!["File:Sobiepan]("http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Sobiepan_Good_Samaritan.jpg")
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Such is the royal law, as given my Moses.
"And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12: 31)
But the law is weak and beggarly elements compared to the Grace of Christ:
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. You can give something from far away, and not have your heart in it, even.
But Jesus came to us, even when we did not care or even know Him (Romans 5: 8)
The Law tells us what we must do.
Grace focuses on what Jesus is doing.
Remember that He comes to live in us, and to live through us.
This life is not our life, but Himself:
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)
and
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14: 6)
I just noticed the present tense "saith" or "says" – Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His present statement will never change. Today, He is your Life, and He was for you and me yesterday, and will be our life forever (Hebrews 13: 8). Does not change!
Now, Jesus is also our neighbor, in that He loves us since of ourselves we can do nothing (John 15: 5)
Consider this parable from Luke 10:
"25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27And 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 neighbour as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
About this portion, a few revelations worth manifesting.
A lawyer during Jesus' earthly ministry was not an advocate who represented clients in a court of law, but a master-teacher who knew the Torah, or the law of Moses thoroughly. In this passage, we see the teacher as a type of the law, while Jesus, who is grace and truth combined, responding to the temptations to justify the law rather than magnify God's grace.
When Jesus says to the lawyer "Do this, and you shall live", I thought: how can one do anything in order to live? We have to live first before we can do anything. We have to have life in order to accomplish anything.
Yet the law was given to nan precisely to show that he is dead, has no life, and needs more than just a set of rules, but needs the death in trespasses removed from himself. Instead of recognizing the impossibility for man to earn righteousness by his works, the lawyer tries to justify himself.
Such is the effect of living under law: the never-ending efforts to make oneself righteous, when the law was never designed to make us holy in the first place (Romans 5: 20; Galatians 3: 19)
To answer this question, which was not a question of doubt but unbelief and self-righteousness, Jesus offered this account:
"30And 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. 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34And 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. 35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke 10: 25-37)
This certain man is a picture of all of us, men and women who because of Adam have left the city of Peace because of sin.
We have been robbed and deposes from reigning in life at birth, because of Adam, who fell for Satan's lie (Genesis 3:1-8). Satan is a robber, but because of sin and death, we are all half-dead,
Now, two representatives of the Law of Moses pass by this "certain man". The priest and the Levite cannot help a fallen man, or else they will be defiled.
The law does not help us, but rather shows us how helpless we are and magnifies are half-dead state.
Then comes the Samaritan, who is a picture of Jesus. Samaritans were half-Jewish, half-Gentile, despised by the Jews of Jerusalem. A source of scorn to the religious leaders, as well, but not to Jesus, who had to go through Samaria in order to minister to the woman at the well (John 4).
The Samaritan represents Jesus because the Body of Christ is made of Jew and Gentile:
"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." (Ephesians 2: 11-15)
Now, the Samaritan, who is not under law, acts out of grace for this half-dead sojourner on the road. He treats the wounded man with wine and oil. Wine represents the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us from all our sins:
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11: 25)
The oil represents the Holy Spirit, who grants us God's life in us.
"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." (1 John 2: 20)
and then
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2: 27)
Not only does the Samaritan heal the half-dead man's wounds to revive him, but then he sets the wounded on his beast. This is a picture of Jesus' placing us in heavenly places at the right hand of God the Father.
Remember that Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey (Matthew 21: 1-10)
And
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: " (Ephesians 2: 4-6)
Now, Jesus our Good Samaritan does not just cleanse us of our sins, give us His life, and grant us His standing in the world. He also delivers us to a safe place, where we rest and receive all things from Him, and can rest assured all the more that any needs we have, He is richly supplying them:
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)
and then
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4: 19)
But then comes the question from Jesus:
"Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?"
Who was neighbor – not who is my neighbor.
The lawyer, refusing to say "Samarita", actually gave the best answer:
37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
The law offers no mercy, no grace to fallen man in this fallen world. Jesus does, though, and He wants us to do the same. As we receive the abundance of His grace and righteousness (Romans 5: 17), we then grant grace to others (Ephesians 4: 31-32)
Jesus then finishes with:
"Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke 10: 25-37)
Be gracious!
This parable is not a stern demand that we help ever hitchhiker fallen among thieves. There are many who engage in "charity" but have not love, and nothing profits from all that they do (1 Corinthians 13)
Let us go from the law and enter into Jesus' grace. Let Jesus be your neighbor today, and let Him supply every one of your needs!