Luke 10:25 - Meaning and Application

Here we have Christ’s discussion with a lawyer about matters of conscience, things we all need to understand rightly. The lawyer asked, but not with a sincere desire to learn. Still, Christ used the moment to teach what truly matters.

We need to know what good we should do in this life if we want eternal life. A certain lawyer, or scribe, asked Jesus this question only to test him, not to receive instruction (Luke 10:25). He stood up and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” If Christ had some special teaching, the lawyer hoped to draw it out and perhaps trap him. Or he may simply have wanted a religious discussion, the way some people attend church just to hear what the minister will say.

It was a good question in itself: What must I do to inherit eternal life? But it lost its goodness when asked with a bad or shallow purpose. It is not enough to talk about God’s things or ask about them. We must do it with real concern. If we speak about eternal life carelessly, only as a topic for debate, we take God’s name in vain, as this lawyer did.

When the question was raised, notice how Christ sent him back to the law of God and told him to follow it. Though Jesus knew the thoughts of his heart, he did not answer according to the foolish purpose behind the question. He answered with a question of his own: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). The lawyer came to question Christ, but Christ turned the questioning back on him and helped him see himself.

Jesus spoke to him as a lawyer, someone trained in the law. His own studies should have shown him the answer. If he practiced what he already knew, he would not fall short of eternal life. It is very useful for us, on the way to heaven, to think about what is written in the law and how we read it. We must go back to our Bibles, to the law as it now stands in Christ’s hands, and walk in the path it shows us.

It is a great mercy that the law is written down. That gives us certainty, lets it spread more widely, and helps it remain longer. Since we have it written, we should read it, understand it, and keep it in mind. Then, when needed, we can say what is written in the law and how we read it. We must appeal to it, test teachings by it, settle disputes by it, and let it guide us. “What is written in the law? How do we read?” If there is light in us, it will honor that light.

The lawyer then gave a good summary of the law, especially the chief commandments that we must keep if we want eternal life (Luke 10:27). He did not appeal to the traditions of the elders, as the Pharisees often did. Instead, he held to the two great commandments, which he rightly saw as standing at the heart of the whole law.

First, we must love God with all our hearts. We should see him as the best of all beings, infinitely lovely, perfect, and worthy of praise. We owe him the most, both in gratitude and because our very good depends on him. We should value him above all, measure ourselves by our relation to him, delight in him, and give ourselves fully to him. Our love for him must be sincere, deep, and strong. It must be greater than all other loves, as strong as death, yet thoughtful and aware of why we love him. It must be a complete love. He must have our whole hearts, and everything within us should serve him. We must love nothing else except as it is loved for him and under him.

Second, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. We can do this more easily if we love God more than ourselves, as we should. We must wish good to everyone and harm to no one. We should do all the good we can in the world and no hurt. We should make this our rule, to do to others as we would want them to do to us. That is what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Christ approved what the lawyer had said, even though the man had come to test him (Luke 10:28). Jesus said, “You have answered correctly.” Christ himself had said that these were the two great commandments of the law (Matthew 22:37), so both agreed on this. Those who do well should be praised for it, and those who speak well should be praised too.

But the hardest part still remained: “Do this, and you will live.” You will inherit eternal life if you truly keep these commandments. The lawyer was beginning to feel the force of Christ’s words. Jesus’ command showed that he had not done this as he should, and that he needed mercy for his past sins. It also showed that he could not keep the law perfectly in the future by his own strength, and that he needed help from God to do it. But he wanted to justify himself, so he did not want to continue down that path. In effect, he answered as another man did, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (Matthew 19:20).

Many people ask good questions, but mainly to make themselves look right, not to learn the truth. They would rather show what is good in them than honestly face what is wrong in them.

We also need to know who our neighbor is, because the second great commandment tells us to love our neighbor. This was another question the lawyer raised, and he raised it partly so he could move away from the first one. He feared that if Christ pressed on, he would be forced to condemn himself. Since he was set on justifying himself, he did not want that conversation to continue. As to loving God, he was ready to say no more. But when it came to his neighbor, he thought he had already met the standard, since he had always been kind and respectful to those around him.

Now we should notice the false idea the Jewish teachers had about this matter. Dr.

Lightfoot quotes the Jews as saying, in effect, “When Scripture says, ‘You shall love your neighbor,’ it leaves out all Gentiles, because they are not our neighbors, only people of our own nation and religion.” They even said they should not kill an Israelite for killing a Gentile, because the Gentile was not his neighbor. They would not feel bound to save a Gentile’s life if they saw him in danger, unless they were at war with him.

This was a wicked use of God’s covenant choice, the special way he had set Israel apart. Because they abused that privilege, they lost it. God rightly took away the favor they had despised and gave covenant blessings to the Gentile world, which they had cruelly denied even ordinary kindness.

Christ corrected this cruel idea by a parable. He showed that anyone who needs our help, and anyone who is willing to help us in our need, must be treated as our neighbor. So we must count all people as neighbors when they need our kindness, even if they do not belong to our nation or religion.

The parable itself shows a poor Jew in deep trouble, helped by a good Samaritan. First, consider how he was mistreated by his enemies. He was traveling peacefully on his lawful business along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30). That detail suggests this was likely a real event, or something very close to one. God’s providence gives us many lessons, if we will watch for them and make use of them.

This poor man fell among thieves. We do not know whether they were Arab raiders, lawless men from his own nation, or even Roman soldiers. But they were cruel. They did not only take his money and clothes, they wounded him and left him half dead, so he was close to dying from his injuries.

