Foot Washing
Preached by Mike Aiken
October 13, 2013
Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Introduction
Today we conclude our series on Gospel DNA which looked at 6 family traits. This is who we should be as a Church. We should bleed the gospel. We need to be all about the grace of God- His unmerited favor and kindness to us in Christ Jesus His only Son. Two weeks ago we saw how the gospel is the foundation for our transformed living which occurs in Christian community which means we are in deep meaningful sharpening relationships. Mike Grenier showed how the three common ills of American culture- individualitis, finitis, and consumeritis are all cured by the gospel of God’s mercy for us in Christ (Rom. 12). Last week we looked at “Missional Living” from 2 Cor. 5:17-21- where we were challenged with three questions based on the text: 1. Do you think of yourself as a new creation (v.17)? 2. Do you think of yourself as a new creation missionary (vv. 18-20)? And 3. Do you think of yourself as a new creation missionary of God’s righteousness (v. 21)? In that final question Jason challenged us to not fall back into a merit system of thinking we can earn God’s righteousness. Salvation is by grace alone and our justification is being declared righteous by the very righteousness of Christ on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). With that in mind I would like to turn our attention to today’s text- Luke 10:25-37. There are four major points I would like you to see- they are simple and yet packed full of goodies for us to partake of today.
I. The first question: What must I do to inherit eternal life (v.25)?
a. Though the question is asked with a wrong motivation it is nevertheless a good question.
b. This question was asked by others to Jesus, such as the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18: “And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”
II. The answer (vv. 26-28)
a. Jesus answers with two questions (v.26)
i. “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Jesus also pointed the rich young ruler to the law when he also asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.
ii. So, instead of answering the question directly Jesus counter-questions. Jesus’ questions have to do with what this lawyer was an expert in, the Law of Moses. The Law was given by God to the Children of Israel right after the Exodus from Egypt, right after the salvation of the Nation from the bondage of the Egyptians. Exodus 20:1,2 says: “And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” God gives the Law to His people after he redeemed them. He didn’t save them by the Law but by His power and good pleasure. Ultimately, the Exodus points to the greatest deliverance of all, the sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ on our behalf (Lk. 9:31; 1 Cor. 5:7).
b. The expert in the law answers with the two greatest commands (v.27)
i. “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’”
ii. Loving God with all our being is referring to Dt. 6:5: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
iii. Loving your neighbor as yourself refers to Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
c. Jesus affirms his answer (v.28) Is Jesus teaching salvation by works righteous?
i. “And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”
ii. Does that startle you? Doesn’t it seem like a contradiction? It does seem like a contradiction but it is not. Is Jesus teaching that keeping the Law of God, say the ten commandments, will save us? No. Was the Law ever given to save us? No! If the Law was intended to save us then Jesus never had to die as a sacrifice on the cross to remove our sins. The only way Law keeping could give anyone eternal life is if they weren’t born sinners, and we all are in Adam, and then we would need to keep the Law perfectly. After keeping the Law perfectly, that is never breaking it in our thoughts, words, or deeds, then we would be ushered into eternal life. But, the reality is we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. No amount of Law keeping will ever earn you God’s forgiveness. One of the purposes of the Law was to show us our sinful condition before our holy/loving God and to lead us to the Savior as the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6). Gal. 2:21: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Illustration: Christian in the allegory of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Christian before he becomes a Christian has a book in his hand and a heavy burden on his back which he is aware of because of what he reads in the Bible. He knows he needs to leave the city of destruction where he lives and flee the wrath to come. Evangelist tells him the right way to go to get the burden off his back which refers to the condemnation of the law which he is guilty of breaking. He meets people along the way who seek to turn him away from the wicket gate which the Evangelist says is where he needs to go. Evangelist is leading him to the Cross of Christ but these “friends” called Obstinate, Pliable, and Mr. Worldy Wiseman are trying to persuade him not to go to the Wicket Gate where he will meet the Savior.
iii. Jesus wasn’t teaching works salvation by obeying the law to this Lawyer, but what he was doing was using the law to show the man that he stood guilty before God. This lawyer thought he was not a guilty sinner and I do believe he was feeling the pinch of what Jesus told him to do: Keep the Law Perfectly. When Jesus said “do this” it was in the present tense and this means he had to continually keep it. C.H. Spurgeon gives this helpful point when he preached on this passage: “But let it never be forgotten that what the Law demands of us, the Gospel produces in us. The Law tells us what we ought to be and it is one objective of the Gospel to raise us to that condition. Therefore our Savior’s teaching, though it is eminently practical, is always evangelical. Even in expounding the Law He has always a Gospel design. Two ends are served by His setting up a high standard of duty. On the one He slays the self-righteousness which claims to have kept the law by making men feel the impossibility of salvation by their own works. And on the other hand, He calls Believers away from all content with the mere decencies of life and the routine of outward religion and stimulates them to seek after the highest degree of holiness- indeed, after that excellence of character which only his Grace can give!” (Sermon #1360). We now move to the second question which shows the problem with this Lawyer. He wanted to justify himself. He didn’t see himself as a law breaker!
