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The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy
faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee,
that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to
attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Gospel
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lessed
are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not
seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What
is written in the law? how readest thou? And 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. And he
said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and
thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbour? And 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. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw
him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the
place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had
compassion on him, and 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. And 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. Which now of these three, thinkest
thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said,
He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go,
and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:23-37)
In order to fully understand the situation confronting Christ, we must observe
that which the Lectionary failed to include – the preceding two verses that
reveal the setting. In that hour Jesus rejoiced
in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are
delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the
Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. (Luke10:21-22) Those whose high-minded thoughts are
infatuated with the Self of the Ivory Tower will not understand the Words given
by Christ here. Those men are much too good to get a handle on such simplicity
as the Gospel represents. They must add to it their own complicated and
sophisticated interpretations and render those in words which they can barely
understand themselves and, certainly, not understood of those who are so simple
as to know only Christ.
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the
same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:2-4)
I am not so proud of my title as to be very happy to become a simple,
little child for Christ. All of the lawyers, Scribes, and Pharisees gathered
about not only would not believe, but refused to believe, the simple Gospel
that had been given to the simple disciples of Christ. Note the grace of God
evidenced in the last verse of the quote: “…and
no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the
Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” Has Jesus revealed His Father to
you, Friend?
“And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things
which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear,
and have not heard them.” What standing and privilege we have to
have come into the knowledge of the Gospel. We have been given greater
privilege than many prophets and kings. Have we treasured the privilege above
all others?
Jesus is speaking in a public place and gathered around were those who would
have enjoyed presenting a question that would have undermined His wisdom and
knowledge. I am amazed that they continued so to do for they were constantly
made fools by the attempt. There is a “certain lawyer” present who felt able to
place Christ on the spot with a question which it was the Lord’s very specialty
to answer: “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood
up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Is this a very good question? No, it is not. The premise of the question is
wrong for there is nothing that we can DO to inherit eternal life – it is a
gift of God. Jesus, being the most able of all teachers, gives the inquirer
another question in response to fathom the depths of the inquirer’s knowledge
as well as cause for deeper thought on the matter: “What
is written in the law? how readest thou?” Should not all of us
determine our answers to questions of eternity on God’s Law? Should we not all
have read it and meditated thereon? How does the lawyer, very apt at
deciphering law, read the question? This is an excellent technique to determine
– not the depth of the lawyer’s knowledge, but the want of knowledge.
The lawyer answered very ably for he knew the ‘words’ of the law, but perhaps
not the spirit of it: “And 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.”
The lawyer may recognize the technical qualities of a diamond, but he cannot
know the source of its beauty.
Note how respectfully Christ treats the question and answer of the lawyer who
seeks to ‘tempt’ him. “And he said unto him, Thou
hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” If credit is
due, you may always expect it from Christ.
The lawyer realizes that he has failed to reveal any indiscretion in the answer
of Christ and seeks to justify his inquiry and standing by pressing further. By
asking this next question, he hopes to weaken the credibility of Christ in
whatever He claims as a neighbor. “But he,
willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?"
We can clearly see by the motive and attitude that the lawyer is less in earnest
to understand truth, than to place his witness off balance. His interest is not
truth, but justification of himself which he is incapable of doing just like
every other sinner.
These next beautiful lines of a Parable of Christ are among the most beloved
and noteworthy of the Gospels and repeated almost daily in general
conversation: “Come on, be a good Samaritan and loan me some money!” or
“The life of a victim of an automobile accident this morning was saved by a
good Samaritan who just happened on the scene of the accident shortly after it
happened.” Do we not hear such accounts daily?
“And 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. And by
chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he
passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place,
came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had
compassion on him, And 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. And 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. Which now of these three, thinkest
thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?”
Here we see unsurpassing grace and a full figure of our Lord Himself described.
In what way, you ask? Because we were that man who went DOWN the road of
life and were beaten by the devil and his friends. We were left to die until a
good Samaritan (Christ) came along – going UP to the Holy City – and treated
our hurts and sores with His own riches and Being. He did so after even those
who were considered ‘holy’ passed us by. He cared for our wounds, and placed us
on His own beast, and took us to a place of security, and continued to treat
our hurts, and purchased our continued treatment and security until He returns
for us. This is part of the spiritual meaning, but there is also a general
application that presents in our own lives and those of other Christians.
This ‘certain man’ that went down
(the wrong direction) the road from Jerusalem, the Holy City, to Jericho, a
worldly city, was a Jew. He it was who, it was suspected, would have a bag of
money hidden on his person for commerce. Being a Jew, he had every right to
expect help from his religious leaders of the same race. He would have found
the gentile Samaritans (half-blooded Jews) to have been unworthy of his
friendship and beneath his class. He would never have lifted a finger to
help the ‘unclean’ Samaritan.