We may rightly feel anger toward highway robbers, who have shut out all humanity from their hearts. They act like wild beasts, beasts of prey, made to destroy. At the same time, we should feel compassion for those who fall into such men’s hands. When we can, we ought to help them. And how thankful we should be to God for keeping us safe from robbers and other dangers.

Next, see how he was ignored by those who should have helped him. They were not strangers, but people of his own nation and religion. One was a priest and the other a Levite, both men with public duty and respected standing. More than that, they were men who claimed holiness, and their office should have made them tender and compassionate (Hebrews 5:2). They should have taught others to rescue those who were drawn toward death, yet they would not do it themselves.

Dr. Lightfoot says many priests lived in Jericho and traveled this road to serve in Jerusalem, then returned the same way. That would have made this route full of priests and Levites coming and going. They came by, saw the wounded man, and likely heard his groans. The Levite even came and looked at him (Luke 10:32). Yet both passed by on the other side, keeping as far away as they could, as if they wanted to be able to say later, “We did not know.”

It is sad when those who should set an example of charity become examples of cruelty. It is even sadder when those whose duty is to show God’s mercy end up shutting up their own hearts.

Then see how he was helped by a stranger, a certain Samaritan, a man from the nation the Jews hated most and refused to deal with. This man had true humanity in him (Luke 10:33). The priest hardened his heart against one of his own people, but the Samaritan opened his heart to someone from another nation. When he saw him, he had compassion. He did not stop to ask what country he was from. He saw a man in misery and honored him as a man.

This was a real act of mercy, not empty pity. He did not only say, “Be helped,” or “Be healed” (James 2:16). He also acted with his hands and his resources, as Scripture teaches in (Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 58:10; Proverbs 31:20). First, he went to the wounded man, while the priest and Levite kept their distance. He likely asked how he had come to be in such misery and spoke kindly to him.

Second, he acted like a surgeon, though he may not have been one. He bound up the man’s wounds, likely using his own cloth, and poured on oil and wine. The wine would clean the wound, and the oil would soothe it and help it heal. He did all he could to ease the pain and reduce the danger, as one whose own heart was deeply moved.

Third, he put the man on his own animal and walked himself to an inn. It is a great kindness to have inns along the road, where travelers can get food and rest for their money. The Samaritan may have expected to reach his destination that night, but he stopped short to care for this wounded man. Some think the priest and Levite used temple duty as an excuse for not stopping. We may assume the Samaritan had his own business too, but he understood that mercy must come before personal plans and even before religious sacrifice.

Fourth, he cared for him at the inn. He got him into bed, provided suitable food, and arranged for proper attention. He may even have prayed with him. Fifth, as though the man were his own child, he left money with the innkeeper the next morning for the man’s care, and he promised to pay any further expense.

Two pence in their money was about fifteen pence in ours, and, at the values of that time, it would go a long way. Even so, it was only a sign of full payment for every need. This was kind and generous, about as much as one could expect from a friend or brother, and yet it was done by a stranger and a foreigner.

This parable also fits another purpose besides the one for which it was first told. It beautifully shows the kindness and love of God our Savior toward sinful, miserable people. We were like that poor traveler. Satan, our enemy, had robbed us, stripped us, and wounded us, and that is the harm sin had done to us. By nature we were more than half dead, twice dead in trespasses and sins, and completely unable to help ourselves, because we had no strength.

The law of Moses, like the priest and the Levite, who were ministers of the law, looked at us but had no pity on us. It gave us no help and passed by on the other side, because it had neither mercy nor power to save. Then came the blessed Jesus, the good Samaritan, though they once used that name as a reproach. He had compassion on us. He binds up our bleeding wounds (Psalm 147:3; Isaiah 61:1) and pours in, not oil and wine, but something far more precious, his own blood. He cares for us and tells us to put all the cost of our healing on his account. He did all this, though he was not one of us until he willingly stooped to make himself so, while in himself he was infinitely above us. This greatly shows the riches of his love and leaves us all saying, “How much do we owe, and what can we give back?” (2.)

The lesson of the parable is then pressed from the lawyer’s own mouth. “Now tell me,” says Christ, “which of these three was neighbor to the man who fell among thieves, the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan?” Which of them acted as a neighbor? The lawyer should have answered, “Surely the Samaritan did.” Instead, he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” In other words, he admitted that the Samaritan was the true neighbor, and that it was a good deed to save an honest Jew from dying.

The duty that follows is driven home to the lawyer’s conscience: “Go, and do likewise.” The duties of related people go both ways. The names friend, brother, and neighbor bind both sides, as Grotius notes. If one side is bound, the other side cannot be free, just as is true in any contract. If a Samaritan does right by helping a distressed Jew, then a Jew does wrong if he refuses to help a distressed Samaritan in the same way. These kinds of good acts should be returned in kind.

So go and do as the Samaritan did whenever the chance comes. Show mercy to those who need your help, and do it freely, with real concern and compassion, even if they are not from your own nation, your own church, your own opinions, or your own religious group. Let your love be broad before you boast that you have kept the great command to love your neighbor. This lawyer thought highly of his learning and his knowledge of the law, and he hoped to trap Christ with it. But Christ sends him back to school to learn from a Samaritan: “Go, and do like him.”

It is the duty of every one of us, in our own place and according to our ability, to help, support, and relieve all who are in trouble and need, and lawyers especially. In this, we must seek to excel many who are proud of being priests and Levites.