The Prodigal Son
Luke chapter 10, we've got it at 27, okay, we're going to start at 25, we'll start at 27. So he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered rightly, do this and you will live. Is this the right reading? Yep. Sorry, I just thought, yeah. and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down the road and when he saw him he passed on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked. 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. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two Deneiari, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, take care of him and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was a neighbour to him who fell among thieves? And he said, he who showed mercy on him. And Jesus said, go and do likewise. Thanks Rod. Thank you, Dan, and thank you everyone. Good morning. Well, it is a good morning because we are here in God's house to worship Him, sing praises, read the Word. It has to be a good morning, and I think so. So, yeah, the message that I have is a parable, and I'm just continuing on what others have started, different parables. A weeks ago, he brought the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. And I said to him, I said, how did you get so much out of that few verses? And well, he did. He got a lot out of it. And in this parable, what I'll be speaking of in a minute, there's only a few verses and you think, there's not a lot of detail, but with God's help, will. we will get things out of it. message is, before I do anything, I'll just pray again. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for your word that we have to show freely Lord, is, there's no persecution when we try, when we go to read it. We thank you Lord that you speak through it. And so we ask that you would do this this morning, that you would speak a message through your word. Amen. So the message that I have, I've got two scenes. Scene one is when Jesus is debating the lawyer. The lawyer comes and asks him a question. And then scene two is the parable where he goes into the parable. I found the first section a bit, probably the hardest one of all because law, lawyers and all that sort of thing, you sort of does it. could do your head in if it wasn't for the help of the Holy Spirit. But yesterday, as I said, it's my job to bring another parable, the parable of the Good Samaritan. We have had four parables already, each one with a particular message. I don't know if anyone has given the definition or the meaning of parable. Perhaps Matt has. Have a go at this. The word parable comes from the Greek word para meaning alongside and balein meaning to throw or cast, to throw something alongside or compare. Clear as mud? Okay, forget the Greek. A better description is a short and simple story that uses everyday situations to illustrate a deeper spiritual or moral truth. I think we'll go with that one. So scene one is, yes, Dan, you were on the right Bible reading. thank you. Scene one, Luke 10, 25 to 29. Jesus is in the temple when he's confronted by a lawyer. A lawyer back then was perhaps not the same as we know today. He was a Pharisee who spent most of his time in the temple. He was very well educated, educated in the mosaic law. He could argue points of mosaic law with anyone, and that is what the scribes and the Pharisees did for much of their time, argue. It is said that a lawyer never asks a question that he doesn't already know the answer to, but when he stood up to test Jesus, that lawyer more than met his match. Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This question was a standard one in Judaism. This time it was aimed at Jesus. Luke tells us it was a test. It was not a genuine inquiry. Anyone seeking salvation would come to Jesus and humbly say, Lord, tell me what must I do to be saved or how do I get to heaven? That was not it at all. He was testing Jesus' understanding of theology. Why did he use the word inherit? Again, we go back to the Greek. Inherit in Greek is kleronomeo, meaning to receive an allotted share. To inherit eternal life shows that many Jews thought that their eternal destiny was based on their Jewish bloodline, assisted by good works. It is something that was to be inherited. He said to him, what is written in the law? What is your interpretation of it? So he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God. This is Jesus said to him, what is written in the law? What is your interpretation of it? So he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he, Jesus said to him, you have answered rightly. Do this and you will live." When Jesus responded by asking the lawyer, what is written in the law, it was akin, it was like an insult. You're a lawyer in the mosaic, Lord, and you are asking me how to inherit eternal life. What is written in the law? You know what is written in the law. So having answered the first question correctly, the man asked a follow-up question. And who is my neighbor? The man wants to know who it is that he must love as a neighbour. Jewish people of the day had an inbred bias, even hatred towards those outside. Jewish tradition favoured only the Jewish community. Those who were unclean such as Gentiles and Samaritans were not to be included in the mandate to love as neighbours. He was possibly hoping that Jesus would excuse his mistrust of others. I love my neighbour, but who is my neighbour? He also asked his question to justify himself, perhaps to compare himself with others and hopefully come out clean. He failed to understand that keeping the law could not save him. The purpose