Alas, he falls among thieves who are waiting along the path in ambush. The
devil sets many ambushes for us to destroy both our faith and our persons. The
thieves took all that the man had, even including his raiment (clothes) and
left him half-dead. Do you know that all who know not Christ have been left
half-dead along life’s road? Satan would prefer to leave us half-dead than
fully dead so that we may cause others to follow our folly. This is true of
combat. The enemy would prefer to seriously wound our soldier than to kill him.
Why? Because many support personnel are required to treat a wounded warrior,
but far less to bury one such soldier.
Note that a priest and a Levite comes along, going DOWN (the wrong direction)
as well, to Jericho. It may be presumed that they had just completed Temple
duties and were cleansed. But these two had yet to learn the meaning of the
Lord’s words: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of
God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea6:6) Temple worship, or indeed
any worship, will not suffice apart from a love of God and our fellow men. The
priest clearly sees the man, we are told, but decides not to help the man or to
touch blood which would have made him ‘unclean.’ The Levite sees the man and,
at least comes to where he is and looks on him. But then goes the way of the
priest. Both are guilty of lack of mercy and compassion – ingredients of
character that cannot coexist in evil hearts.
Now comes a Samaritan UP the Road to Jerusalem. Unlike the priest, the Jew, and
the Levite, this man is traveling in the RIGHT direction. (Psalm 1) Note the actions of the Good Samaritan:
1) “came
where he was” As Christians, we must GO to where the need is
greatest, not relax in opulence in our parlors.
2) “he saw
him” How many needs go unseen every day though our eyes cannot avoid
the observance of that need?
3) “he had
compassion on him” Just as our Savior, Christ, this Samaritan,
though hated by this Jew, felt the man’s hurt so keenly that he took measures
to help the man of his hurt (just as Christ has done for those of us who have
come to Him).
4) “And went
to him” His first coming to where the man was at the time , to us by
happenstance; but surely to God, our steps were ordered. After coming to a
person in need we do not simply stand and watch. We GO to the victim so that we
may render assistance.
5) “and
bound up his wounds” Just as Jesus practiced triage of treating the
most critical need first, so does this Samaritan by binding up the man’s wounds
to stop the bleeding. Has Christ not found us with our own blood flowing from
our souls and given us life? “And when I passed by thee, and saw thee
polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood,
Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.’ (Ezek 16:6)
When we see our neighbor strangers perishing for grave want, have we forgotten
the great mercies granted to us?
6) “pouring
in oil and wine.” The only resources the Samaritan had to treat the
man was the expensive oil and wine which he not only ‘applied’ but ‘poured’ into the man’s wounds. He spared no
personal treasures in helping his charge. Do you not love this Good Samaritan?
7) “set him
on his own beast” The Samaritan would rather walk in order that the
wounded man might ride. This is ‘mercy’ combined with ‘sacrifice’– the kind of
combination that the Lord loves.
8) “and
brought him to an inn” The Samaritan is not concerned about his
tight schedule. He takes time to take the best care of the wounded man. This is
an expense as well, but he does not even consider it an expense. It is an
obligation before God.
9) “and took
care of him” I wish I had many friends as kind as this Samaritan
Stranger. Actually, I do have ONE, and perhaps others of my friends who love
that ONE. He continued, even at the end, to take time and trouble to treat the
man.
10) “And 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” Apparently being convinced that the man would be
well after rest and gentle treatment, the Samaritan departs to care for his
pressing business in Jerusalem. But he does not forget the responsibility he
has shouldered for the Jew. He PAYs even the innkeeper to continue caring for
the Jew. “He doeth all things well!”
11) “and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” Had you ever
considered ALL that the Good Samaritan did for this wounded Jew, or for that
wounded soul that resides in your own heart? “Even if it costs me more, I will
pay. I will pay to the uttermost.” Says the Good Samaritan.
Jesus has told the story which will fully answer the question of the lawyer,
but the lawyer remains stiff-necked in his pride. Jesus asks: “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour
unto him that fell among the thieves?” Three men were involved. Two
were not only religious leaders from whom one might expect greater degrees of
compassion, but also men of the same blood. They, of all people, should have
considered a fellow Jew, a neighbor. They passed by without lifting a finger to
help the poor wounded fellow. The third, a lowly Samaritan, spent his own
wealth, took his own time, and delayed his own business to help a man whose
race hated him. Which one of these three would any sane person believe was
neighbor to the wounded man? You, or I, would answer the Samaritan; but the
lawyer, being a Jew who loathed even the name of a Samaritan, answered only: “He
that shewed mercy on him.” The lawyer would prefer a pronoun to a real
name. Even so, he answered correctly even if in the wrong spirit.
Jesus responded to the lawyer in the same way He responds to you and me: “Go, and do thou likewise.” What have you been
this week: a priest, a Levite, or a Good Samaritan?
