“GO AND SHOW MERCY”
LUKE 10:25-37

I. Introduction
The Good Samaritan is probably the best known of all Jesus’ parables. What are para-bles? Someone has defined them as earthly stories with heavenly meanings. But at first the Lord’s reason for teaching eternal truths in parables can be a little disconcerting. Why doesn’t He just get to the point and plainly say what He means? When Jesus began teaching in parables the disciples questioned Him about that.
Matthew 13:11-12
11 And He answered them and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12 “For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abun-dance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

With regard to unbelievers Jesus said, “…seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand (Luke 8:10b).”

If you are a Christian, the Parable of the Good Samaritan will reveal truth to you. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom…” But if you aren’t a Christian, Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan will only serve to veil the truth from you. That’s what the Lord meant when He said, “…but to them it has not been granted.”

There is rich truth in this that we often miss. Over the last few weeks we’ve talked about “comparative judgment” or “degrees of punishment.” It means some unbelievers will suffer a more severe judgment, and therefore a more severe punishment than others. It teaches that the degree of punishment suffered by the lost will be directly proportional to the degree of knowledge they had. Simply put, hell will be worse for those who knew about Christ and rejected Him, than for those who didn’t know about Him at all.

With regard to unbelievers this was the purpose of all the parables Jesus’ told. He used the parables to confuse and hide the truth from those who did not believe in Him. We wonder why Jesus would do that. Listen to John MacArthur.
“Jesus’ veiling the truth from unbelievers this way was both an act of ‘judgment’ in that it kept them in the darkness that they loved – ‘And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil (John 3:19).’ – but it was ‘mercy’ because they had already rejected the light, so any exposure to more truth would only increase their condemnation.”

Let me try to illustrate this. An unbeliever knows a little bit about Jesus and His gospel.
But he rejects what he knows and he refuses to believe it. In doing so he hardens his own heart to Jesus and His Word. So the Lord responds to this by doing just what the man wants. God hardens his heart even more.

This is precisely what happened to Pharaoh in Exodus. God, speaking through Moses, told Pharaoh to let God’s people go. Pharaoh refused. In Exodus 7-9 the Scripture tells us six times that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God’s Word. After that Exodus 9-11 tells us five times that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Pharaoh had no interest in God and no inclination to obey Him. So God saw to it that Pharaoh would have no interest in God and no inclination to obey Him. Someone says, “Oh, God is so harsh.” Really? In hardening Pharaoh’s heart, didn’t God give him just what he wanted? He did, and in doing so, God both judged him and had mercy on him.

Mercy? Any further exposure to God’s truth would only condemn Pharaoh more than he already was. So God closed Pharaoh’s access to, and understanding of, eternal truth. He judged Pharaoh, while at the same time having mercy on his eternal soul. It’s an illustra-tion of comparative judgment. People are responsible for what they know, aren’t they?

So Jesus’ parables reveal truth to His own while hiding it from “the rest.” And that is how making the blind even more blind than they already are is in fact, merciful. If God revealed more truth to those who have rejected the truth they already have, their punish-ment would only increase and become even more severe.

In this we can readily see that Jesus even loves and cares for those who hate Him and will never be saved. He even has mercy on them! And although Jesus will not save every-one, it does shed more light on John 3:16, doesn’t it? “For God so loved the world…” He saves His own and has mercy on the lost. The parables illustrate this amazing truth.
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II. Text
What is the Parable of the Good Samaritan about? The early church fathers delighted in making an allegory out of it. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines an allegory as a “description of one thing under the image of another; a story in which people, things, and happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning…”

The early church fathers saw the parable as an allegory. They often “over-allegorized”
it. For example, the third century theologian Origen believed that Jerusalem is paradise, Jericho is the world, the Law is the priest, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. But there’s more. He said that the wounds are our disobedience, the beast is the Lord’s body, the inn is the church, the manager of the inn is the head of the church, and the Samaritan’s promise to return is Christ’s Second Coming. But then Origen also believed that we existed before we were born. He also believed in universal salvation, that is, everyone will eventually be saved. So much for Origen’s theology!
In the fifth century Augustine was another early theologian who tried to turn the Parable of the Good Samaritan into an allegory. He believed the victim of the crime is Adam, Jerusalem is heaven, Jericho is symbolic of immortality, the robbers are Satan and his demons, the priest and the Levite represent the OT, the Samaritan is Christ, the beast is Jesus’ own physical body, the inn is the church, and the innkeeper is the Apostle Paul.

