Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Text: Luke 10: 23-37

Theme: The Good Samaritan has come for you

And behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it."

The parable of the good Samaritan is probably one of the most familiar of all of Jesus’ parables. Yet, as with all of the parables it is necessary to bring the right stuff to them to see them aright. We remember that Jesus told parables as riddles so that those who had no ear for either full-strength Law or the Gospel would not be able to perceive or understand. This parable is no exception. It has been in the Church’s lection for centuries and when we come to it with eyes that can see and ears that can hear, it packs a powerful message. So often, however, this parable has depicted Jesus as merely teaching people how to be more civil and neighborly toward others, especially those in need. The point focuses on the behavior of the Samaritan in the story who becomes labeled the Good Samaritan, because he did the good and neighborly thing by helping a man who had been victimized by robbers. Then, a moral of the story is fashioned: God would consider us to be good folks as well, if we would take up a good neighborly lifestyle with others as well.

Having none of this kind of watered down rendering of Jesus’ parables, what is unusual about this parable is that there is not simply one package of right stuff that you can bring to unlock a very timely and appropriate word of the Lord concerning entry into his Kingdom. It all depends on your frame of reference and attitude about your problem of sin. The context of the parable is in response to the central question of human existence: What must I do to inherit eternal life? Here, the question was asked of Jesus by a Jewish lawyer. Interestingly, it received the same kind of answer that was given to the same question raised by a rich young man on another occasion. In both instances, the question about how to gain eternal life is responded to by turning the matter into an issue for the Law to answer. You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And also in both instances, the one inquiring about what must be done for eternal life asks the question in an effort to justify himself. And therefore for those who would seek to secure the Kingdom by finding the right stuff on the basis of what you can find in yourself - you must bring to this parable all that the Law can teach us. As a parable of the Law there are two important points.

The first point is in response to the Lawyer’s question: Who is my neighbor?. What is the scope of those we must consider our neighbor in the second table of the Law: You shall love your neighbor as yourself? The clarification in the parable avoids two common mistakes about who your neighbor is. On the one hand, your neighbor is not simply anyone you may notice has a need. We are not called in our vocations to do everything for everyone, all the time. The designation neighbor in the summary of the Second Table of the Law is not synonymous with humanity, or even that part of humanity that we happen to notice are in need. On the other hand, Jesus is clearly revealing in the parable that your neighbors are not simply restricted to those who make up your family, your friends, and those that you are given to serve in your day-to-day vocational offices. Your neighbor also includes the stranger who may cross your path and is in dire need of your help. Yes, to be sure, neither the priest nor the Levite had the vocational office of paramedic. Yet, in emergency situations that you may come across, you do temporarily assume the tasks of offices you would not normally have. The Samaritan was neither a paramedic nor a regular healthcare provider. He was simply one who was compassionate and recognized an obligation to a neighbor in dire need. He became a temporary health care provider under emergency circumstances, rendering first-aid. He then took the individual to an extended care facility, and saw that the finances were covered for his recovery.

But now, once we have cleared up this matter about the scope of the neighbors that the Law enjoins us to love - so what!! Here we must be careful not to water down the full extent of what the Law is revealing. When Jesus instructs the lawyer and each of us, to go and do like the Samaritan in the parable, He is not intending to provide us with encouragement. Do you really think that you can make some headway on securing eternal life by being more neighborly to those you come across who are really in need? Is Jesus intending to commend the Law to you this morning - with a right understanding of your neighbor - as the road for you to walk in the interests of becoming confident about your salvation? The answer to this question is . . . maybe!! If you are seeking, like the lawyer in the text, to justify themselves the answer is Yes. Here is your designated road to secure your own salvation . . . love your neighbor as yourself. Do this everywhere, all the time, and be sure to include all the hapless individuals you come across who are in dire need of your compassion and emergency care. Do this perfectly, under all circumstances, now and forever, and you shall inherit eternal life . . . that is, so long as you do it and everything in life out of a love for God that flows from the center of your being - your heart, mind, and soul. Yes, do this and eternal life is yours.

But the answer to the question, is this Jesus’ response to you concerning your eternal life if you see yourself as out of the running in fulfilling the demands of the Law . . . then the answer is No. What then does this text and the parable of the Good Samaritan have to offer you if you despair of any hope of justifying yourself before God? The answer to this question is tied up to rightly understanding the true identity of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan is the One who told the parable and you can see his shadow in all of the figures there, if you bring the right stuff. He is the outcast who provided not an example of how to fulfill the Law, He is One who’s fulfillment of the Law has delivered you from its impossible demands. But then, you can see Jesus also as the One who fell among those who would rob him of his honor and dignity . . . those who would leave him for dead on a cross in the company of those who were certified robbers and thieves.

Yet, He is also the priest and the Levite who did not pass by on the other side of the road when it has came to your needs. He is the High Priest who offered up His temple before the mercy seat of God; Who sacrificed his body and shed His own blood as an atonement for your sins. But then also, Jesus is the compassionate Samaritan who has come to rescue you - left for dead in your trespasses by the evil designs of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. He has seen your helpless and hopeless condition and taken you up into his arms and carried you to His Church and Kingdom where you may find rest, refreshment, and restoration from the lethal wounds of your sinful condition. You have been rescued.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the compassionate Good Samaritan, your Lord Jesus Christ, has come for you. . . not in riddles and parables, but in grace and truth. He has come not to provide encouragement and insight on how to obtain eternal life through the Law . . . but He has come with the healing balm of His restoring forgiveness and his strong arm . . . to rescue you this day and every day from your lethal enemies which would leave you for dead. He comes as the world’s outcaste, truly the chief of sinners for he has born all of yours . . . and He has spared no expense . . . yes, paying the wages of sin which is death . . . that you might be restored and healed unto newness of life, to live with Him in His Kingdom forever. He has spotted you in the midst of your pain and desperation as you have been victimized by the evil forces and powers of this fallen world. He has come to your rescue. He has you in his strong arms, His healing is yours, and He will never let you go.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.