III. The second question: Who is my neighbor (v.29)?
a. “This parable is an example of how the ‘wise and understanding’ (v. 21) do not understand even the simplest commands of Scripture (cf. v.27c with Lev. 19:18)” (ESV Study Bible, p.1976)
b. Desiring to justify himself? This shows his insincerity. His question is also a wrong one: Who is my neighbor? He should have been asking, if he was sincere, how I can be a better neighbor. Many of the Jewish religious leaders, like this lawyer, had a narrow view of who their neighbor was. They saw their neighbor as only referring to Jews and not to other people groups.
IV. The answer: the parable of the good Samaritan- (vv. 30-37)
a. This parable is only found in Luke’s gospel. In this story we see what it means to be a good neighbor and Jesus does answer the question of the lawyer and makes it clear that our neighbor is every person no matter their race, and that when they have needs we are to show compassion and tangibly meet those needs. The point of the parable is to answer the question who is our neighbor and also to show how to be a good neighbor. To allegorize the parable is to rob it of its original intent which Jesus makes abundantly clear with his final question and application (vv. 36-37).
b. Jesus is not teaching salvation by good works but he is teaching that every believer in Jesus Christ does good works because they are saved by grace through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-10 teaches salvation by grace alone which results in good works). Good works are not the means or way of getting justified (saved) but they are the evidence that you are justified (Jas. 2:14-17 says: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” The reformers of the 16th century said we are saved by faith alone but not by a faith that stands alone. Works are the fruit or the evidence that you are truly saved by faith in Christ.
c. Jesus is telling us to be like the good Samaritan and not like the Priest or the Levite. The story starts in verse 30: “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. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.”
d. The Priest was a descendant of Aaron, was appointed by God to teach the people the Law and to administer the duties of worship in the Temple with all the sacrifices and offerings to God. He would have taught the people to love their neighbors as themselves but when he had an opportunity to help someone who was in desperate need he avoided the person. There are no excuses for this behavior. He was not loving his neighbor (the man who was half-dead was most probably a Jew).
e. V. 32-The Levites were from the tribe of Levi but not descendants of Aaron and they assisted the Priests in the Temple. They were also familiar with God’s Law but this Levite also failed to love his neighbor and avoided the situation.
f. VV. 33-35-The Samaritan was not a pure Jew. He was part Jew and part Gentile (Assyrian). “Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew (cf. John 4:9; 8:48) (ESV Study Bible, p. 1977). The original hearers of this story would have expected a Jewish layman to be the hero not a Samaritan. This would have caused them to be shocked.
g. Note the things the Samaritan does: (1) He sees the need and has compassion which means he does something tangibly about it (v. 33). (2) He uses what he has to medically care for the injured man’s wounds (v.34). Wine would be an antiseptic with its alcohol content and olive oil would be soothing. He is using the means of creation to bring about healing and this is biblical. He further puts the man on his donkey and walks to an inn, a place of safety (3) He pays for the expenses with 2 denarii which paid for possibly 2 months. Even if it didn’t the Samaritan would take care of all the costs associated with this man’s getting better when he returned. Love is sacrificial and costly.
h. Jesus asked the question at the end of the story to get a response (v. 36). Jesus’ question is active rather than the lawyer’s question which was passive. Jesus does answer who are neighbor is but goes even further and shows by the story how to be a good neighbor and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
i. Illustration: “Call the Mid-Wife” Series 2 and episode two showed the brave mid-wife (Jennie) sacrificing her safety by going back to help a pregant wife who was being physically beated and mistreated by her husband. Our love and good works will be costly and sacrificial. It will mess up our schedules and be inconvenient. We will be tempted to be like the Priest and the Levite and just be too busy and not want to be inconvenienced.
Conclusion
May God give us the grace to be like the good Samaritan. Jesus makes it very clear what the application of the parable is to be. We are to imitate the good Samaritan. We are to do this individually and corporately as a Church. Jesus says to us all, “You go, and do likewise.”
Appendix to the message on allegorizing the Parable: Matthew Henry makes this comment,
“Now this parable is applicable to another purpose than that for which it was intended; and does excellently set forth the kindness and love of God our Savior towards sinful miserable man. We were like this poor distressed traveler. Satan, our enemy, had robbed us, stripped us, wounded us; such is the mischief that sin had done us. We were by nature more than half dead, twice dead, in trespasses and sins; utterly unable to help ourselves, for we were without strength. The law of Moses, like the priest and Levite, the ministers of the law, looks upon us, but has no compassion on us, gives us no relief, passes by on the other side, as having neither pity nor power to help us; but then comes the blessed Jesus, that good Samaritan (and they said of him, by way of reproach, he is a Samaritan), he has compassion on us, he binds up our bleeding wounds (Ps. 147:3; Isa. 61:1), pours in, not oil and wine, but that which is infinitely more precious, his own blood. He takes care of us, and bids us put all the expenses of our cure upon his account; and all this though he was none of us, till he was pleased by his voluntary condescension to make himself so, but infinitely above us. This magnifies the riches of his love, and obliges us all to say, "How much are we indebted, and what shall we render?'' (Matthew Henry Commentary vol. 5, p. 555).
C.H.Spurgeon said concerning the allegorizing this parable that “I do not think that our Divine Lord intended to teach anything about Himself in this parable, except so far as He is the great Exemplar of all goodness. He was answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and He was not preaching about Himself at all.” (Sermon # 1360 in the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit)
