Luke 10:23-3723And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24For 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. 25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27And 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 neighbor as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30And 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. 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34And 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. 35And 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. 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? 37And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:23‑37)
Many years before the Lord Jesus came to earth, God gave laws to Moses to write in the scriptures, for the people of Israel to know the right ways to live on earth. Men who taught those laws were called lawyers.
But many of those men did not study the scriptures, or believe God’s words, and when Jesus came, they did not believe Him, although they called Him Master, or Teacher, and tried to pule Him with hard questions. One said to Him,
“Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
To “inherit” is to have some claim upon; eternal life is life which has no end, and God gives it, but none earn it. Jesus knew this lawyer did not bieve God’s words, but He wanted him to think of them, and asked what he read in the law.
The man answered with words which Moses repeated to Israel before they went into their land:
The people of Israel did not keep it, for they are all dead, and thus proved they did not keep the law.
No one has ever kept the law, except the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus He glorified God, and He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.
No one can inherit eternal life, all have sinned, and deserve God’s judgment.
No one can work for eternal life, for it is God’s gift to all who will accept the Lord Jesus as his or her Saviour.
Before God gave the law, He gave promise of One to come to bless, He had also shown them of sacrifice, and with the law He gave many words of sacrifice for sins, which all taught of One to take their place. Those who had believed God’s words, believed Jesus.
God gave the just and good laws to Israel so the people would see that they did not live pleasing to Him, and would want One to come to save them. If we have a wooden rule and break it, we know how much short it is by holding it beside a perfect rule.
So if the people compared what they did, by God’s perfect laws, they could realize how wrong they were. The law is called “a schoolmaster... up to Christ.” (See Galatians 3:19-2619Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:19‑26); Rom. 3:2020Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)).
If that lawyer had been honest he would have said to Jesus,
“O Master, I have not kept God’s laws, I am a sinful man.”
Then the Lord Jesus could have shown him, as He did others, that all who believed Him were given eternal life (John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)).
Instead, this lawyer tried to “justify”, or excuse, himself, as though God had not made His laws plain; he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
To answer that question, Jesus told him a very interesting story, which we will read another time.
ML 05/20/1945