Thursday February 06
Which Way Are You Going?
Luke 10:25-37
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" 27 So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.' " 28 And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" 37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
There are so many lessons for us to learn from the story that Jesus told to the lawyer here in Luke 10. Yesterday we talked about the number of times that the word “certain” is used in this brief story. “A certain lawyer” (v. 25). “A certain man” (v. 30). “A certain priest” (v. 31). “A certain Samaritan” (v. 33). Jesus seems to zero in on very specific individuals and the attitudes or actions that they exhibit in this passage. Jesus knows and is very interested in every detail of our lives.
We have noted that the great question the lawyer asks about is how to inherit eternal life. Even if he asked it for the wrong motive, it is still one of the great questions we should all think about! Because “what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul” (Mark 8:36). What is more important that having “eternal life”? Remember “eternal life” is not living forever and forever and forever! Jesus in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:3 said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is personally experiencing the life of God Himself dwelling in us through Jesus Christ!
The first person we meet is this “lawyer”. He was not a lawyer in the way we think of lawyers today. But he was an expert in the Old Testament Law of Moses. He knew the first five books of Bible and all the teachings of the Rabbis’ that go with them over the years. So when Jesus ask him what he read in it, he gave the correct summary of the law in the same way that Jesus did when He was asks by another lawyer in Matthew 22:36-40. In this passage Jesus replied: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Jesus is making it clear that the real evidence that we love God is that we love the people around us with all of our heart and in the same way we love ourselves! You will love your neighbor in the same way that you love God! John speaks a lot about this in the Epistle of 1 John.
The next person in the story that Jesus mentions is the “certain man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho”. Now Jericho was the Las Vegas of their day. It was a place that symbolized everything that is of the world and it’s pleasures. It was down in the Jordan Valley right next to the Dead Sea! How interesting is that. It was the place you go to drown out your problems with drugs, drinking, pleasure and every other evil things you can do.
Jerusalem was up on a mountain and was the place of the presence of God. The temple and worship of God was there. It was the place of the communion, of prayer, of Bible study and meditation on the eternal things of God! Jesus said that this certain man, “went down from Jerusalem”. He left the place of security and worship and fellowship with the Lord to “go down” to the world and the place of danger, destruction and death.
My friend, whenever you leave and neglect your place of communion with the Lord in His Word, in prayer, and fellowship with other believers in His church, you are on your way down! The thief, Satan is waiting to pounce on you, steal your joy, your peace, your love for God and others and destroy your life!
What a lesson for us today! Which way are you headed today?
God bless!
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