This question of the lawyer was probably asked on the occasion of this visit, and the little episode connected with the Bethany family of Lazarus took place at the same period. The "lawyer" is sometimes termed "scribe." There is little difference between these appellations.
Luke 10:25- Luke 10:37. The lawyerâs first question was intended to âtemptâ Jesus, which here seems to mean, rather, âto testâ; that is, to ascertain His orthodoxy or His ability. Christ walks calmly through the snare, as if not seeing it.
This morning we are going to examine Luke 10:25-37 and the story that promoted the development of the idiom. However, as we shall see as we study this passage, there is a more important lesson than just being compassionate to people in distress. Please follow along as I read through this passage, then we will go back and examine it in detail.
Luke 10:26; Luke 10:26. He came to catechize Christ, and to know him; but Christ will catechize him, and make him know himself. He talks to him as a lawyer, as one conversant in the law: the studies of his profession would inform him; let him practise according to his knowledge, and he should not come short of eternal life.
Saul, a Jew, later called Paul, was born in the predominately Greek city of Tarsus located in Asia Minor.
The first one is a sure bet, a good lawyer's ploy: âWhat must I do to inherit eternal life?â No surprises there. The lawyer already knew the answer; in fact, everybody listening knew the answer.
The parable of the Good Samaritan can be found in Luke 10:25-37. In Luke, Jesus presents this parable after a lawyer tries to test Jesus in the beginning of verse 25 by asking him how he can inherit eternal life. The lawyer knows that to inherit eternal life the law states, amongst other things, to love your neighbor.
This Gospel's author, who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, is not named but is uniformly identified by early Christian tradition as Luke the Evangelist. The Latin text of Luke 10:41-11:5 in Codex Claromontanus V, from 4th or 5th century.
You have to remember that the lawyer's motive for asking the question was to test Jesus. In other words, he wanted to know what Jesus had to say, or even have a debate.
When Jesus asks which of these three â the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan â acted as a neighbor to the robbed man, the lawyer answers âThe one who showed him mercy.â As Jesus often does, he turns the question of âwho is my neighbor?â on its head and instead answers âwho might be a neighbor to me?â
Priests and Levites Priests were particularly enjoined to avoid uncleanness. The priest and Levite may therefore have assumed that the fallen traveler was dead and avoided him to keep themselves ritually clean.
In Jesus' story, the first person to see the victim is a priest, but rather than get involved, he passes by on the other side of the road. He is followed by a Levite, a temple-worker. The Levite does the sameâhe passes by. Then along comes a Samaritan.
The thieves who attack the man represent hostile forces in the world. The priest who passes by the man in need represents the Law, while the Levite represents the prophets; but the Samaritan represents Christ.
In another sermon, Gregory specifically identified Mary Magdalene as the sister of Martha mentioned in Luke 10.
The Levite was seen as representing the Old Testament prophets, whose words the Lord came to fulfill (see Matthew 5:17; 3 Nephi 15:2â5). A lesser class of priests, the Levites did chores in the temple. At least this Levite came close to helping; he âcameâ and saw.
Jesus refers to God as âthe Lord of the harvestâ (Matthew 9:38).
Commentary on Luke 10:25-37. The lawyer asks good questions and gives good answers. There is no need to assign the lawyer an adversarial role. In fact, the text suggests otherwise. He calls Jesus âteacher,â respectfully. And Jesus engages him as an equal, responding to the lawyerâs first question with a question. Jesus agrees with the answer.
Matthewâs version is brief, including only a lawyerâs question and Jesusâ answer. Lukeâs version does not seek to order Torah commandments but rather inquires about the fundamental principal of all the commandments. Jesus responds to the lawyerâs question with two questions.
Jesus agrees with the lawyer, saying, â Do this and you will live.â (Italics are mine.) The lawyer follows up with a second question, also a very good one. If doing this, i.e., loving God and loving neighbor as oneself, is a matter of eternal life, then defining âneighborâ is important in this context.