Some Arminian theologians have argued that the wounded man is Adam’s race, and his wounds describe the fall. Since Luke 10:30 says he is only “half-dead,” they say it must mean that fallen man is not totally depraved at all. How’s that for making the Bible say what you’d like it to say?

By the way, this is how some believers see The Book of Revelation. There isn’t one cor-rect interpretation. They see an infinite number of interpretations that can be made to say whatever fits into their theological model.

But our task is never to make the Bible say what we want it to say or allegorize it until it loses virtually all of its original meaning. Our task is to hear what it says, learn from it, and apply it to our lives. We do that by consistent literal interpretation. We do that by studying a verse or a passage in the context in which it is found. And we do that by com-paring Scripture with Scripture. God has given us His written Word not to confuse us, but to enlighten us. “…for God is not a God of confusion…(1 Corinthians 14:33a).”

So with all of that in mind, let’s look at this morning’s passage in Luke’s gospel.
*Luke 10:25-37 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put (Jesus) to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27 And he 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 (love) your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And (Jesus) said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.
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.
32 “And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 “But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34 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.
35 “And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the inn-keeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber’s hands?”
37 And (the lawyer) said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

A cursory reading of the passage immediately reveals that Jesus gives this parable as His answer to a question about eternal life and how to be sure one receives it. So that’s where we need to begin. Is there a more important question that anyone could ever ask? Is there a more important answer that anyone could ever seek?

Jesus has been preaching the gospel and performing miracles. But with all of that only a few people actually believe what He has been saying about inheriting eternal life. Why? It’s for the same reason that it always is – few people will humble themselves and repent of their sins. They’re self-righteous and, in their self-righteousness, they refuse to admit that they even are sinners. Such is the case with the scribe who asks this question.
*Luke 10:25
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put (Jesus) to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

This scribe (lawyer) is an expert in the Mosaic Law. Because of his understanding of the OT He knows that the human soul is immortal. Job knew it. “Even after my skin is des-troyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:26).” David knew it. Regarding his dead son, he said, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me (2 Samuel 12:23b).” Daniel knew it. He said, “…many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2).”

So why would a member of the Jewish religious establishment wonder about receiving eternal life? Weren’t they all Abraham’s children? Weren’t they all better than the Gen-tiles? Weren’t they all following the traditions of their fathers? Weren’t they all engaged in making new religious laws and then obeying them “religiously?”

Is it possible this man wasn’t absolutely sure his traditions and his religion would save him? Is it possible that his conscience was beginning to nag at him? Jesus had said a lot about eternal life. The Lord also had a lot to say about God’s wrath, coming judgment, and hell. Modern evangelism tends to minimize or ignore these subjects because they’re offensive to the ears of unsaved sinners, but Jesus certainly didn’t minimize them.

With regard to hell, Jesus had more to say about that than He did about heaven.
At one point He called it “outer darkness’” and said, “…in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12b).” At another point the Lord called hell, “…an unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43b-44).”

So it may well be that this scribe’s conscience was nagging him. And what Jesus said about hell might very well have frightened him. And why not? Shouldn’t the reality of hell frighten us and make us repent and seek forgiveness in Christ?

When Luke 10:25 says the scribe “…put (Jesus) to the test,” it may be an indication of the scribe’s self-righteousness. Later, in v. 29, he tries to justify himself. But it is also possible that his question is sincere and he really wants to know. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
*Luke 10:26-28
26 And (Jesus) said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27 And he 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 (love) your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And (Jesus) said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

Jesus answers the scribe’s question with two questions of His own. Think about this. Jesus’ question proves that He’s committed to the Mosaic Law, doesn’t it? This is the same Law the religious leaders are always accusing Him of breaking. Jesus asks the man how he understands it. A literal translation is actually, “How do you recite it?”

