Luke 10:25-37 - Serve our World
Introduction: Approaching the Familiar
It is good to be with you guys today. If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to turn to Luke chapter 10 as we look at a very familiar story called the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Whether you are here live with us, watching online, or joining from one of our other campuses, it is great to be with you. My name is Mike, and I’m one of the teaching pastors here.
As you may have guessed from the videos you just watched, we are embarking on a three-week series on the topic of missions. We are starting today with the idea of God’s heart for the nations and the world. Next week, we will look at God’s heart for His city, and then lastly, God’s heart for His church.
Whether you are from inside the walls of the church or outside, there is a great familiarity with the story of the Good Samaritan. We have laws based on it, but there is an interesting danger when we approach stories we know so well. One danger is that there are things we simply don’t know—we are trying to understand a culture from two thousand years ago. As Americans, we are trying to get our heads wrapped around a Jewish culture and a Jewish Messiah. But there is also a danger in the things we do know. Because we’ve heard this story before, it’s easy to put it on cruise control and say, “Oh, yeah, I’ve checked that box. I know where this is going.”
My prayer today is that we would allow the Spirit to do a work in us and that we would be open to what God has for us. Whether this is your first time in this text or your hundredth, I pray the Spirit will move as we venture through it together.
You need to know a couple of things about Luke, the author, and specifically the parables he writes. First, in most of Luke’s parables, there is a shocking element that would have frustrated or pushed on the value system of the original hearer. Second, as Jesus walks through the parable, He is trying to unearth something underneath the surface. He is exposing motives.
Luke 10:25 (NASB)
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’
The Lawyer and the Rabbi
Luke immediately puts two characters on the stage for us to identify. One is called a lawyer, or a scribe. This guy was an expert in the law. He studied Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—the Torah. In our society, this is a Harvard-educated lawyer who was very well-respected.
More than likely, he was a Pharisee. “Pharisee” isn’t a job; it’s an ideology or a belief system. It’s like saying someone is a Republican or a Democrat; it tells us how they view the world. As a Pharisee, he believed three important things: God has revealed Himself in the Word; the Law is not open to random interpretation but follows a tradition of understanding; and that the Word should show up in our everyday lives.
If you think about this guy in our culture, he has a very high view of the Word of God. He believes in a correct interpretation of Scripture and that Scripture should infect our lives. Do you like this guy? I like this guy! He would be welcomed in a community like ours because he shares our worldview. He saw himself as a conservative, someone meant to conserve and teach the Word.
Yet, this Pharisee has a fly in his ointment: a young, thirty-year-old rabbi named Jesus who has a “super annoying” habit of reinterpreting the Word. Jesus would say, “You have heard it said… but I say to you…” To the Pharisee, this was shocking. He wondered, “Jesus, are you claiming authority over Moses?” If the Pharisee saw himself as conservative, he likely viewed Jesus as a liberal.
So, in verse 25, the scribe asks a question to put Jesus to the test. He addresses Him as “Teacher,” which is respectful, but his motive is to challenge Him. He asks, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
The Rules of the Debate
This question is twofold. First, he’s establishing which “team” Jesus is on. He’s throwing a big softball question. To a Jew, inheriting eternal life was about the promises made to Abraham regarding land and blessing. This is equivalent to us asking, “What must I do to be saved?”
Second, he is establishing the rules for a formal debate. In first-century Jewish culture, these debates followed a pattern: the host scribe asks a general question, the visiting scribe gives a general answer, and they go back and forth until they find common ground. This allowed both to maintain their “honor,” which was the highest value in that culture. They were likely in a synagogue with people watching them, because in those days, people actually liked watching theologians debate the Bible.
Now, Jesus has been asked a general question about the law. According to the pattern, He should answer it. But look at verse 26.
Luke 10:26 (NASB)
And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’
Jesus plays by His own rules. He doesn’t follow the script. He turns it back on the lawyer: “You’re the expert. What does it say? How does it read to you?” The lawyer answers by summarizing the 613 commandments into two points: Love God (from Deuteronomy 6) and love your neighbor (from Leviticus 19).
Luke 10:27 (NASB)
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.’
Jesus and the lawyer are in 100% agreement here. Jesus later uses this exact same summary. This was a safe conversation—until verse 28.
Luke 10:28 (NASB)
And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.’
Jesus says, “You’ve answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” In other words, “Be about doing this 100% of the time, from cradle to grave, and you’ll inherit eternal life.”
Do you see the pickle the scribe is in? Jesus just backed him into a corner. The scribe can’t say he’s done this perfectly, because everyone around him knows he hasn’t. But he can’t admit he hasn’t, because he’d lose honor. He should have been humble enough to say, “Jesus, if that’s the bar, I fall short.” Instead, he tries to justify himself.
A Narrow Definition of Neighbor
Luke 10:29 (NASB)
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’
He asks, “And who is my neighbor?” This was another “softball” question because Jews of that day had an agreed-upon answer: your neighbor was someone who looked like you, talked like you, and believed like you. It was a very thin slicing of culture. For me, this would be like defining my neighbor as “white Christians who live North of Herndon.” He wanted to know the minimum obligation.
Instead of letting the scribe justify himself, Jesus tells a story.
Luke 10:30 (NASB)
Jesus replied and said, ’A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
This is a crime story. A man is going from Jerusalem to Jericho—a treacherous, 3,000-foot descent known for robbers. He gets beaten, robbed, and stripped. Now, when the text says “stripped,” it means his valuable outer clothing was taken, but his undergarments—worthless to a thief—likely remained.
