Trinity 13, 2023

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. Luke 10:23-37

Trinity 13

September 3, 2023

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel account of the Good Samaritan takes place shortly after Jesus sent the 72 disciples out two by two. They have recently returned in Luke, chapter 10 with joy and amazement saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” Then Jesus also rejoices over this. He rejoices in His Father’s will. He rejoiced, publicly, in the Holy Spirit, rejoicing, being glad, that the Father’s will is being revealed to the disciples through Him who is the only Son from heaven and through their preaching of His word.

But in the midst of this public prayer, in the midst of this gladness, happiness, and joy, behold, a lawyer interrupts our Lord. He’s a buzzkill of sorts, a party-pooper, a killjoy. He stands up to put Jesus to the test. The lawyer thinks he knows better than Jesus when it comes to the Law, to the Scriptures, and to theology. After all, He has been a life-long believer, confirmed in the faith, he goes to church every Sunday. He thinks he knows how things really should be done, how Scripture really should be interpreted. And so he stands up with malice in his heart; he approaches Jesus in order to test Him and asks, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” What must I do? And Jesus says to him, “What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?” What Jesus is saying here is, “How do you interpret it? How do you recite it?” Here, Jesus is recalling the command given by God through Moses when He says: “You shall therefore, lay up these words—lay up this Law, lay up this Torah—of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

This is what the Israelites were commanded by God to do. They were to be completely immersed in Holy Scripture, in what the Law of God required because the Law is good. And of course, the man, being a lawyer was. This man wasn’t just confirmed and then never came back and forget all about his Small Catechism. He knew these things. He continued in them. He continued to study them. So Jesus asks him, “What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it? How do you interpret it? How do you recite it?” And the lawyer gives a good answer. He says, quoting the two tables of the Law, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, withal your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and, your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus responds and says, “You have answered rightly; if you do this, you will live.” 

The lawyer asks a “law question.” So he gets a “law answer.” He wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus says, “Be perfect. Fulfill the Law. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, withal your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and, your neighbor as yourself. You want to know what you must do? That’s what you must do.”

Then, of course, the lawyer desires to further justify himself asks, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus answers with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Summarize the parable.

Now in almost every parable, many of you know, because you learned in Sunday school, there’s a “Christ figure.” When it comes to the parables of Jesus, this should be our first thought: what does this tell us about Jesus? How does this show us what Jesus does for us? Sometimes, the Christ figure isn’t who we expect. We often hear the Parable of the Good Samaritan and think that this is a parable of ethics—what we are to do, how we are to act, how we need to be nice to others and that the way to inherit eternal life is to do these things like the Samaritan. We think this, often times, admittedly, because of Jesus’ words at the end of the parable when he tells the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.” But in fact, the opposite is true. Of course, Jesus says, “Go and do likewise,” and we should. But we only can do that, we only begin to care for others, invite them to church, bring them here because we have been treated in this same way by Jesus. We can show mercy, because He has shown us mercy. We love because He first loved us.  

So despite anything we have done, no matter how terrible our sins are, no matter how long we have been gone from Church, if we have been away for a long time, whatever it is, Jesus holds no grudge. He comes to us. We don’t go to Him. He comes to us. He sees us lying half dead in the road, the Law having shown us our sin and condemning us to hell and then passing by on the other side. So Jesus comes to us, picks us up, raises us up, sets us on His own animal, anoints us with oil, pours wine on us, calls us and brings us to the inn of the Church, pays for it all, and promises to come back. 

The lawyer wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. He must be perfect. But he can’t be perfect. Who is his neighbor? Everyone. He must perfectly do this to everyone if he wants to be the cause of his salvation, which, of course, is impossible. The demands of God’s Law have beaten and bloodied him. So he needs to be shown mercy. And notice this: the lawyer asks, “Who is my neighbor?” Thus, prompting the parable from Jesus. But after telling the parable, Jesus flips the question. Jesus doesn’t ask him, “Now who is your neighbor? Use your context clues. Make inferences.” Instead, He asks him, “Who was the neighbor to him who fell among thieves?” And he says, “The one who showed him mercy.” Who is your neighbor? Everyone. But who is the One who shows you mercy? The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who takes your place; who Himself is despised; who goes to the cross; who dies a shameful death; who rises; who ascends; who comes to you in the Holy Communion with His Body and Blood, and who promises to return to you.

To be sure, the Law of God is good and wise. It shows us God’s perfect will and desire for how we should be. But the Law also shows us our sin. The Law exposes us. It shows how insignificant and small we really are. It shows us to be sinners, adulterers, slothful, greedy, gossips, and the like. Insignificant. And so it is, that the chief function of the Law is to show us our need for a Savior, to show us our need for mercy.

When we weigh ourselves against God’s Law, we find ourselves to be insignificant. But according to God Himself, it’s quite the opposite. This is why He comes to us, finds us half-dead in our trespasses, the Law having passed us by on the other side of the road. He carries us back to the fellowship of the Church, where we worship with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.

No matter what we have done, no matter how lost and dead we were, no matter how persistent in sin we have been, no matter what we have thought, said, or have done against Him, He shows us mercy.

In +Jesus’ name.