The Lord is referring to the Jewish Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. All devout Jews recited the Shema twice each day. “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…”

But then the scribe goes a step further and quotes from Leviticus 19:18 – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the right answer. These two things are the Mosaic Law as found in the Ten Commandments. The quote from Deuteronomy 6 encompasses the first four commandments – love God! The quote from Leviticus 19 covers the last six commandments – love Others!

We know this answer is correct because it’s the answer Jesus gave in Mark 12 when He was asked to name the foremost commandment. Notice how Jesus responds to this man. Look at Luke 10:29. He affirms the man’s answer and He tells him that this is how you receive eternal life. It’s clear that the scribe knows the Law, but like every other human being who has ever lived, he’s unable to keep it. And as Shakespeare said, “therein lies the rub.” It is precisely because the scribe knows the Law, even though he is unable to keep it, that he is accountable for his disobedience of it. That is the scribe’s problem.
And that is our problem as well. Why?
Romans 3:20, 23; 5:12
20 …because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
12 …just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…

Scripture teaches that the Law demands perfect obedience. James says, “…whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all (James 2:10).” And Paul warns that, “…the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a).” What are we to do? Or rather, in keeping with today’s text in Luke, “…what shall (we) do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says that the scribe (and you and I) must keep the Law. You must love God and love your neighbor. In Luke 10:28 He says, “Do this and you will live.”
*Luke 10:29
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

The scribe is an example of self-righteousness, but what he needs is God’s righteousness.
Where he needs to humble himself before God and His truth, he does what so many of us do. Instead of admitting his sin and pleading for mercy, he refuses to confess what he already knows deep in his heart. Pride takes over and he tries to assert his own righteous-ness as sufficient to save him.

This is what the scribes and Pharisees do again and again throughout the gospels. It’s always all about them and their perceived goodness, their religion, their self-sufficiency, their self-righteousness, and how well they keep the letter of the Law. But it’s all exter-nal and superficial. There’s no brokenness, no humility, and no sorrow for sin. They don’t think they need any. They think they’re so good that God will just have to admit them into His heaven and maybe even thank them for coming.

This is a great example of how the truth of God is contaminated and degraded by the reli-gions of man. Listen again to Paul. He is talking about fellow Jews, but what he says applies to anyone who thinks his or her own self-righteousness or religion will save them.
*Romans 10:1-3
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their sal-vation.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accord-ance with knowledge. (They are religious!)
3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (Pride)

Could that be any clearer? You surely can relate to Paul here, can’t you? “I love my family and my friends. I want them saved. But they already have a religion of their own.
They believe their church will save them or they believe they can save themselves. But they don’t know what they’re doing, and their pride won’t permit them to humble them-selves before God. And even though they know about Jesus, they won’t come to Him because they don’t think they need Him. They think God will accept them as they are.”

That’s the trouble with so many whom we know and love, isn’t it? And that’s the trouble with the scribe in Luke 10:29. He believes in Jesus, but his faith is in himself. (repeat) So he wants to know what he can do to save himself. He wants to be justified by his own merits. He seems to think he has the “loving God” part, the first four commandments down pat. It’s as if he says, “Loving God? Oh yeah, I’ve already done that. I’ve got that covered. I’m not worried about that. But who is my neighbor?”

It’s in response to that question that Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
*Luke 10:30-35
30 Jesus replied and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.
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.
32 “And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 “But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34 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.
35 “And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the inn-keeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’

Does this parable teach us to help those in need? I suppose it could, but that’s not the main point at all. Does it teach us that we are to help in getting the gospel to those who are hurting all over the world? Again, I suppose it could, but that’s not the main point either. Does it teach that we are to commit ourselves to others? It could. After all, we Christians talk a pretty good game, but our actions don’t always fit our words, do they?

Sometimes we’re like the young man who writes to tell his girl how important she is to him. “I’d climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest river, cross the hottest desert, and brave the widest ocean for you. Love, Me. P.S. I’ll see you on Wednesday if it doesn’t rain.”

