Notes on the Story of the Good Samaritan

[I'm hoping for the opportunity to preach through this passage soon.]

Luke 10:25-37

I. Introduction: The Lawyer's Test of Jesus (vv. 25-29)
A. And a lawyer: An expert in the Mosaic Law; a Bible scholar.
B. stood up and put Him to the test: The lawyer's question was not a genuine search for wisdom, but an attempt to make Jesus look foolish, if possible.
C. saying, "Teacher:" The lawyer does not call Jesus "Master" or "Lord," which would have indicated the lawyer was willing to become a follower of Jesus; the lawyer does not call Jesus "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (as Peter later does), which would have indicated that the lawyer had been given a spiritual sense of who Jesus was from God; rather, the lawyer merely calls Him "Teacher," the mildest title of respect possible.
D. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" A fine question, what can be done in this life to gain eternal life, but notice the lawyer's emphasis on doing, rather than belief or dependence on mercy.
E. And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” Jesus points the lawyer back to Scripture to answer this most important of questions.
F. 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:” The lawyer gives an accurate summary of the Law; Jesus and Paul give identical summaries of the Law elsewhere in the New Testament.
G. And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE:” Obedience to the Law (perfect obedience) carries the promise of life.
H. But wishing to justify himself: The requirement of obedience would condemn the lawyer, but he sought to justify himself; the lawyer turned his attention to what may be considered the easier part of the Law (love of neighbor rather than love of God) and sought to restrict the definition of "neighbor."

II. Body: The Story of the Good Samaritan (vv. 30-35)
A. The Traveler Was Abused By Enemies (v. 30)
B. The Traveler Was Forsaken By His Countrymen (vv. 31-32)
1. A Priest and A Levite: Those with religious office, who would have been expected to be the most moral; in our culture, this would be similar to saying a preacher and a deacon.
2. passed by on the other side: To avoid ceremonial impurity, and as if to have some pretense of not having seen the traveler.
C. The Traveler Was Helped By A Stranger (vv. 33-35)
1. A Samaritan: The Samaritans were a race fiercely hated by the Jewish nation in Jesus' day, due to the Samaritans' religious syncretism and due to recent military conflicts with the Samaritans.
2. and when he saw him, he felt compassion: The Samaritan was not searching the highways and byways for wounded travelers, he simply came upon a person in need and did what he could to help him; by extension, we would feel no moral outrage against the priest and Levite had they been genuinely ignorant of the traveler's plight, but because they saw yet ignored him, they are subject to righteous indignation.
3. "Take care of him; and... I will repay you:" The Samaritan went to extraordinary lengths of self-sacrifice to care for the abused traveler.

III. Conclusion: Jesus' Challenge to the Lawyer (vv. 36-37)
A. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” Jesus reverses the lawyer's question; the Christian man does not seek to limit his neighbors, but to act as a neighbor to those in need.
B. And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.”
The point of Jesus' parable is crystal clear.
C. Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Jesus sends this lawyer back to school and calls him to repentance. As Matthew Henry notes: "Let thy charity be thus extensive, before thou boastest of having conformed thyself to that great commandment of loving thy neighbour."