Go and do likewise

How do you think this story ends?

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.”

Luke 10:36-37

Jesus, like with the first question of "what must I do to inherit eternal life," turns the question of "who is my neighbor" back to the expert in the law to answer himself. By doing this, Jesus is leaving the man no room to argue. When Jesus tells him to "Go and do likewise" the implication that if he doesn't do likewise, he doesn't inherit eternal life. It is perhaps Jesus' way of telling him that faith without works is dead.

• What does it mean to have mercy on someone? compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence
• What are some ways that you can show mercy to others?
• Now that we've studied this story for a few days, who are neighbors that you can love better? How?

Along comes the Samaritan

If you know this story, then you know what's coming next.

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, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two silver coins 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.’

Luke 10:33-35

Let's review a little bit of this story:

• An expert in the law talks to Jesus
• What must I do to inherit eternal life
• Love God... and love your neighbor...
• Who is my neighbor?
• Jesus tells a parable
• A man gets robbed, beaten, stripped, and left for dead
• A priest passes by on the other side of the road
• A Levite passes by on the other side of the road

The man who was robbed - we really don't know anything about him except that he was robbed. Was he Jewish? Was he Samaritan? Was he a foreigner? We don't know. He was left for dead by the robbers. Maybe the priest and the Levite thought he was dead and didn't want to make themselves unclean by touching a dead body. Maybe they thought that it was a trap and they would be attacked if they helped. Maybe they thought that the man was an enemy and they didn't want to help him. We don't know. The priest and the Levite were men that the expert in the law would have looked up to and maybe he would have excused their not helping the man. But the Samaritan man - a man that the expert in the law would have looked down on - wasn't concerned about anything but helping the man who had been robbed. If we were to restate this parable in our world, the Samaritan man, would have stopped, pulled out his first aid kit, bandaged the man's wounds, drove him to the hospital, paid his hospital bill, and promised to pay any additional medical bills while the man was hospitalized. He would have paid this all out of his own pocket even though the medical bills alone would probably total thousands of dollars! The Samaritan, like the priest and the Levite, didn't know anything about the man who was robbed. Would he have liked the Samaritan if they had met in other circumstances or would the man have looked down on the Samaritan as inferior and unlikable like most Jewish people of the time did? Was the man who was robbed an enemy of the Samaritans? Was it a trap? The Samaritan didn't care, he just looked out for the mans needs.

• What does it mean that the Samaritan had pity on the man who was robbed?
• What did the Samaritan personally give up to help the man?
  • He used his own bandages, etc.
  • He put him on his own donkey - which meant that the Samaritan probably had to walk rather than ride.
  • He took care of him at the inn
  • He used his own money to pay for the inn
• Think again about the expert in the law. Considering that men he would look up to didn't help the man who got robbed and that a man who he probably disliked or hated did help the man, how do you think the expert in the law felt about it?

Who is my neighbor?

What do you remember about our story from yesterday?

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 fell into the hands of 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.

Luke 10:29-32

The expert in the law had asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the law said and he replied "Love God... and love your neighbor...". Perhaps this expert in the law was thinking loving God is easy and the people next door they're not too bad. But there's some people down the street from me that I don't like too much. I wonder if I need to love them too. Maybe I'd better get some clarification on this.

Jesus started to answer this question of who is my neighbor by seemingly NOT answering his question. Who was the man going from Jerusalem? Jesus doesn't say who he was or why he was in Jerusalem (worshiping at the temple, working in Jerusalem, or was he a merchant?) or why he was going to Jericho (did he live there, was he just visiting, was he trying to sell things there?) - He just says what happened to him: He got mugged. He was robbed, beaten, and left at the side of the road. We read of two men who passed him by: a priest and a Levite. Both of these men likely had been serving in the temple and were perhaps on their way home to Jericho. Yet both of these men passed by on the other side of the road!

• What did the man who was robbed need?
• Did the priest and the Levite notice the man who had been robbed?
• Do you suppose they "rubber-necked" as they walked by?
  • What do you suppose was on their minds as they passed by?
  • Why might they have chosen not to help this man?
  • How do you react when you see people in need?
• Does it seem like Jesus is answering the question "who is my neighbor"?

What must I do?

Have you ever wondered what it is you're supposed to do? What do you need to do to earn dessert after dinner? What do you need to do to pass the swim test? What do you need to do to get your room clean enough that your mother will be happy with it? Often times we're looking for a nice easy answer. Sometimes we find that the answer is not as easy as we hoped it would be.

This week we'll be looking at a Bible story that at first looks like it has an easy answer but when you look at it further, it gets a wee bit more complicated. Let's start looking at the story in Luke 10:25-28.

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’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

The man asking Jesus the question here is an expert in the Law. He knows his Bible well. He asks Jesus a question that we all really want the answer to.

• What question does He ask Jesus? How do I inherit eternal life
• What does Jesus ask him? What does the Bible say?
• The answer is one that all good Jews in Jesus day would have known by heart. "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 "Love your neighbor as yourself." Does Jesus agree with this? Yes, he told the man to do it.
• Do you think it is easy to do this?
  • What are some things that might keep you from loving God?
  • What are some things that might keep you from loving your neighbor?

Science and God's authority

²³ The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ "Have you not noticed that these people are saying, 'The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms he chose'? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation. ²⁵ This is what the LORD says: 'If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.' "

Jeremiah 33:23-26

We come to a close of our study of Jeremiah 33. Here we see God reflecting back on the "covenant breaking" condition we looked at yesterday. Creating day, night, and all of the laws of nature is God's authority for being able to make the covenant with His people. If He doesn't govern all of heaven and earth, what authority does He have and what power does He have to ensure His covenant is kept. When you see the sun rise or when you throw something up and watch it fall - that is evidence that God can keep His covenant. When water freezes at 32° F, that should remind us of God keeping His promises. The next time you put ice in your lemonade, you can thank God that He keeps His covenants!

Breaking Covenant

¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: 'David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.' "

¹⁹ The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁰ "This is what the LORD says: 'If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, ²¹ then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. ²² I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.' "

Jeremiah 33:17-22

Do you know what a covenant is? Dictionary.com's #1 definition is "an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified." God has made covenants with His people. Here in this passage, God restates what we know as the Davidic Covenant. He promises that ultimately Jesus - a descendent of David - will rule forever. God will not break the covenants He has made. Or will He?

In this passage, God actually gives a condition where he will break his covenant. What? Look back at verse 20. "If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time," All the Jewish people have to do to get God to break the covenant is to stop day from happening during daytime and night from happening during nighttime. Does anyone want to give that a try?

Waiting

¹² "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In this place, desolate and without men or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. ¹³ In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says the LORD.

¹⁴ " 'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

¹⁵ " 'In those days and at that time
      I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line;
      he will do what is just and right in the land.

¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved
      and Jerusalem will live in safety.
      This is the name by which it will be called:
      The LORD Our Righteousness.'

Jeremiah 33:12-16

As we continue on with our study of Jeremiah 33, I want to look particularly at two things in this passage:

• God fulfills His promises
  • Notice in verse 14 that God says "I will fulfull the gracious promis I made"
  • By saying "I will" God is referring to the future.
  • He doesn't say when and He doesn't say how long it will be.
  • Have you ever been disappointed by a promise that wasn't fulfilled immediately?
  • Do you think God is trustworthy and will fulfill His promises?
• He promises a deliverer for His people. This person...
  • will be a descendent of David (v 15: from David's line)
  • "will do what is just and right" (v 15)
  • will save people (v 16)
  • will be known as "The LORD Our Righteousness" (v 16)
  • Who do you think this prophecy is about?