Luke, who was a physician, says the man was “half dead.” This means he was unconscious and unable to speak. This is important: because he is unconscious and stripped of his identifiable clothing, you can’t tell who he is. You don’t know his race, his language, or his status. If you’re the scribe, you’re desperately wondering, “Is this guy my neighbor?” Jesus is intentionally being vague. He’s just “some dude” in need.
The Shocking Hero
Then Jesus introduces a priest and a Levite.
Luke 10:31-32 (NASB)
’And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ’Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
When the audience heard “priest,” they expected a hero. This is the pastor driving home after a sermon. But the priest passes by on the other side. Maybe he’s afraid of robbers, or maybe he’s worried about ritual purity. If he touches a dead body, he can’t do his job for two weeks. It’s an inconvenience. The Levite—the “JV priest”—does the same thing.
At this point, the audience expects the next character to be a regular practicing Jew. But Jesus flips the script.
Luke 10:33 (NASB)
’But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
He introduces a Samaritan. Today, we don’t feel the weight of that word, but to a first-century Jew, this was the anti-hero. This would be like walking into a Black church in the 1950s and making a member of the Ku Klux Klan the hero of the story. That is the visceral response Jesus is provoking. Jews despised Samaritans.
Is there anyone in your life whose morality sickens you or whose ideology frustrates you? That is the person Jesus just made the hero.
What is True Compassion?
Luke 10:34-35 (NASB)
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. ’On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’
All three men saw the victim, but only the Samaritan felt compassion. In English, “compassion” sounds like a sweet emotion, but the Greek word here refers to a moving of the bowels. It’s a guttural, internal response to a human need that always results in action. We would say he saw the man and it “wrecked” him.
He uses his own medicinal supplies, puts the man on his own donkey, and walks into a Jewish city—risking his own life—to put him in an inn. He pays the innkeeper and promises to cover any extra costs. He does everything the priest and Levite should have done but didn’t.
Redefining the Neighbor
Luke 10:36-37 (NASB)
‘Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ [hands]?’ And he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’
Jesus asks, “Which of these three proved to be a neighbor?” Note the contrast. The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” (Meaning, who am I obligated to care for?) Jesus asks, “Who can you be a neighbor to?”
It’s not a question of exclusivity; it’s a question of inclusivity. A neighbor is anyone and everyone who has a need, regardless of race, status, or belief system. Jesus is saying that if you truly love God, you will love your neighbor. They are inseparable.
Missions: From the Heart Outward
What does this have to do with world missions? Everything. Everything we do “out there” comes from what has happened “in here.” If we are rightly aligned with God, we will love our neighbor.
I want to share two stories. For those of you over thirty-five, you remember exactly where you were on September 11, 2001. It was a horrible day. I remember the news footage days later of a man in the Gaza Strip, firing an AK-47 into the air to celebrate, holding a burning American flag. I remember driving to my first church job feeling furious, thinking, “God, bring judgment on this. If You need an executioner, I’ll be first in line.”
But as I read this text, I have to see that man differently. According to Scripture, he is my neighbor. That is hard. It is hard to see him as someone for whom Christ died.
Last Tuesday, I was out riding my bike in the foothills. I’ve been a rider for decades, and most motorists are great, but some are not. That morning, we were “buzzed” by a car going very fast and very close. In those situations, it’s not a fender bender; it’s death. I’ve lost two friends to accidents like that. After the fourth or fifth car did it, I was furious. I gave the driver a “What the heck?” gesture. My buddy, who is a believer, said, “Yeah, Mike, you’re right. But if he needed us to stop and render aid, I’d still stop.”
I was preparing this sermon and thought, “Really, Lord? That’s the illustration I have to talk about?” But that’s the point. The person who wrongs you or hurts you is the one Jesus calls you to neighbor.
The Challenge of Indifference
I don’t think most of us fail to love because of hate. I think we fail because of indifference. The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference. “I don’t care. I don’t think about it.” Often, this indifference comes from good things. We are busy being husbands, fathers, and employees. We are running a taxi service for our kids. We aren’t trying to be mean; we are just distracted.
But if your response to the needs of the world isn’t compassion, would you be willing to ask yourself why? There are 3.29 billion people in the world who are part of unreached people groups—meaning they have no indigenous Christians and no access to the Gospel. Does your heart feel compassion for them? If not, why not?
This doesn’t mean you have to move overseas tomorrow, though you should be open to that. It might mean you are part of the “supply lines,” writing checks or praying for those on the front lines. I read a discouraging statistic recently: America spends more money on Halloween costumes for pets than on missions to unreached people groups. That is why The Well has been committed for over twenty years to giving 10% of all our giving to missions.
Our Good Samaritan
The beauty of this text is that Jesus is actually the ultimate Good Samaritan. He is the one who felt mercy and compassion for a lost world. He entered in despite our condition. He didn’t ask, “What will happen to me if I enter in?” Instead, He asked, “What will happen to them if I don’t?”
Let’s take a page out of our Savior’s book. Let’s see people the way He sees them and allow the Spirit of God to work in us as we talk about His heart for missions.
Father, we are grateful for the work Your Spirit does. Help us to be open to Your Word. We are grateful that Your Son took on flesh and lived the life we could not live, dying the death we deserved, because He felt compassion for us. Teach us to do the same. We love You. In Christ’s name, Amen.