The section of Scripture we come to in our exposition is a famous story about the Good Samaritan. Many people know this story and may even understand the moral principle behind the story that Jesus tells but we are going to look beyond that to the purpose of why Jesus told the story to this man that he encounters here. Jesus is never just giving people stories to think about their actions in some earthly or fleshly way but rather what the eternal implications are of the actions they are taking. This does not mean that certain actions send you to Hell and others earn Heaven but what I mean by this is that what a person does shows whether they are just religious, someone that doesn’t care about others or if they are truly following God.
We are going to notice that this section of Scripture is pointed towards showing this man what having eternal life really means. It is not religion, it is not based off of how I interpret the law but rather the fact that the actions we take shows whether we have received the mercy of God or not.
We will take a couple of studies to get through this section of Scripture with this study really being the foundational conversation that leads to the story of the Good Samaritan that we will study on next study. Let’s look at our first point for this study.
1.Jesus is SCRUTINIZED by a lawyer.
Look with me at Luke 10:25 And behold, a scholar of the Law stood up and was putting Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
In our text we clearly see that Jesus is questioned from a man we see here as a scholar of the Law. We have already seen back in Luke 9:57 where Jesus has a scribe come up to him or at least that is what Matthew 8:19 refers to that man as. We learned that scribes were well thought of and had a very big task of preserving the Scriptures as they hand copied them and also interpreted them. Well this scholar of the Law is even more intellectual in the Law than the scribe is.
Not only are they more intellectual but this is really their specialty focus. They would be the ones to focus much on interpreting the Old Testament for the rabbis and teachers. They were also very knowledgeable of Jewish laws and customs along with secular laws as well. So again we do not see someone coming up to Jesus with a question that they did not already have some idea about. In fact Luke says that this scholar of the Law came to Jesus with a question putting Him to the test.
You could read this and think that maybe this man was wanting to see if Jesus really knew the law or not but that is not the reason why he came to Jesus. The word test here is the Greek word ekpeirazó (ek-pi-rad’-zo) which means a “hyper-test,” or going to improper measures which exceed appropriate boundaries and pushing the one tested beyond reasonable (proper) limits. So this test was not in hopes that the scholar would confirm that Jesus is the Messiah but he looked to trip Jesus up and hoped to expose Jesus as a fraud.
The question he asks Jesus is a question that will be asked many more times by other people as well. He asks Jesus “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
The question comes to Jesus with some clues to the theology of the Jewish system. They looked at salvation as something that could be earned either by giving money, doing deeds or simply because you were a part of their system. This scholar of the law or we could simply call him a lawyer, thought so much of himself that they he came to Jesus with this question really for confirmation of his own status. His theology and soteriology tells him that he is alright with God. In fact he would think that he is better than most people even the other religious leaders in Judaism.
We see this attitude in the next chapter of Luke where Jesus is speaking to a lawyer there, which could be a different one or the same one. Jesus is condemning the Pharisees for their hypocritical religious actions in Luke 11:37-44. Then we see one of these scholars of the Law speak up and say in Luke 11:45 “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.”
This scholar may have thought that because of Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees that he needed to bring it to Jesus’ attention that he was including them too. I mean they would expect to be applauded and accepted by Jesus but Jesus continues on condemning the Pharisees and including these scholars as well for their hypocritical religious actions.
We will see in our next study that this scholar response to Jesus’ statement concerning the fact that in order to have eternal life then you must keep the whole law is with another question about who is his neighbor. Luke 10:29 says But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This really reveals why this man came to Jesus in the first place. He comes to Jesus in hopes of being justified and in the process tries to corner Jesus in with this question. But as we will see in our next point Jesus is never fooled by these wicked men. Let’s look now at our next point.
2.Jesus’ STATEMENT of response concerning the law.
Look with me at Luke 10:26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
This point will be brief but I thought it was important to look at how Jesus responds here. Maybe we too can learn something in how we should be responding to others as well. Jesus knows that this man is a scholar, Jesus knows that this man is seeking justification and acceptance. So Jesus points the question right back at him. If this man is learned in the Law then he should know the law. There should be no reason for this man to not understand the Law concerning how to receive eternal life.
Jesus really responds with a statement of response that we see as the question of “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
In other words, you know what it says, you know what the answer is so why are you asking me? Jesus knew that this man was trying to test Him so Jesus turns the question to him. This was not a trap question that Jesus asks but rather He knew that this man knew the answer. This may have even built this man’s confidence because he would answer this correctly. He did not hesitate to answer or look for a way out of answering but clearly answered these questions. We see this response and Jesus’ response as we move into the next point and the next couple of verses.
