love God by keeping the Law, but not the sinner or the common man or foreigner.” We know his heart because of the content of Jesus parable. So he asks Jesus, in order to again try to catch Him in His interpretation, “And, who is my neighbor?” And this introduces us to the content of the parable.
Jesus introduces us to “a man.” We have no other identification – white, brown, black, we don’t know. Good, bad, rich, poor, Jew, Samaritan, foreigner, we don’t know. Just a man. He was on a 30 mile downhill trip from Jerusalem to Jericho… when, “he fell among robbers.” Again, we don’t know anything about these robbers except they are excessively violent. They stripped him [humiliating him], beat him [doing him great physical harm], and went away – leaving him half-dead. This was no simple beating.
So, there he is laying in the dirt, on the side of the road, naked, brutely damaged, and dying of his wounds.
Traveler #1 – “And by chance [Jesus’ words] a priest [Jewish temple priest, a covenanted intermediary between man and God] was going down on that road [from Jerusalem to Jericho is a steep downward trip]. When he saw him [our beaten dying man], he passed by… on the other side of the road. Apparently as far as possible from our victim. We can take it from the earlier explanations that our priest fully believed that his office of Temple Priest elevated him to a position where he must not encounter the “unclean.” To do so would require him to take special measures under the Law to regain his holy position. In the mean time he would be “un-clean” and temporarily expelled from his temple duties. Apparently this would have been, for him, “unthinkable.” So he totally avoided any encounter or closeness with our victim. I think this part of the story touched our expert lawyer. This part of the story matched his own position and condition. A man left for dead… and the Priest of God did nothing.
Traveler #2 – “Likewise, a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” The tribe of Levites were selected by God to care for the Ark of the Covenant, and the Tabernacle articles, and later the care of the Temple. They were so special that they were the ones to undertake the task of moving the Ark of the Covenant when God changed their locations – both in the wilderness and after they crossed the Jordan. No others could touch those things – God only allowed them to do so – they were special. Again, they were so clean… it was unthinkable to be involved with a beaten naked man, dying on the side of the road. “I carry the Ark of the Covenant, I absolutely must not be contaminated by this commoner.” I think too that this part of the story touched our expert lawyer. A man left for dead… and the Levite of God did nothing.
Traveler #3 – “But,” Oh how I love to see the “Buts” of the Old and New Testaments. They often teach some of the most important lessons found there. This is one of them. The Priest passed by, the Levite passed by, But… It just can’t be clearer… not only was this traveler not a Priest or a Levite, but… he was a Samaritan. The Samaritan – they hated the Jews and were hated by the Jews. They would not worship in the Jerusalem temple. The Samaritans were the remnant of Northern Israel which was liberal (were not culturally bound by God’s Law), and split from the Judah and Benjamin nation of Judah to form a separate nation. Their whole nation was taken into captivity by Assyria earlier than conservative Judah and Benjamin, these two tribes (now a single nation) were later taken into captivity by the Babylonians. The Samaritans largely intermarried with their captors, the Assyrians, and were considered half-breeds. Both sides hated each other.
Who was his neighbor? The one who was in need – he was just a certain man, his nationality and race [or religion] was of no consequence to this Samaritan. The Samaritan was possibly a man of means – he rode his own donkey and put the broken man upon it to ride in his place. He had clothes to share and shared them. He had money to share and shared it. He traveled some distance to find an inn. That first night this man stayed at the inn with the victim. He cared for him all through the night, then, the next day he put the man under the care of the inn-keeper at his own expense. He even gave the inn-keeper instructions to care for this unknown broken man, and if more expense accumulated, he would pay it.
So, as to the Law… [Deuteronomy 6, excerpts] Here’s what God has to say:
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” [6 They [these words] shall be On Your Heart; 7 You Shall Teach Them; You Shall Talk of Them; 8 You Shall Bind Them on your hand, and forehead; 9 You Shall write them on your door posts and gates.” “13 You shall fear only the Lord your God.” “You Shall Worship Him and Swear by His Name. – 15 “Otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.” And… [Leviticus 6:18b] “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
[Mark 12:29-31] Jesus said, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
[Matthew 22:37-39] “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is scolding this learned “expert in the Law” that he and the Priest and Levite in the story no longer worship the One God in the manner He requires. “To Love the Lord your God… is equivalent to “Love your neighbor as yourself!”
