Proper 10 - Series C
(July 14, 2019)
Leviticus (18:1–5) 19:9–18
Colossians 1:1–14
Luke 10:25–37
Jesus Is Our Good Samaritan
The Law commands that “you shall love the Lord your God” with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27), and that you shall “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Love fulfills the Law because love does no harm to the neighbor. Christ Jesus is the Good Samaritan, who with divine compassion saves you from all evil. He takes your sin and death upon Himself and bears these in His body to the cross. He binds up your wounds with the healing balm of His Gospel, and He brings you into His Church, where He takes care of you at His own expense (Luke 10:34–35). By such mercy, He proves “to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers” (Luke 10:36). Therefore, “you go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). By “your faith in Christ Jesus” and “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:4–5), you have the same love for others as the Lord Jesus has for you.
The popular phrase "Be a Good Samaritan" is meant to motivate you to help someone you don't want to. It sounds clever, but spiritually speaking, it is a burden. Most times you help the person you don't want to, their lack of appreciation and demand for more can be defeating and exhausting. It can leave you feeling you were right, that you shouldn't have. More than exhausting, it leads many to give up. So it is with any motivation from the Law: it reveals our sin.
Jesus, though, did not come teaching lessons like the Good Samaritan to inspire you how to live a good life but to reveal that we can't. But once you realize that, your Savior then desires to show your repentant heart what He has done to free you and forgive you.
Jesus truly helped all, only He was the "Good Samaritan" we should be. As the Son of God, He was the only One who could be. His greatest act of love proves it to be the case. Jesus offered His life in exchange for yours, took all your sins away as His own, and paid their full price on His cross. In exchange, He gives you everything, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
:25 Καὶ ἰδοὺ νομικός τις ἀνέστη ἐκπειράζων αὐτὸν λέγων• Διδάσκαλε, τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω;
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν• Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τί γέγραπται; πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις;
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
27 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν• Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης]τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου, καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ• Ὀρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης• τοῦτο ποίει καὶ ζήσῃ.
And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
The righteous requirements of the Law still remain a mandate. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. See Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus is not an antinomian. “Do this and you will live.”
29 Ὁ δὲ θέλων δικαιῶσαι ἑαυτὸν εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν• Καὶ τίς ἐστίν μου πλησίον;
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
θέλων δικαιῶσαι ἑαυτὸν The path into hell is always paved with good intentions. The Old Adam in us is still trying self-justification.
30 ὑπολαβὼν]δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν• Ἄνθρωπός τις κατέβαινεν ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἰεριχὼ καὶ λῃσταῖς περιέπεσεν, οἳ καὶ ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν καὶ πληγὰς ἐπιθέντες ἀπῆλθον ἀφέντες ἡμιθανῆ.
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 κατὰ συγκυρίαν δὲ ἱερεύς τις κατέβαινεν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ἀντιπαρῆλθεν•
Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Λευίτης κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐλθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν ἀντιπαρῆλθεν
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. .
33 Σαμαρίτης δέ τις ὁδεύων ἦλθεν κατ’ αὐτὸν καὶ ἰδὼν ἐσπλαγχνίσθη,
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 καὶ προσελθὼν κατέδησεν τὰ τραύματα αὐτοῦ ἐπιχέων ἔλαιον καὶ οἶνον, ἐπιβιβάσας δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον κτῆνος ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς πανδοχεῖον καὶ ἐπεμελήθη αὐτοῦ.
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον ἐκβαλὼν δύο δηνάρια ἔδωκεν τῷ πανδοχεῖ καὶ εἶπεν• Ἐπιμελήθητι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅ τι ἂν προσδαπανήσῃς ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἀποδώσω σοι.
And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
36 τίς τούτων τῶν τριῶν πλησίον δοκεῖ σοι γεγονέναι τοῦ ἐμπεσόντος εἰς τοὺς λῃστάς;
Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν• Ὁ ποιήσας τὸ ἔλεος μετ’ αὐτοῦ. εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς• Πορεύου καὶ σὺ ποίει ὁμοίως.
