Great Events of the New Testament Lesson #45 Who is My Neighbor? Family / Teacher Notes For Sunday, October 29, 2017 Read Luke 10:25-37 In Lk. 10:25 a man stood up to put Jesus to the test. The man was a lawyer; not the kind we think of today that presents cases in court, but an expert in the study of the Law of Moses. His question is meant to see if what Jesus answers agrees with what the Law taught. A Question About Eternal Life. Jesus had repeatedly talked about His ability to give life, eternal life (John 4:36; 6:54; 10:28; 12:25; 17:2). This lawyer is going to ask a question about eternal life -- Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Keep in mind that this lawyer believed that the Old Testament Scripture would tell him everything he needed to know about having eternal life (John 5:39). Jesus in turn asks this man two questions to help answer his question: What is written in the Law? How does it read to you? The lawyer responded to Jesus by reciting Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 as a quick summary of the teaching of God s law: 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. [Jesus had once been asked Which is the great commandment in the Law? and had quoted these same verses (Matt. 22:36-40)]. So Jesus told this lawyer, You have answered correctly Also quoting from Lev. 18:5 Jesus told the man do this and you shall live. Complete obedience to God s commands would cause us to live perfectly before God. Jesus came to pay the penalty for those who have broken God s commands. As Jesus would later show, men s hope of righteousness and eternal life depended on their response to Him and His will: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3). Who Is My Neighbor? The lawyer had just quoted as part of his answer, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But he wanted to know, who is my neighbor. Luke says that he asked this question because he was wishing to justify himself. This lawyer had probably not acted right toward some people. If neighbor meant his friends or the people that lived right around him, then the lawyer could say that he had treated them well. If he had mistreated other people, he would say, Well those really aren t my neighbors, so I don t have to treat them right.
That was not what Jesus or even the Law of Moses meant. God expected His Old Testament people to behave right towards everyone. While the Law said, Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18), it also said, You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 24:22; also Num. 15:15-16). Lev. 19:34 explains in no uncertain terms, The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself. Jesus tells the lawyer a parable that answers the question, Who is my neighbor? The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30-37). As Jesus describes the man who was attacked and injured in this parable, He says that he was going down, He isn t talking about going south, but going down in elevation -- when you went east just a few miles from Jerusalem the elevation (which was about 2500 ft. high above sea level) dropped radically. The city of Jericho, just 15 miles away, was 820 feet below sea level. The road to Jericho was not only constantly going down, it was very rugged. Robbers and bandits could easily hide among rocks and cliffs and the road was known for its dangerous conditions. The unidentified man in Jesus story was attacked by robbers who stripped him of his clothing and beat him until it appeared he was half dead. One of the Jewish priests was traveling that road and saw that the man was injured and in terrible condition, but Jesus said that he stayed to the other side of the road and kept on going. A Levite also passed by noticing the man s situation, but just kept on going. But after these two respected Jews passed by, there came a Samaritan. Normally, the Jews hated Samaritans and Samaritans did not like Jews either. (They were considered half-breed and half-heathen by the Jews). But this Samaritan saw the man s sad circumstances and felt compassion. Not only did the Samaritan feel compassion, but he also did something about it. He came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine in them; and he put him
on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The Samaritan did not know who the man was or what he would have thought about him all he knew was that the man needed help. When he got to the inn, he took two denarii (about two days worth of salary) out of his own pocket to pay for a room and care for the beaten man. The Samaritan even promised to return and pay even more if needed for the man s care. Which of these three, Jesus asked the lawyer, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber s hands? So the lawyer said, The one who showed mercy toward him. To love your neighbor would mean showing mercy at the trouble of another and rendering aid to them. Once we understand these truths, all that is left for us to do is Go and do the same. Two Parables that Illustrate the Sin of Ignoring Others. The examples that will be talked about next were not brought up by Jesus at this time He told the story of the Good Samaritan. But we are looking at them in this lesson because of their connection with the question, Who is my neighbor? The Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:13-21). Jesus once told a man, Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. Be careful thinking that if you just had money, your life would be so much more satisfying. Even if you had a great amount of money, it is not what make s life happy or pleasing to God. Life is not about having things. It is not even about having many things. Jesus illustrates this with the parable about a rich landowner whose crops had been very good that year. His barns would not hold all that he was able to raise. He was already rich, then he got even richer. Wouldn t this have been a good time to have used some of this money to help others? Instead, the rich farmer hatches a plan to build even bigger barns so that he will feel secure for many years to come. He could take it easy eat, drink, and be merry. But at no time had he ever thought about sharing what he had. At no time had the thought of being rich towards God ever entered his mind. But while this rich man contemplated the many years he had ahead of him, the Lord announced, You fool! This very night your soul is required of you [the man would die]; and now who will own what you have prepared? The landowner s foolish view of wealth caused him not to stop and think about his own death and where he would stand before God. The rich man was planning to selfishly hoard his goods and not share them, but in death it all would be left behind to others. [Understand, Jesus was not saying it is wrong to save or plan for the future. Nor is He telling us that all money used for self is wrong.] The man s foolishness is seen in his belief that his wealth was just to store up to be used only for his own comfort and ease. He did not, as the Old Testament Law had taught, see his wealth as a means of giving to God or using his wealth to help the poor (Ps. 41:1-2; Prov. 19:17; 21:13; 28:27).
The Apostle Paul says some thing we should really think about: 1 Timothy 6-10,17-19 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31). The story of the rich man and Lazarus is famous to us for describing what takes place beyond the grave. The earthly circumstances of two men are discussed: A rich man who wore the finest and had the very best every day. A beggar, Lazarus, was poor and suffered everyday, covered with sores, unable to take care of himself. The poor man with the help of others was placed each day outside the rich man s gate. This poor beggar would have gladly accepted the crumbs that fell off the rich man s table, but even that seems to have been rarely offered. The rich man gave little or no thought to his neighbor, the beggar named Lazarus. Then death came to both men. In death both men were still aware of all that was going on. But now, their circumstances were very different. The poor man (who had evidently been righteous, Prov. 28:6) was carried away by the angels to Abraham s bosom. That is a poetic way of saying he was in a happy place of comfort with the righteous men like Abraham who had gone before him. The rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment. He who never thought to share the crumbs from his table, now begs that the former beggar could drop just a little water from his finger to cool his tongue. But Abraham says, Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. This really makes us think doesn t it? If we could see where we would be after death, what would we change about our lives now? Would we wish that we had paid more attention to God? Would we wonder why we had been so selfish? Would we had obeyed God s Word? Would we be sad how we had wasted our lives on nothing but pleasing ourselves? The rich man now had eternity to think about all those things, but nothing he could do would change where he was: There is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you
may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us. Any changes should have been made in life as a response to what God had revealed through His spokesmen (Lk. 16:27-31). Bible Quiz 1. The lawyer asked Jesus a question, Who is my n? (Luke 10:29). 2. To answer this man s question Jesus told the Parable of the G S. (see lesson) 3. What happened to the man that was going from Jerusalem to Jericho? (Luke 10:30) 4. What were the two men that passed the wounded man by? (Luke 10:31,32) 5. What did the Samaritan do for the wounded man? (Luke 10:33-35) 6. When Jesus asked the lawyer, Which of these three men was a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?, what did the lawyer answer? (Luke 10:37) 7. In the Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:13-21), what was the man doing that was foolish? 8. In the next parable we studied (Luke 16:19-31), one man was r and the other was a b. 9. When both men died, Lazarus was c and the rich man was in a. (Luke 16:25)