According to the synoptic parallels, the questioner asks which is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34-40) or which is the first (Mark 12:28-34). In Markâs version, a scribe inquires, approves Jesusâ answer, and Jesus observes the scribeâs wisdom.
It does not seem that Jesus takes the lawyerâs âtestâ as that of an antagonist. The observation is important, because most interpretations read this well-known episode, recorded only in Luke, presuming a contentious relationship between Jesus and the lawyer.
The incident that Mark recorded in Mark 12:28-34 is quite similar to this one, but the differences in the accounts point to two separate situations. In view of the question at stake it is easy to see how people might have asked it of Jesus many different times. Furthermore this particular question was of great concern to the scribes, who studied the law professionally. The fact that the Holy Spirit recorded the same lesson twice in Scripture is a testimony to His greatness as a teacher since great teachers deliberately repeat themselves.
The present section also reminds the reader of Jesusâ allegiance to the Old Testament Scriptures, which He viewed as authoritative. Thus it balances Jesusâ former words about Him revealing the Father ( Luke 10:22) with the importance of Scripture in that process. Copyright Statement. These files are public domain.
A Jewish teacher of the law came to Jesus to test him with a question about eternal life. His question showed that he thought of eternal life as something to be obtained by some special act. Jesusâ reply showed that obtaining eternal life is inseparably linked with the way people live their daily lives.
Jesus then forced the questioner to answer his own question . The example that he had to follow was not that of the religious purists, but that of the despised foreigner. If a person loves his neighbour as himself, he will act kindly towards anyone that he happens to meet, even enemies ( Luke 10:36-37 ).
In reply Jesus told a story in which a traveller was beaten, robbed, and left to die. Two Jews, one a priest and the other a Levite, deliberately passed him by, but a Samaritan stopped and helped him ( Luke 10:30-35 ). Jesus then forced the questioner to answer his own question.
Jesus asks the lawyer about what he knows best: the law. He knows that keeping the law is the appropriate answer. He brings the issue out into the open. This is probably best since the Jewish leadership were probably concerned about Jesusâ teachings on the Law. 27.
Jesus replied and said, âA certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead. Jesus expounds on the law of love. True love is put into action. It is not merely at concept or a feeling.
When it is time for him to leave, if he cannot pay the debt he can be arrested, Matthew 18:23-35. The Samaritan knows this and volunteers money (two denarii is two days wages) and whatever else is needed to see to the needs of this unidentified man.
Matthew and Luke say that the lawyer was testing Jesus, while Mark does not. Mark has Jesus commending the lawyer, saying, âYou are not far from the kingdom of Godâ (Mark 12:34). Only Luke uses the story of the lawyer to introduce the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is found only in Luke.
The Samaritanâs actions reverse those of the robbers. They robbed the man, left him to die, and abandoned him. The Samaritan pays for the man, leaves him in good hands, and promises to return (Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 53). LUKE 10:36-37.
Jesus could answer, âEveryone is your neighbor.â Instead he tells a story that encourages us to shift our focus from the fence to the neighbor on the other side. When our eyes are focused on the fence, we cannot see our neighbor clearly. However, when we look at the neighbor, we hardly see the fence.
Bock takes that one step further by linking Jesusâ teaching about prayer (11:1-13) with these stories. It is only through a deep relationship with God, fostered by prayer, that we can love God and neighbor (Bock, 195). LUKE 10:25-26.
It is the kind of question that rabbis debate endlessly. Such debate sometimes represents true devotion to the law, but easily deteriorates into academic exercise. By continually debating the law, one can delay compliance with the law. On the surface, the lawyer is asking who he must love.
At Pentecost, Peter answered, âRepent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
In verse 9:51, Jesus began his journey to Jerusalem and the cross, a journey on which he will continue until his Triumphal Entry in chapter 19. Thus, while traveling to Jerusalem, he tells a story about people traveling from Jerusalem (Van Harn, 368). In a recent prayer, Jesus characterized his ...