I think we need to ask questions to people we encounter because we may be surprised that many people know what they should be doing but choose to live in rebellion against the very things they know they should not be doing. Let’s now look at our last point for this study.
3.Jesus’ SUBSTANTIATION(confirmation) of the lawyer’s answer.
*Look with me at Luke 10:27-28 And he answered and said, “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 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”*
Clearly we see that Jesus confirms the very thing that this lawyer answered. He in fact knew what the law said and even had a proper understanding of the law. Most of the scribes and lawyers understood what the law meant but they allowed their traditions and hatred for others outside of their Jewish community to guide their actions. Jesus confirms here the truth of his answer but as we will see in our next study that will come with a challenge to change his actions.
*Like many people that are alive today they would tell you that they have heard of Jesus dying on the cross. Some may even understand that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. But they do not understand that the forgiveness of sins does not come to all that know about it. There are other factors into having eternal life. There is God’s purpose and plan that gives to people mercy and grace through that sacrificial act of Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting. But like a lot of people they can give the “right” answers. This man knew the Law but he still lacked understanding of what the Law represented.*
The Law was never meant to be a way of eternal life because no one could ever keep the law. In fact we can’t keep one part and therefore it is as if we have disobeyed the entire law. James 2:10 says For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
So we are never expected to live out the entire law. The point of Jesus’ response is not pointed towards that. We will get to that in a minute but first we must understand that the law is set before us to expose our sin to us. Paul says in Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! Rather, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law. For I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
In much of Romans 7, Paul is making the point that the Law is good, holy and righteous. There is nothing in the Law itself that brings about sin. It is our flesh that weakens the Law because we can’t keep it. We continue to fall into our fleshly desires and sinful patterns. Then Paul moves on in Romans 8 with the solution to this horrible issue we have. That is we can’t keep the Law, we want to but we can’t and for that we are condemned without forgiveness.
Romans 8:1-4 says Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Now I want to bring this back around to our Luke text but I thought it was necessary to walk us through what the Law really does. In fact we will see in our next study that this is the very direction Jesus points to. Let’s look at how this man answers Jesus, Luke 10:27 says And he answered and said, “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.”
This answer is really the summation of the entire Law of God. We are not just talking about the Ten Commandments even though those would definitely be included in the Law of God. But we are talking about the moral Law of God. Every area of the Law of God pointed towards worship to God. It was not just to be some standards to live by but it was meant to bring about worship to God. The moral standards are what we should be striving to live by but we must never do it from a superficial and religious activity standpoint.
The next thing the Law does is points us to treat people with love and compassion. It is pointed towards a general care for others and to look out for others as you would your own life. These two factors here are correct but this man did not expound on the true meaning of Law nor did he say anything concerning his inability to be able to fulfill these commands. This scholar is like most people that attend church in much of Western Christianity, they know the answers to the general questions, they see no real fault with how they are living simply because they check off all the boxes of what our culture says a Christian should have done by being baptized, joining a church and having a “belief” in God and what Jesus did on the cross.
The reason we need to ask questions towards those that we are witnessing to is because we really need know what they believe. Jesus here asked this man questions because he wanted this man to see his sin. This man responded correctly and Jesus confirms that but then Jesus takes it a step further when He said in Luke 10:28 “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
Now Jesus clearly is pointing to the fact that if a person really believes that they can inherit eternal life by keeping the commandments then they must be living by those commands. Paul speaks of this by showing that Moses, that is the Law of God, says in Romans 10:5 “The man who does these things shall live by them.”
Jesus takes this conversation to the next level of evangelism and that is to challenge the person to self reflect. If this man sees the Law as something that for sure can give to you eternal life then you must be able to live by the Law perfectly. For this time we will not look at how this lawyer responded but that is where we will pick up the story for next study.
What I hope this study has done is shown to us that we are just like this man. We think we have the answers until we are confronted with the reality of having to live a certain way. Many people today lean on the hopes of God’s forgiveness even though they never seek to live out the commands of God, they never live as if He is their Lord or never thinks about God. Sadly many people will end up in Hell that lived in a false hope from a false Gospel. I hope that will not be you because to inherit eternal life is not dependent upon your good works, baptism or church attendance but on the penalty of your sins being paid by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
Disciple's Direction 