Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 10:25-37.
As Jesus continues His journey toward Jerusalem, a lawyer comes to test Jesus with a question concerning how the Law relates to eternal life. Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer, who answers correctly from the Law of Moses. Yet the lawyer wants to justify himself; knowing that he has not loved perfectly, he seeks a loophole in which neighbors he is required to love. Jesus responds with the illustration of the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite are caught up in legalistic minutiae of the Law; the Samaritan does what the Law cannot do in showing self-sacrificial love only for the good of the wounded man. By this illustration, Jesus calls the lawyer out of the legalistic interpretation of the Law and into the Gospel of God’s love for sinners, shown to the fullest by Jesus in His life, death, and resurrection.
“The Beloved Physician’s Orderly Account” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the Gospel according to St. Luke. The Evangelist wrote his well-researched account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection so that Theophilus would have certainty concerning the things he had been taught. As we still read the Word of God recorded by St. Luke, our gracious Lord gives us that same certainty that Jesus is our Savior.
Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.
Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Footnotes
- Luke 10:35 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org
