Luke says the lawyer intended to put Jesus to the test, and to do so, he asks two questions. The first one is a sure bet, a good lawyer's ploy: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” No surprises there. The lawyer already knew the answer; in fact, everybody listening knew the answer.
To obtain eternal life, I must love God and love my neighbor as myself. It is helpful to remember that the parable of the good Samaritan was Jesus's way of answering a question: “Who is my neighbour?” As you read this parable, keep that question in mind.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Mark 10:17–30; 12:41–44. A rich young man asks what he must do to gain eternal life, and Jesus teaches that trusting in riches can keep a person out of the kingdom of God. Jesus praises a poor widow for casting two mites into the treasury.
In John 10:27–28 Jesus states that: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." This refers to the personal, heart to heart relationship the Christian is expected to have with Jesus.
Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being.
The moral of the story is that you should put aside your differences and help those who are in need of help. The Samaritan did not think about the race or the religion of the man; he just saw a man who needed help.
When asked which commandment is greatest, he responds (in Matthew 22:37): “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Jesus states in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven”, yet there are some who teach salvation by “faith only”, i.e. as long as someone believes, he/she will be saved.
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6:9-10).
Eternal Life. God's presence in our lives produces peace, purpose and power. Peace shows itself by the ability to properly relate to God, other persons, ourselves and our world. Purpose provides understanding of God's desires for our lives.
It is a divine warning from the teachings of Jesus Christ that one must be prepared to enter into the kingdom of heaven and must have the light of life that is made possible through following Jesus Christ.
Luke says the lawyer intended to put Jesus to the test, and to do so, he asks two questions.
The lawyer depended upon the concepts “love God” and “love neighbor” to remain fixed and stable, a system of religious justification, and, again like most of us, he had found a sweet spot in that religious system that allowed him to be satisfied with himself and his life.
To be rescued by the Samaritan – and this is the point – is like being a man who wants to “justify himself” but is instead rescued from distress by the grace of Jesus Christ. By telling this parable, Jesus ironically gave the lawyer a great gift, a work of kindness, even though the lawyer may not have thought so.
Jesus undermines the lawyer’s standing in order to show that the lawyer, like all the rest of humanity, needs not to stand his ground but to see the face of grace, and then to move, to repent. It is important to keep in view that the story Jesus told the lawyer was a parable, not an example story.
Jesus was not born to justify the righteous; he was born, as the angels over Bethlehem proclaimed, to be a savior. In Jesus, the system is not standing still. God is moving toward humanity in mercy and calling humanity to move toward God in repentance. And that is why Jesus throws the lawyer into the ditch beside the Jericho road.
In one breathtaking move, the court is turned upside down. The lawyer is now in the dock; the lawyer is now the one on trial. No longer the solicitor prosecuting the case, the lawyer is now the accused defending his righteousness. So, the lawyer, now suddenly the defendant, seeks to do what every accused person desires.
Only the Samaritan, the despised Samaritan, the one by whom the lawyer would not want even to be touched, only the Samaritan lifted him up, dressed his wounds, cared for his life, helped him move from a place of death to a place of life.
Matthew 19:16#N#Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?"#N#Mark 10:17#N#As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. "Good Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"#N#Luke 10:25#N#One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"#N#Luke 18:19#N#"Why do you call Me good?" Jesus replied. "No one is good except God alone.
Luke alone describes the inquirer as a "ruler.". As used without any defining genitive, and interpreted by Luke 23:13; Luke 23:35, John 3:1; John 7:26; John 7:48, et al., it seems to imply that he was a member of the Council or Sanhedrin. The term "youth," in Matthew 19:20, is not at variance with this inference.
What I need to do to inherit eternal life is love God love my neighbor .”. And Jesus responds, “Your answer is right.”. But that is not all that Jesus says. But notice what He goes on to say. “You have answered correctly,” but then He says, “ Do it .”. That is huge in this passage.
They began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming and Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said —“ Listen to what they said — “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first since you repudiated and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.”.
He's saying, “Look, if those who love God and love their neighbors inherit eternal life, I've got some bad news for you. You’re all going to hell. But Jesus came to free you from what the Law of Moses couldn't free you from — your sin — because you've broken the Law of Moses.”.
In Luke 18 verse 18 the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and says, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life.”. Now that lets you know that this was a question that was on the minds of Jewish people in Jesus’ time.
This is Jesus saying as it were to the lawyer, “Okay, you’re right for the second time. Those who inherit eternal life, those who inherit the kingdom, those who receive the blessings of God promised to Abraham are those who love God and love their neighbors.
Nevertheless it is a very good and a very interesting question. Jesus does not rebuke the question. Very often when Jesus doesn't like a question He will substitute another question in place of that question and redirect you to another subject. But in this case He does not do that.
Notice that the lawyer was testing Jesus (v. 25) and asked what works he must do to have eternal life . The lawyer obviously had faith in God that produced good works consistent with the Law since he quoted the Law to Jesus when Jesus asked him what was written in the Law. Jesus commends him on his answer about loving God ...
by faith alone in Christ’s work alone, and that explains why Paul said in Romans 3:28 that we are “justified by faith apart from the works of the law” because no one is able to keep the law perfectly.
Jesus commends him on his answer about loving God and loving one’s neighbor and then follows up with the story of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10:30-37) to show that works of love are the fulfillment of Loving Your Neighbor. This is why Jesus said, “Do this and you will live.”. Jesus was pointing the Lawyer to the law and requiring it of him.
However, such a standard can save no one. This is why we need the gospel that tells us Jesus kept the Law perfectly ( 1 Pet. 2:22) and that we can be justified before God by faith in Him ( Romans 4:3, 5; 5:1; John 1:12; 3:16) without the works of the Law ( Romans 3:28 ).