July 10, 2022 Text: Luke 10:25-37
Dear Friends in Christ,
Rabbinic scholars before and after Jesus have always debated the meaning of the word “neighbor.” Fellow Jews, were considered “neighbors.” Some were more “neighbor” than others, especially those that kept the law. Shepherds, tax collectors and sinners not so much. Gentiles were outside the realm of “neighbor.” You didn’t have to be unkind, but you didn’t have to love them. A Jew wouldn’t push a Gentile into the Sea of Galilee, but if they fell in, well, they didn’t need to be in a hurry to rescue them.
Do we disqualify people as “neighbor”? Someone of a different political slant? A person from the wrong neighborhood? Those who live differently than we do? Do we ever feel justified in treating people in a not-so-neighborly way?
Jesus is going to help us with this question this morning. He is going to help us see who our neighbor is. He isn’t going to debate but he will get to the truth. In fact, He will lead the questioner to the answer. May the Holy lead us as well to see . . .
“THE RIGHT ANSWER IS . . . JESUS?”
Lawyers love questions. It is part of their vocation. It was no different in Jesus’ time. The lawyer stood up, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 1) It’s a test. Is this Jesus as qualified as He claims to be? The lawyer wants to prove his case. Jesus turns the tables and asks him a question. Now who is being tested. “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” (v. 2).
We heard a lot of Old Testament Law in our reading from Leviticus this morning. And we would agree with not stealing and not profaning God’s name and not oppressing our neighbor and everything else listed there. We don’t want to be the robbers in Jesus’ story.
The law is on the lawyer’s mind, imagine that? It is on our minds as well. The law is written in our hearts. We know right from wrong, good from bad. We have a conscience. We know how we should be.
The lawyer uses the law unlawfully. So do we. We ask the wrong question. The premise is wrong. The only way to inherit something is to be born to someone who has it and wait for that person to die. When we mix up our doing with God’s giving, we have a problem.
The problem is the lawyer wanted to justify himself. He asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” If we use the law as a guidebook, then we can skip some of the parts. We can justify our actions when we don’t love or we don’t help or we don’t have compassion in certain situations. “Lord, it wasn’t my fault, that person is hard to do anything good for.” We need some help.
After telling the story Jesus gets to the right question. “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (v. 36).
This man is us. We are knocked down, beat up, ripped off – by life, by sin, by our desires, by our questionable choices. Nobody is a perfect neighbor to us except Jesus.
Jesus is the right answer to all the questions.
It is a running joke in our circles, ever since we were a kid, that if we weren’t sure of an answer, the answer Jesus would do. Many times it is the correct answer. In our text it is as clear as the blue sky.
Jesus is the Good Samaritan. He comes to each of us who are beaten by sin, the devil, the world. He comes to us left half dead. He touches with words. He heals with Baptism. He provides shelter in His Holy Church and food in His Holy Supper. He will come back to take us to heaven.
Jesus is a neighbor to us all. He does not pass by anyone. His compassion shines through in his life of loving service and in His sacrificial death. On the cross, he paid all the cost to nurse us back to life. He shows His compassion to us daily.
In a sense, Jesus is our Lawyer, He is our Advocate with the Father. When Jesus stands to speak, it is not to test anyone, but to defend us, the guilty ones, with His blessed innocence. He does not ask us what we have accomplished to gain eternal life. He tells us what He has done to give us all eternal life.
Don’t try to justify yourself, because Jesus already has welcomed you as His neighbor in the kingdom. It’s simple. But simple can be best. The Right Answer Is . . . Jesus.
Amen.