of the law was to reveal our sin and drive us to Jesus Christ, who alone can justify sinners. The lawyer made the most sorry, the worst mistake he could possibly make, he thought he could justify himself in the eyes of God. This town water but it's all right. He also asked this question to justify himself, perhaps to compare himself with others and hopefully come out clean. He failed to understand that keeping the law could not save him. The purpose of the law was to reveal our sin and drive us to Jesus Christ, who alone can justify sinners. The lawyer made the worst mistake he could possibly make. He thought he could justify himself. in the eyes of God. We will now move on from lawyers and the law. That's good because it's easy to get bogged down in the law. said that, as I said earlier, and praise God, praise the Lord that we are here today and not still under the law of Moses. Agreed? I think we all agreed on that. So Jesus launches straight into the parable by way of explanation. And Jesus answered and said, this is scene two, the reading was from Luke 10, 30 to 37. Then Jesus answered and said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among the thieves. There are four main characters in this scene, a certain man, a certain priest, a Levite and a certain Samaritan. There was also a certain bunch of thieves without whom the parable would fall over. Location. Location is the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a distance of 17 miles or 27 kilometers in today's language. This is beside the point, this is off message. Did you know that there's a town in Queensland called Jericho? It's between Barcourton and Emerald, and it is on the River Jordan. True. Back to the message, back to the other Jericho. It was a different town in Jesus' time to the one in the Old Testament. It was like an oasis with water in streams and canals, also lots of green trees. Jericho attracted people from Jerusalem, and the only way to get there was on the Jericho Road. It was rough, it was hot, and it was dangerous. It was an isolated place. Predators and robbers would hide in the hills along the way. A perfect place for an ambush. Shall we pick up the story? Then Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down the road. And when he saw him, passed by on the other side. Jesus does not tell us anything about the man himself. It is all said in one verse, keeping in mind that the wounded man was most likely a fellow Jew. What's going on? When I read this, I was struck with the term by chance. I was surprised that Jesus used it. As Christians, we often shy away from suggesting anything. that happens by chance. I might be raising something that's just irrelevant, but if anyone can enlighten me afterwards, please do. It's food for thought, maybe. It's a very minor thing, I know, but I thought I saw it there. The priest was a religious figure, perhaps not unlike a priest or pastor of today. He passed by on the other side of the road. Scripture doesn't tell us whether the priest was walking on the same side and crossed over to avoid him or whether he was on the other side already. Either way, we assume that when he saw the man, he saw the man and walked past. Perhaps he thought that the wounded man was dead and would become, he would become ritually unclean if he touched a dead man. Could he not have made some effort to help or at least check on him? After all, Does not the world see God through us and our actions? Why wouldn't a priest help one of his own Jewish kind? Perhaps on the Jericho Road it was a case of out of sight, out of mind. Nobody's looking. Whichever way it was, it was a big fail. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed on the other side. Likewise, the Levite. First a priest, then a Levite. Aren't they all the same? No. Levite refers to the tribe and all priests are Levites, but not all Levites are priests. Levites were chosen for religious service, particularly in the tabernacle and later on in the temple. They did not serve at the same level as Aaron. the first high priest of Israel. Aaron, of course, was a Levite. So what was the motive of the Levite to walk on past? In his defense, he came and looked. He was fully aware of the plight of the wounded man, but he kept on walking. Right here, just here, I want to throw something out. This is off text also. Anyway, we'll see how we go. Have you... Please don't take it personally or, well, yes you are to take it personally. Have you ever seen someone walking towards you in the street and you think to yourself, no, I can't stop and talk to that person. I couldn't face it, not today. You might even cross over to the other side to avoid the situation. I have. Or you might be in Drake's doing the shopping. You look down the aisle and the same thing occurs. So you skip an aisle or two. Hoping, Yeah, and hope they don't catch up. Anyone? Oh, I don't know. Hang on. Yeah, okay. Yep. Is this not what the priest and the Levite did? Well, I'm going to suggest that there are times when that behaviour is possibly acceptable. This might get me into trouble. There are times in our lives when we might be so overwhelmed with life, with things going on, that even the Lord understands. If I was going to suggest something like this, then I need a scripture to back it up. Maybe there are times when we don't do what we think we should do. Here I am speaking about some people helping a wounded man, not helping a wounded man, walking past, then I'm going to throw this in. But maybe the Lord does understand. He knows where we're at. But anyway, I thought that if I was gonna throw this in, I needed a scripture to back it up. I found it. Psalm 103 verse 14. