Sermon - Trinity XIII - Luke 10:23-37

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” How am I saved? That’s the question asked by so many. And for the most part, when people read the parable of the Good Samaritan, they interpret it to mean that if they behave like the Good Samaritan, if they do good to their neighbor, then they will be saved. They hear Jesus’ words, “do this, and you will live,” and they truly believe that they will justify themselves through selfless service to their neighbors. 

But this parable teaches just the opposite. It’s actually not primarily about us showing mercy to our neighbor so that we may be saved. Instead, Christ is the neighbor to us who shows us mercy so that we may have eternal life.

The parables are hard; they’re not easy. Right before the parable begins, Jesus privately said to His disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Contrary to popular opinion, the parables aren’t spoken in order to make the teachings of Jesus’ clearer, but in order to hide these teachings. God the Father has “hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children,” for such is His gracious will. 

The teachings of Jesus are more valuable than diamonds and precious stones. Our Lord doesn’t cast these pearls of His teachings before swine or give what is holy to dogs, lest they trample it underfoot and turn around to attack. So instead the Lord hides His precious teachings in parables. Thus, the wise of the world are thwarted in their vainglorious studies, while the plain simpletons feast at the Father’s table. 

Therefore, we would do well to reconsider our self-righteous interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Because in this parable, we see the clear law of God to love our neighbor as ourself, yet we see also the sweet Gospel that Jesus fulfills the law on our behalf on account of our inability to keep the holy law.

In this parable Jesus teaches us three things especially, first, He shows us the law that we must love our enemies, not only our friends. Second, He shows us that we must sacrifice everything for our neighbor. Third, He shows us that must never tire of loving our neighbor. So let’s now consider these three commands of Jesus.

At the beginning of the Parable Jesus introduces the two main players, first: “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.” Considering where this man was travelling, it’s plain for us to identify him as an Israelite, who for some reason was targeted by robbers, stripped, beaten, and left for dead. 

Then we are soon introduced to the second main player, “a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” The Jews and the Samaritans were hated enemies of one another. They did not get along at all. But when the Samaritan passed by, he didn’t rejoice at his enemies’ misfortune nor finish the job of killing him, but instead he had compassion on his enemy. 

From this Jesus teaches us that to love our neighbor is more than just loving our friends and the people who like us, but it means feeling compassion in our guts for those who hate our guts and want us dead. If we wish to justify ourselves, if we wish to be saved by keeping the law of love towards our neighbor, then we need to love our vilest enemies. 

How many of us could say that we would feel only compassion when we witness the misfortune of our enemy? How many of us would rejoice when our enemy has success? If you came upon a man who murdered your spouse would you gladly help them and rejoice when they have good success in life? None of us could do that. So in our hearts (at the least) we’ve all failed this commandment from God miserably.

But there is One who does keep this law perfectly. There is only One who feels compassion for His enemies when they suffer, and then rejoices with them when they have good success: Jesus. Only Christ repays evil with good, sin with forgiveness, anger with mercy, and curses with blessing. Even while we were still sinners, the vilest enemies of God, He shed bitter tears on our behalf while being nailed to a tree, all so that we would have forgiveness and eternal life. Who besides Christ has loved their enemies so perfectly? None; only Jesus. 

So Christ first teaches us the command that we must love our enemies, and then He alone keeps it by loving us, His enemies. Secondly now, Jesus gives us the command that we must sacrifice everything for our neighbors. From the parable we read: the Samaritan “went to the Israelite 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.”

From this Jesus teaches us that our love for our neighbor must go beyond only caring for them when it’s convenient. Because today when we’re asked if we care for our neighbors, what do we say? “Sure, I help my neighbors, I’ve donated money out of my own pocket to help to help those less fortunate.” But what did we really sacrifice? Sure we maybe gave $100 or even $1000, but that was no strain on us, we just gave a little bit of our extra money. It wasn’t a sacrifice, it was just convenient and made us feel better about ourselves. Real love for the neighbor goes far above and beyond convenient giving.

When the Samaritan gives, he gives of himself and spares no expense. He took time out of his busy journey to stop and get down on the ground and bind up the wounds of his enemy. He took his own oil, his own wine, and liberally poured it out on this man’s wounds. This oil was likely valuable and he needed it for himself, but instead he poured it out on the man to care for him. This was likely all the wine he had brought with him in order to quench his thirst on his journey, and he poured this out too. 

Then he didn’t consider how tired he was from the journey, and sore his legs must be, how he needed the animal for himself; the Samaritan simply set this stranger and his enemy on his own animal. For all the Samaritan knew, the Hebrew was faking it in order to rob the Samaritan; but he sacrificed everything, and risked losing it all, perhaps even his life, for his neighbor.

Who among us is so generous and willing to sacrifice everything in order to help our strange enemies? None of us! Only Christ! Our Lord Jesus made the greatest sacrifice and sacrificed everything, even His own life, so that we poor miserable sinners would be forgiven and saved from our own terrible misdeeds. Indeed, Jesus teaches us here that we ought to lay down our life for our neighbor, and then He alone keeps it by laying down His life for ours.

Now third and finally, Jesus shows us that we must never grow weary of loving our neighbor. In the parable He shows us that the Samaritan, after he had brought the Hebrew to an inn and took care of him there, “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.’” The Samaritan put no limits on the care he will show to his neighbor. “Whatever more you spend, I will repay!” The Samaritan has already gone above and beyond in caring for his enemy on his own dime, and now he promises that his help will never end. 

Care like this is unheard of in the world. Yet Christ commands us that loving our enemies must never end, it must have no bounds. Who among us can live up to the law’s strict demands here? None of us. Only Jesus. God’s love for us sinners is boundless and limitless! If you’re greatly burdened by your sins and from this parable you come to see how miserably you’ve failed, then rejoice in this truth that God’s love for you will never end! 

While God’s love for us poor sinners is boundless and He will never stop loving us, there will come an end to our suffering in this life. The Samaritan says plainly, “I will… come back.” When will he return? The Samaritan paid two denarii. One denarii was a day’s wage and also the cost of a day’s lodging, thus, the Samaritan had already stayed one night, and in two more nights he will return; a total of three days. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, the Samaritan was away for three days, so was Jesus in the belly of the earth in the tomb for three days. While there is great suffering in this life, our Lord will bring the suffering to an end and return. Our Lord’s love is boundless, but the suffering we must face has its limits. 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, it is Christ who is the neighbor to us. Jesus has compassion on us, His enemies, and mercifully binds up our wounds by forgiving our sins, carries us to the inn of His church where He provides for all of our needs, and He promises to return again on the last day when our suffering will cease and we shall inherit eternal life. Because Christ has done all this for us with His boundless love, let us go and do likewise for our neighbors, so that they may receive mercy at the hands of Jesus, their Good Samaritan, and inherit eternal life with us.