The real point of the parable is not about helping people, or getting the gospel out, or even about Christian commitment.
Those are all good things, but what about interpreting the Scripture in context? Jesus is responding to, the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The larger context is His response to the earlier question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The scribe thinks he loves God and has already proven it by his knowledge of the Law and his religious activ- ities. But in his pride and vanity about his knowledge and his high position among the Jews, he has yet to demonstrate love for other people, especially those people of a lower station or lower class. But aren’t they his neighbors?

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus answers the scribe’s question about the iden-tity of his neighbors, and in the process, He also answers his question about how a person inherits eternal life. You must not only love God, you must love others, and it must be genuine love. Giving lip service to such love and being religious proves nothing.

In Luke 10:31-32 the two religious leaders ignore the desperate need of this robbed and beaten man who v. 30 tells us is “half dead.” The first one is a priest. Consider the irony here. A priest’s job is to offer sacrifices for the people. He is supposed to be the godliest of all men. Does leaving the victim in the road strike you as sacrificial and godly?

The second is a Levite. His job was that of assisting the priest’s in their assigned tasks. Levites would know God’s Law as thoroughly as would the scribe. Yet the Levite leaves the victim of the crime lying in the road as well. Does he love God and others?

But then the Samaritan comes by. He’s the last one a Jew would expect to help the man. Jews and Samaritans didn’t like each other. They had been enemies for hundreds of years. A cynic might expect the Samaritan to “finish the job” the robbers had started.

But instead, he does the unexpected. He has compassion on the man. In vv. 33-35 he tends the man’s wounds by pouring his own oil and wine on them and bandaging them. (The alcohol in the wine would act as a disinfectant and the oil would soothe the pain.) Then the Samaritan places the man on his own beast (probably a donkey), brings him to an inn, and pays in advance for his care, promising to pay even more if necessary. It’s worth noting that the amount, two denarii, would allow the wounded man to stay at the inn for an extended period of time.

All of this is love in action. The Samaritan’s love is demonstrated in the acts of mercy he performed, not in merely talking about them. He doesn’t say, “I’ll pray for you,” and then leave the man lying in the road, does he? He proves his love for the man by taking action. Isn’t that what Jesus has done for you and for me? He did not have to come to earth, be born as man, and die for us, but He demonstrated His love by doing so.
Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus didn’t say He would die for us and then try to escape the cross, did He?
Our love is to be like that. Sacrificial – that’s how we’re to love our neighbors. That’s the real point of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Or do we tend to love others like the young man who said, “I’ll do anything for you…and I’ll see you on Wednesday if it doesn’t rain.”?

It all comes back to God’s Law. The Ten Commandments can be reduced to two. “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 (love) your neighbor as yourself.” That and that alone fulfills God Law. Fulfilling God’s Law is the only way you’ll ever be saved.

But you say, “I know I can talk a good game, but in my heart of hearts I know I can’t do it.” You’re right. You can’t. But Jesus Christ can and He did. He fulfilled the Law.
Romans 8:4a
4a (Jesus came so) that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us…

He demonstrated love without limits. He fulfilled God’s Law and opened the gates of heaven for us if we will simply obey Him. We can be like the priest or the Levite who saw the need and ignored it, or we can be like the Samaritan who did something about it.
He showed mercy to a stranger. In doing so he is an illustration of loving your neighbor.
Even the scribe could understand that!
*Luke 10:36-37
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber’s hands?”
37 And (the scribe) said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

Sadly, just like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, there is no indication this scribe ever obeyed Jesus and did so. But what will you and I do?
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III. Conclusion
There are times when the personal application of divine truth in a particular passage of Scripture can be a little challenging to ferret out. This isn’t one of them.

Question – “What shall you do to inherit eternal life?”
Answer – “Love God and love others!”

Loving God fulfills the first four commandments. Loving others fulfills the last six com-mandments. Only Jesus has done it and has shown mercy to you. And only in Him can you do it and show mercy to others. “Go and do the same.”

~ Pray ~