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. Or to put it this way, we are only human. If I see someone crossing the street to avoid me, I'll know they were listening. Please don't take that as instruction from this passage, from this parable. parable is teaching the opposite. Now that was just threw that in there because we are all human. So shall we get back to the parable? Yes, please. The compassionate Samaritan. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day when he departed he took out two Danari, gave them to the innkeeper and said, take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, he who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. We are now getting to the crux of the matter. The parable is known universally as the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the understanding of Pharisees and scribes, that would be an oxymoron. There was no such thing as a Good Samaritan. They were despised and detested by all Jews. They were considered to be half-breeds who had intermarried with foreigners and were guilty of false worship. The story which Jesus told was particularly galling to the lawyer because in it, The object of the Jewish disgust, even hatred, was the one who showed compassion. The Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, yet Jesus said it was the Samaritan man who came down the road and stopped. The man was in the ditch and the priest went the other way. The man was in the ditch and the Levite went the other way. The man was in the ditch and the Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds. Jesus gives the details of everything done in the name of compassion, compasio with feeling. Not only that, but he had paid for his recovery while two Jewish religious characters did not. Now that would have been deeply humiliating to the Jews, to the lawyer. The story that would have humiliated him because It involved money. The Samaritan paid for the man's recovery with money. And Jews, well, yeah, you know what I mean? So to answer the lawyer's question, and who is my neighbor? At the end of his discourse, Jesus asked him to pick which one of the three was the true neighbor. And he said to him, he who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. I want to ask a question. At the beginning of the parable, I said that there were four main characters. There was the man beaten up and left in the ditch. There was the priest or religious man who came by and crossed over the road to avoid being faced with the decision to help or not help. Then there was the Levite. At least he stopped to look. but he did not consider the situation worthy of his attention. Then finally along comes a Samaritan despised by the world, yet he stops and renders life-saving attention. The question is, which one are you? Which one am I? Am I in a ditch wounded by what life has thrown at me, not knowing if I will crawl out of it, not knowing that there is help available whose name is Jesus Christ? Am I someone who is above going out of my way to help someone in the ditch because he or she is not of my kind? Perhaps they are worldly and unsaved. Am I the spiritual type who fears being contaminated if I allow myself to come in contact with someone of the world? Or am I someone who has been in the ditch and met the Lord Jesus Christ? The parable speaks to us of the compassion and mercy of God. The Father's compassion for his people took Jesus to the cross. God did not simply feel compassion for me. He demonstrated that compassion He demonstrated that compassion by sending his only son to pay the price for my complete healing of sin. He did not leave me in the ditch, in the ditch of a lost eternity. He still has much work to do and I won't be perfect until I stand before him in heaven. But my sin is forgiven and I go on my way rejoicing. I don't want to know your answer, that's between you and God. But I think it's a question that could, that parable is what that parable speaks to us. Which one am I? The four individuals, the... man in the ditch who was done over by the thieves and left there, the priest comes along, no. Levite comes along, no. Samaritan comes and renders assistance. So who is that Samaritan? Samaritan is a Christ-like person. The Samaritan is an example of what Christ would do and that is why he told that. That is why he told that parable. And so may we also be Christ-like in our lives and in the lives of others. That's not something we can do overnight, but with God's help we can become the more Christ-like. That is why we hear. That is why we read God's word. That is why we walk with him so that we become more like him. Like I said, it doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we just thank you for your word to us, the parable, Lord, that you told that lawyer, that Lord, it speaks to all of us. It speaks to us of our need to be more Christ-like and to walk with you, to read your word, to be open to what your Holy Spirit says to us. We pray, Lord, that that would be so, that would be true of all of us, each one of us, me included. And Lord, we just pray that you would go with us this day, that we might go into the world, not just as a Samaritan, as a good Samaritan, but Lord, as someone who is Christ-like and is serving you and Jesus Christ known in our town, our district, wherever we are. We thank you, Lord, that it's not, we don't have to do it ourselves. We thank you that you do it through us. We thank you Lord for all that you do through us. In Jesus' name, amen.