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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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12.

NO LOVE, NO LIFE

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there care down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave then to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

--Luke 10:25-37

NO LOVE, NO LIFE

"Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Having asked the question, the expert in the law of Moses stood there smugly, sure in himself that Jesus could not name even one religious duty that he and his colleagues in religion were not performing. The Galillean would have to admit that they were indeed righteous, and that would put to silence His judgments against them.

Wisely the Master replied with a question: "What is written in the law?" In other words, if you want the answers to the great questions of life, go to the Bible.

Surprisingly the lawyer gave the right answer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself."

Jesus replied, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." That is, love and you will live.

The professional holy man was caught in his own trap. According to contemporary religious thinking, righteousness was a performance, not a condition of the heart. So all he had in mind was a catalog of duties, and he was confident that he was living up to the complete list.

But somehow the scorned Nazarene had reached past his tidy little ethical system and was pointing his finger at the hollow core of the man's character, exposing a heart void of love.

"But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" (verse 29).

Now he wants to play word games with the Bible. Wrong Biblical interpretation is often an attempt to make the word of God fit one's own ideas and thereby nullify its judgement on one's lifestyle. The rules are simple: If you do not like what the Bible says, explain it away. It is a popular game, but very deadly.

The gentleman got technical over the word, "neighbor." He was trying to justify himself by imprisoning the word within the boundaries selfish legalism had placed on it.

But Jesus refused to play the game. The Lord exposed the hypocrisy in what is known as the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The road from Jerusalem down to Jericho was dangerous. Robbers lurked in its lonely stretches. To make the journey alone was literally to take one's life in one's own hands.

One man did, and was way-laid. Stripped and wounded he lay unconscious and in danger of dying.

A priest came by. Many priests lived in Jericho in those days. They went up to Jerusalem whenever their turn came to serve in the temple.

A Levite also passed by. Possibly he, too, was on his way to or from his religious duties.

Both men saw the victim. Both men left him and went on their way. Possibly they had plausible excuses. It was risky to stop along that road. Delay was dangerous. The robbers might be lurking nearby, waiting to ambush anyone who stopped to help the man.

And who knows? He might be a decoy, faking injury to lure someone into a trap. Better not take any chances!

Or what if the man were dead? If they touched the body, they would be ceremonially unclean. They just could not risk that!

Anyway, it was his own fault, they might have reasoned. He knew the risks of traveling this road. He took the chance. Too bad!

Likely they had some feelings about what had happened. Indignation--why don't the Romans provide better protection! Pity--we surely do feel sorry for the poor fellow. Their emotions satisfied them.

Then along came a Samaritan, one of those despised half-breeds from the north. His conduct revealed the qualities of genuine love.

The lawyer could quote the verse. The Samaritan lived it. He showed love to be a rational decision to secure the highest good whenever need and opportunity were present, to anyone without prejudice, in spite of fear, and to follow through logically and responsibly even if it should mean personal cost.

The real question is not, "Who is my neighbor?" but, "To whom can I be a neighbor?" The lawyer's question condemned him.

Legalism looks for limits. Love looks for opportunities. Selfishness searches for every possible excuse. Love finds a way past all obstacles.

Now we must be careful not to make parables teach what Jesus did not teach. He did not teach that we can obtain salvation by our good works, by being a "Good Samaritan." Works done to gain merit are just as selfish and void of love as the religious works of the priest and the Levite.

Neither did the Lord teach that humaneness by itself is a substitute for true religion. A person who is saved will be a good Samaritan, but imitating the good Samaritan is not the way to be saved. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

If God's love is in the heart, it will express itself in good works. But good works are not proof of love. First Corinthians 13:3 tells us that it is possible to give all our goods to feed the poor, and yet not have love.

In this parable Jesus is making clear the nature of true righteousness. He is showing us that there is no true religion apart from true morality, and that there is no true morality without love. Without love there is no holiness.

Throughout the parable Jesus kept the lawyer's original question in focus. He had asked how to obtain eternal life. Eternal life is the gift of God received by faith. Saving faith involves opening the heart to the love of God. Without love there is no eternal life.

Jesus made it clear: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).

So let us ask ourselves, "Do I have the love of God? Do people know that I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?"

All of us have opportunities to show the love of God. "Neighbors" are everywhere. "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).

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13. Keep On Praying

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