Last night was Vesper Service night at New life Baptist. We are working our way through the Travel narratives of Luke chapters nine through eighteen; specifically focusing on the parables. Lat night we discussed/studied the great Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Every parable is rich in the wisdom of God toward spiritual living. We must remember, even though Jesus was wisely correcting the lawyer who came to Him with the great question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He was also teaching His disciples lessons about spiritual living to the glory of God. They were there in the crowd when the lawyer approached Jesus to test His theology and Biblical interpretation. Their eyes were intently on Jesus. They certainly understood the question of the this well-educated lawyer in the Law. How would Jesus answer such a complex question?
The lawyer's focus was on obedience to the Law, and on what he could do to save himself. He correctly cited the Law of Love as to what he could do. What he didn't realize is that it was impossible to perfectly keep the law of love at all times. He can try to keep it, and maybe most of the time succeed, but at some point in time he will surely fail. As James 2:10 says,
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
There are many great lessons in this one parable alone. One point Jesus was making is that no one can do anything of themselves to gain eternal life. In order to do anything to that end, it must be done to perfection and that perfection can never be tarnished by failure. Who can accomplish such a feat? Only Jesus.
The parable itself is about "being", more than it is about "doing". The Priest and Levite were unable to be a good neighbor to the man who had fallen victim to robbers because of their religious obligations. But the Samaritan was a good neighbor by His actions of mercy. If being a neighbor is about "doing" first than it is nothing more than a sense of duty. But if it is about "being" first, then it is about the quality of one's character; to be like God through Jesus Christ. The Samaritan proved to have more of a character of God than the religious leaders did who were wrapped up in keeping the letter of the law. The moral of the story is: "Be like God to everyone and you will be a good neighbor."
Praise God for these wonderful lessons on love. Love is the basis of all that is spiritual. If you have not love, then you have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2-3).
Blessings,
-Leo
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