The plan and program that God covenanted with Abram was to create a nation of people by whom the whole world would be blessed [Genesis 12:3c]. By loving their neighbors (all kinds of neighbors) the nation of Israel should have won all nations around them to Love the Lord God who is One – and they failed miserably at every turn with that calling. In this parable Jesus is telling them of this failure… as they continue to fail as in His story. The nation would continue to fail even as they put the Son of God, who came to save the world from sin, to death on the Cross. The nation of Israel did fail and they are now temporarily rejected from the plan of the Gospel, however, in the sovereign foreordained program of God, the death of the Son of God on the Cross has brought forth that promise of blessing to the entire world through the salvation offered to mankind as the result.
A final note on the grace and mercy of Almighty God:
The story of the Prodigal Son reveals to us the heart of God the Father. The unfolding of that story is know by untold millions of people. How often, in our daily lives, we forget the heart of our Heavenly Father toward us, and how often that forgetfulness results in our not loving our neighbor – no matter who they are or what they are. Our nation is full of rage – because we have turned away from our loving God. In that story, as the wayward son returns home to his father, he understands that his sin was against his father an no one else. In our current world that would split a family and stop all love and concern for each other. But, in Jesus story, about the love of His Heavenly Father, [Luke 15:20-24] as the son returns in expected shame, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
Perhaps we, after studying this parable and hearing of the Father’s love, can change our attitudes and begin to “Love our Neighbors… no matter who they are, no matter what they believe or don’t believe, no matter what their color, no matter what their origin, no matter what their sin… as ourselves.” Do this for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the Love of God expressed through the Cross of Christ. Let us not be guilty of loving God whom we cannot see and not loving our neighbors who we see everyday.
Jesus finally asked this learned lawyer, “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.”
His answer may show some change in his heart; perhaps he was present when Jesus also said, “It’s not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” For it was there that Jesus referred to Hosea 6:6, where The Lord says “For I delight in chesed [Heb. Mercy, kindness, loyalty, goodness, constant love, faithfulness] and the knowledge of Elohim [God, the three-in-one].”
It's also interesting that the verses that follow this one speak of “Those whose heelprints are bloody, like the tarrying of a bandit. The priests are hiding in the way… Israel is defiled.”
Our heavenly father says, “For I delight in chesed,” Then Jesus says to our expert lawyer – and to us, “Go and do the same.”
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS
WITHOUT ANSWERS
1. What’s the point of this parable?
2. Why does Jesus pick on the Priest and the Levite?
3. How should the understanding of this parable change your life?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
1.
What’s
the point of this parable?
There are two contexts that must be taken into account. The first, and primary, has to do with the condition of the leadership of the nation of Israel. They have lost their chesed – their mercy, love, compassion, etc. Their leadership is so far removed from the grace and love of God that they will soon put His Son to death in order to accomplish their own goals.
The second context is that of our own. Just where do we stand in our
relationship to our neighbors, whether they live next door, are a different
race or color, or are lost in the grossest of sins? Have you lost your chesed?
Can you love the prostitute, the cross-dresser, the divorcee, the homosexual, the
gender confused, the prisoner, the corrupt politician, the black – white –
brown – yellow - white, etc. in such a way that you can take the grace of God
to them and bring them to faith in Jesus?
2. Why does Jesus pick on the Priest and the Levite?
Under the Mosaic covenant these two parties were supposed to be the “Cream of the godly crop.” The Priest was to be the mediator of the grace of God between man and God.” They completely failed in their responsibilities and perverted their office in the interest of political self.
The Levite was charged with being so holy that the very items of God could be handled by them without worry of immediate death. They similarly lost their holiness in order to pursue political and social standing. They too completely failed in their responsibilities and perverted their God given office.
3. How should the understanding of this parable change your life?
Because of the fall of man we all tend to act in our own interest. If uncorrected we become vain, corrupt, and godless. Even if we manage to come to Christ… we often see our neighbors as not people whom we should deeply care about, even denying their ultimate freedom by not introducing them to the Grace of God and seeing them become saved for whatever reasons we can conjure up.
It is in these things that we need the mind and heart of God – to desire God’s chesed [Heb. Mercy, kindness, loyalty, goodness, constant love, faithfulness] and the knowledge of Elohim [God, the three-in-one]” and to share it with those who are in the broadest sense, our neighbors.
Find your person who needs God’s mercy, care for them, tend to their wounds, clothe them, put them on your donkey and take them to shelter, stay with them until they find healing, look after their needs – even if it has to be in the long run of things.
One more time: Then Jesus says to our expert lawyer – and to us, “Go and
do the same.”
Parables
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2022-06-27
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