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The Christian life is not mere theory. It is faith always active in love toward the neighbor. God does not need your good works. Your neighbor, however always will.
Footnotes:
LCMS Lectionary notes and summaries © 2019
Collect for Proper 10 Lutheran Service Book © 20006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Woodcut © WELS for personal and congregational use.
The popular phrase "Be a Good Samaritan" is meant to motivate you to help someone you don't want to. It sounds clever, but spiritually speaking, it is a burden. Most times you help the person you don't want to, their lack of appreciation and demand for more can be defeating and exhausting. It can leave you feeling you were right, that you shouldn't have. More than exhausting, it leads many to give up. So it is with any motivation from the Law: it reveals our sin.
Jesus, though, did not come teaching lessons like the Good Samaritan to inspire you how to live a good life but to reveal that we can't. But once you realize that, your Savior then desires to show your repentant heart what He has done to free you and forgive you.
Jesus truly helped all, only He was the "Good Samaritan" we should be. As the Son of God, He was the only One who could be. His greatest act of love proves it to be the case. Jesus offered His life in exchange for yours, took all your sins away as His own, and paid their full price on His cross. In exchange, He gives you everything, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
:25 Καὶ ἰδοὺ νομικός τις ἀνέστη ἐκπειράζων αὐτὸν λέγων• Διδάσκαλε, τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω;
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν• Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τί γέγραπται; πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις;
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
27 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν• Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης]τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου, καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ• Ὀρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης• τοῦτο ποίει καὶ ζήσῃ.
And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
The righteous requirements of the Law still remain a mandate. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. See Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus is not an antinomian. “Do this and you will live.”
29 Ὁ δὲ θέλων δικαιῶσαι ἑαυτὸν εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν• Καὶ τίς ἐστίν μου πλησίον;
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
θέλων δικαιῶσαι ἑαυτὸν The path into hell is always paved with good intentions. The Old Adam in us is still trying self-justification.
30 ὑπολαβὼν]δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν• Ἄνθρωπός τις κατέβαινεν ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἰεριχὼ καὶ λῃσταῖς περιέπεσεν, οἳ καὶ ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν καὶ πληγὰς ἐπιθέντες ἀπῆλθον ἀφέντες ἡμιθανῆ.
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 κατὰ συγκυρίαν δὲ ἱερεύς τις κατέβαινεν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ἀντιπαρῆλθεν•
Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Λευίτης κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐλθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν ἀντιπαρῆλθεν
So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. .
33 Σαμαρίτης δέ τις ὁδεύων ἦλθεν κατ’ αὐτὸν καὶ ἰδὼν ἐσπλαγχνίσθη,
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 καὶ προσελθὼν κατέδησεν τὰ τραύματα αὐτοῦ ἐπιχέων ἔλαιον καὶ οἶνον, ἐπιβιβάσας δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον κτῆνος ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς πανδοχεῖον καὶ ἐπεμελήθη αὐτοῦ.
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον ἐκβαλὼν δύο δηνάρια ἔδωκεν τῷ πανδοχεῖ καὶ εἶπεν• Ἐπιμελήθητι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅ τι ἂν προσδαπανήσῃς ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἀποδώσω σοι.
And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
36 τίς τούτων τῶν τριῶν πλησίον δοκεῖ σοι γεγονέναι τοῦ ἐμπεσόντος εἰς τοὺς λῃστάς;
Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν• Ὁ ποιήσας τὸ ἔλεος μετ’ αὐτοῦ. εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς• Πορεύου καὶ σὺ ποίει ὁμοίως.
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The Christian life is not mere theory. It is faith always active in love toward the neighbor. God does not need your good works. Your neighbor, however always will.
Footnotes:
LCMS Lectionary notes and summaries © 2019
Collect for Proper 10 Lutheran Service Book © 20006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Woodcut © WELS for personal and congregational use.
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