“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Prayer of the Day: Almighty and everlasting God, give us an increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain what You have promised, make us love what You have commanded; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

As we have become more connected with the world around us, I think many of us have become disconnected from those closest to us—our next-door neighbors. Growing up, I knew many of our neighbors. We all knew one another, interacted, provided babysitting, and occasionally supplied that cup of flour. I don’t know my neighbors nearly as well anymore. And I think that’s probably true for many Americans.

And that’s also true if you expand your scope beyond your immediate neighborhood. We’re called by God to be neighbors not just to those in our immediate vicinity, but to every person, especially those in need. And in this regard, not one of us has been a good neighbor. Keeping this in mind, we’ll look at the example Jesus gives us in our text of one who was a good neighbor, and I think we’ll also find that we, too, have just such a neighbor. Our theme for this morning is: Like a Good Neighbor, Jesus Is There.

So, a lawyer comes up to Jesus with a question. This lawyer, by the way, wasn’t an attorney in the way that we think of lawyers. No, he was an expert in the Law of Moses; that’s what it meant to be a lawyer back then. And he asks Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Of course, as good Lutherans, we recognize that this was a pretty poor question. “What shall I do to inherit?” If eternal life is an inheritance—and it is—then it’s a free gift, given to us through the death of the One who wrote it in His will! There’s nothing you can do to inherit eternal life!

Nevertheless, the lawyer asks the question, and Jesus throws the question right back at him: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And since he was an expert in the Law, he knew the answer! “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.”

“Good answer!” Jesus said. “Do this, and you will live.” Now, that presents a difficult situation for the lawyer because, as an expert in the Law, he knows that loving God with everything you have and loving your neighbor as yourself is an impossible task! So, “desiring to justify himself, [he] said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” You see what he’s looking for, don’t you? He’s hoping for a loophole of some kind.

So, Jesus tells him the parable of the Good Samaritan. Now, you might have wondered about this before. The man asks, “Who is my neighbor?” And then the parable doesn’t really seem to answer his question! Jesus wants him instead to ask, “Have I loved my neighbor as myself?”

And that’s the question we ought to ask ourselves as we consider this text. To do so, let’s put ourselves into this parable; let’s see if we can find ourselves represented in this story. First, let’s take a look at the priest and the Levite. Now, we don’t get to see inside their minds to understand their thought processes, but I can easily imagine what they might have been thinking! If they were, perhaps, heading up to the Temple for worship—well, they both had important roles to play, and stopping could have prevented or delayed them from carrying out those roles! And I can imagine that they saw this man lying there, bleeding out, and thought to themselves, “I’ve got important things to do! I can’t waste my time here. Someone else will come eventually, but I’ve got somewhere to be.”

Or maybe they saw the man lying there, clearly having been beaten and robbed by bandits, as historians tell us often happened on that particular road, and perhaps they thought the bandits might still be nearby! Maybe it was a trap! If they stopped and helped the man, they could be the next victims!

Whatever their excuses were, I imagine they felt that they had good reasons for passing by. Of course, we can sit here, picture the scene, and rightly say that they had no good reason for avoiding their neighbor in need. It’s appalling even to think of them justifying their actions, no matter how compelling their reasons might have seemed to them. And yet…I wonder how often I’ve done the same.

The sin these men committed is what we call a sin of omission. Well, how many times have I failed to do something that I should have done and then justified myself with excuses? “I don’t have any time; I’m running late!” “They probably just want to buy drugs.” “He created this mess for himself.” “If I say something, it will be awkward.” “Somebody else will help.” Sound familiar?

Are any of those valid reasons for not loving our neighbor? Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other” (Romans 13:7-8). His point is that if you are indebted to anyone, pay your debts; but you will never be able to pay off the debt of love that you owe to your neighbor because you will always owe your neighbor love. But how often do we instead treat our neighbors as if to say, “I don’t owe anything to anyone”?

So yes, we are a lot like the Levite and the priest in this text. And that being the case, we’re also a lot like the man lying there in the ditch. Because God’s Law requires that we love the Lord with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind, and that we love our neighbors as ourselves! And the Law gives us that promise: “Do this, and you will live.” But the opposite is also true: “Don’t do this, and you will die.” And because we haven’t done it, we’re actually worse off than the man in the ditch. We’re not just half-dead; we’re dead. As Paul says, “You were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). And as everyone knows, a dead man can’t so much as lift a finger to help himself. He’s dead! And so were we. Our sins left us powerless and helpless. Eternal torment lay before us as what we rightfully deserved, and we were powerless to prevent it.

Our only hope, then—our only hope—is that perhaps someone passing by might stop to help. And it’s happened! You see, the Good Samaritan in our text is a perfect picture of Jesus and what Jesus has done for you. If there was ever anyone who might have had valid reasons for not helping the man in the ditch, it would have been a Samaritan. It’s no secret to us that the Jews detested the Samaritans, and it was no secret to the Samaritans either.

Yes, if that Samaritan saw the man lying there in the ditch and thought, “I’m not going to help him, since he would never lift a finger to help me,” not only would he likely have been correct in his assumption, but we would probably also think him justified in deciding to pass by on the other side. But that’s not what the Good Samaritan did. He had compassion, and he dressed the man’s wounds, pouring on expensive ointments to soothe his hurts. And if he had stopped there, we could think, “Wow, that’s being a good neighbor.” But that’s not where he stopped. He then put the man on his own animal while the Samaritan continued on foot. He took him to an inn and cared for him further. He paid the innkeeper two days’ wages to provide additional care and promised to cover any further costs.

Whatever the price, the Samaritan would pay it. That’s exactly what your Savior has done for you. He alone could have had countless valid reasons for refusing to help you and me, but He refused to pass by on the other side. He saw how helpless we were, and He was moved with compassion for us. He provided absolutely everything that was needed to guarantee eternal life for us. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

The cost of doing so was much more than the price of a hotel room and some medicine. Unlike the Samaritan, Jesus paid with His own blood. He loved you so dearly that He carried with Him to the cross every one of your sins. And when He died on that cursed tree, all your sins died with Him. And three days later, when He rose from the grave, His resurrection proved the truth of His precious promise: “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

So, if you ever find yourself wondering along with the lawyer whether there’s anything more you can do to guarantee your salvation, remember who you are in this story. You’re the man on the side of the road, totally helpless but not totally hopeless. Because, like a good neighbor, Jesus is there. He’s done everything required and has left nothing for you to contribute to your salvation. But He does tell you, “You go, and do likewise.” So, in faith toward our Savior, let’s get to know our neighbors’ names. Let’s get to know our neighbors’ needs. And let’s help them, whoever they might be, by supplying any physical needs that lie within our power. But most of all, let’s do everything we can to lead them, too, into the arms of the real Good Samaritan: Jesus Christ. In His saving name. Amen.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Amen.

—Pastor Samuel Rodebuagh

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Okabena, MN

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