“Mercy”

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

While many may believe that Jesus’ main purpose in this world was to overthrow the old ways of Israel, and to set up a series of “new commandments”, this attitude is far from the truth that Jesus lived. Certainly, there were various aspects of the Law of Moses that were not of God, and Jesus spoke strongly against them, but the Lord was solidly behind the Law of God. In Matthew 5:17-20, he pointedly tells the crowd on the hillside that abolition of the law was the last thing he intended to do – that he had come to “fulfill” the law, not to do away with it. In other words, his life would be given so that the law could be complete.

He was constantly butting heads with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other Jewish leaders over the importance of the law in faith. In our text for today, Jesus, once again, is approached by the “wise men” of Israel, in an attempt to trap him into denying the law.

Read Luke 10:25-28

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Scripture tells us that this isn’t your routine question from the crowd – it is a test, a trial to see if Jesus really understood scripture and the law as well as he implied that he did. Interestingly, the question poised here is different than that recorded in Matthew 22:34-40, which is worded “which is the greatest commandment?”
Luke’s version focuses on the issue of Israel’s covenant, their inheritance from God, which was generally seen as 1) that they would become a great people, 2) that they would be blessed, and 3) that they would receive a land that was promised to them years before. (Genesis 12:1-3) But as the covenant had yet to be fulfilled in total, it had come to be seen as a promise that would be completed in eternity. The lawyer, therefore, was focused on the human-style inheritance he would receive in heaven. This mistake is no different than the expectation of many today - what is there about faith that will benefit them! “What’s in it for me?” And they want the answer to be in terms that they can understand and appreciate.

I expect that the lawyer was waiting for Jesus to offer some new commandment – one that the lawyer had never heard before and would never accept. But Jesus turns the tables on him, and asks him what the present law has to say about it! The original question was intended to test Jesus, and was, essentially, meant as an insult, but the Lord turns it back onto the questioner, placing the test firmly on him! “What have you read in the law?”

He answers correctly – that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and strength (and adds “mind” which isn’t included in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), and adds that we are also to love our neighbor as our self (Leviticus 19:18). And Jesus compliments him on his knowledge of the word. The point that is made here is that without love for both God and others, we can never show love to either.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is one of the very few times in Jesus’ teaching when we are told that we have something to do, other than have faith in him! Love God and love others is what we must do, and if we truly examine the extent and depth that this love must take on, it will no longer seem to be a simple and informal requirement, for it is about putting our faith into practice.
Love God - trust God, obey God, have faith in God, give your all to God, without reservation, without hesitation, and without holding anything back!
Love your neighbor - help them, care for them, give them whatever they need, make them first in your life, regardless of who they are or what they may have done to you or others!

“Do this and you will live.”

Read Luke 10:29-35

“And who is my neighbor?” Another test? The Pharisee knew who he saw as his neighbor, but he wanted to see who Jesus saw as a neighbor. How far must the social and religious boundaries extend?

And Jesus tells one of his most recognized parables. It is about an undefined, unidentified, unnamed man, who had fallen into hard times. So who was he? Jesus left that up to the imagination of whoever was hearing the story, because for him, it didn’t matter – it only mattered that someone, anyone, was in desperate need of help, and that someone, anyone, must come to his aid.

Suddenly, someone does comes along and sees the man who is in need. For the beaten man, there is, at last, hope that he might be saved. It was a priest! Priests helped people, didn’t they? “Sir, I’m hurt very badly - will you help me?” But the priest crosses the road to keep from getting too close, and he continues on his way. No reason is given for the priest’s callous demeanor, and “hope” continues down the road.
But then, another man comes along – a Levite by his dress. The man thinks maybe this righteous man will help me. Weakly he cries out - “Sir, I’m hurt badly and I’m dying – please help me!” The Levite also sees the injured man, and also makes the conscious decision to avoid him at all costs, and help becomes a fleeting hope once again.

But then, through blurred eyes, he feels that someone else is approaching. He is so weak he can barely make a noise, and expects that this “hope” will also pass him by. But this traveler actually stops! It’s an ordinary person, a Samaritan.

At this point in Jesus’ story, the Pharisee must have been surprised by the choice of a Samaritan to be the one who shows “pity”. After all, those people were unclean, they were the offspring of marriages between Jews and Gentiles, they were worse than Gentiles – they were sinners beyond all reason - and they had been ostracized from Jewish society.
By depicting a Samaritan as the hero, as the true man of faith, Jesus has crossed the boundary of Jewish propriety. He is teaching that social barriers, racial barriers, religious barriers, regional and national barriers mean nothing when it comes to showing love to God and to others. So do you think the injured man cares who helps him? Is anyone in need going to turn down assistance regardless of where it comes from?

And the man experiences “hope” once again.

If the story ended here, we would all be severely challenged to be that kind of “neighbor”. But there is more, and that will stretch us beyond all reason!

The Samaritan cleaned and bandaged the injured man’s wounds; he interrupted his own journey and took the man to a place where additional help could be obtained. And the story still doesn’t end - he didn’t leave – he stayed all night, watching and caring for the man, and the next day, when the man was doing a little better and he was able to leave to complete his trip, he not only paid for the previous night, but gave the innkeeper money to continue the care for as long as it was needed, pledging that if even more money was needed, he would pay it the next time he traveled through the area.

The Samaritan, despised throughout Jewish society, is shown to not only have far more compassion that the two religious leaders did, but is also far more faithful to those two great commandments – the ones that lead to eternal life.

Are we even close to being that kind of neighbor? Are we ready to drop whatever we may be doing, and interrupt wherever we may be going, to help others in distress? And if we do, how far will we go to give them the help that they need?
Christians are all called to shatter the boundaries that are created by stereotypical prejudice. We are to tear down the barriers that separate social classes. We are the ones who Micah wrote his admonition for – Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Just as the Samaritan was, we are to not only talk about justice for the oppressed - we are to act justly in all that we do. We aren’t simply to be merciful - we are to love offering mercy to all who are struggling. We aren’t to simply do God’s work in this life, we are to do it humbly, without thought of reward or recognition or appreciation.

When Jesus turned the question of who our neighbor is back on the learned man, the Pharisee couldn’t, he wouldn’t, name the “neighbor” for who he was – he could only proclaim that the neighbor was the one who showed mercy.

May we, too, be that kind of unnamed, undefined, unappreciated neighbor to the people of this world.