Surrender Day 4 Pride Or Intimacy?: Digging Deeper
January 26, 2023
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Luke 10:25-37
26 “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “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.”
28 “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
The Original Intent
1) Who is the expert Luke references in this passage? (verses 25, 36-37)
In the 1st century, “experts in the law” were those who spent their lives studying the Mosaic Law, which referred to the Torah. You can find the Torah in your modern Bible when you read the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
These “experts of the Law” were generally scribes and Jewish religious leaders known as Pharisees. Commonly, they were known as “people of the Book”. The word “expert” in this passage, however, could also be translated as “lawyer” meaning those who were interpreters of the Mosaic Law for the people. (studylight.org) They were viewed as experts in knowing what Mosaic Law said and how it should be lived out.
The Everyday Application
1) Who is the expert Luke references in this passage? (verses 25, 36-37)
During biblical times a separation existed that precluded the average person from really knowing or studying Scripture in the way you and I are able today.
Access to God’s Word was extremely limited, especially for women. Only men could study the Torah, and only the “experts” had the full-time job of studying and reading. They were the “bridge” between God’s Word and His people. Today we have the ability to join in community as we study God’s Word for ourselves.
Most people in western cultures have Bibles in their homes and on their mobile devices; we are free to personally study the Word of God on a daily basis. We have the ability to become experts in Scriptural teachings and the direction God provides for our daily lives. (2 Timothy 3:16)
Anyone can study God’s Word and grow in knowing God and His character and His purpose for us, but if you’ve recognized yourself as a sinner, repented of that sin to Christ who died to pay the penalty of your sin, and surrendered your life to Jesus, you also have the Holy Spirit living in you.
The Spirit makes Scripture come alive to teach, correct, and remind us to walk in Truth. By studying God’s Word under the power of the Holy Spirit we become experts in knowing what He desires. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
The Original Intent
2) Why did the experts in Jesus’ day want to test Him? (verse 25)
Jesus repeatedly confronted the scribes and Pharisees in His teaching, calling on the people to listen to their teachings but not to follow the actions of their lives. (Matthew 23)
Jesus recognized the Pharisees and scribes as hypocrites for making faith in God about a religious endeavor full of outward appearances rather than an inward heart change. Jesus taught about true faith in God while the scribes and Pharisees taught a false-gospel, running in opposition to saving faith. This involved public criticism from Jesus, which threatened their power and their pride. (Luke 11:37-54)
Additionally, Jesus claimed to be the “I Am” God of the Jewish faith. (John 8:58) The Pharisees were blind to this truth and called this teaching heretical and Jesus a blasphemer worthy of death by stoning. (John 8:59) Each of these factors gave the law experts plenty of motivation to trap Jesus and put him to death.
The Everyday Application
2) Why did the experts in Jesus’ day want to test Him? (verse 25)
Just like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, in our own pride, we want to test Jesus. We can easily feel threatened when anyone pushes against us and challenges our self-decided belief system, even if it carries marks of biblical Christianity. We want to justify our actions and question Him. (Luke 10:29)
Allowing the Bible’s teachings to make us uncomfortable and become convicted in our sin isn’t popular. (Hebrews 4:12-13) Adapting Scriptural teachings to fit our current feelings or desires is much more palatable. However, the truth remains that our inclination towards sinfulness leads to spiritual death.
The only antidote is a relationship with Jesus, which necessitates repentance of our sin and active rejection of them. Only when we find ourselves submitting to Him rather than testing of Him, can we discover true freedom from the pride of sin. Here we find real life and the free gift of eternity with God. (Romans 6:15-23)
The Original Intent
3) Why did Jesus choose a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan to tell His parable? (verses 31-33)
During the 1st century, a priest and a Levite were viewed as the upper class of society to a Jewish audience. They were considered religious leaders, righteous followers of God, pure in their ethnic descent, and those set apart by God to do His will. They would have been the natural choice to emulate.
The Samaritans, however, were the outcast of society especially to a Jewish audience because of their ethnicity. They were not fully Jewish, rather they were a mixed race representing part Jewish and part Gentile. Their bi-racial conflict was fueled by an additional underlying conflict between Jews and Gentile Samaritans stemming back hundreds of years to the division of the Jewish Kingdom into a Northern Kingdom of Israel and a Southern Kingdom of Judah. (1 Kings 11:29-37)
Though Samaritans wanted to claim God’s special blessing meant for the Jews upon themselves, their bloodline was so muddied with Gentiles that those of pure Jewish descent refused to recognize Samaritans as Jewish. They held all Samaritans with great disdain for Samaritans, even hating them. (John 4:1-26)
Under Jewish law, a Samaritan would have been considered unclean, therefore not permitted to be within proximity of Jews. In Jesus’ story, the Samaritan who helped the helpless and showed mercy regardless of who the man was would have been radically counterculture to a Jewish audience, especially to a Jewish religious leader.
The Everyday Application
3) Why did Jesus choose a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan to tell His parable? (verses 31-33)
In both the original Jewish context as well as our own today, Jesus’ purpose in telling this parable moved far beyond four men and a story. Jesus was addressing major cultural issues of His day that had no place in the body of Christ, either then or now.
Surrendering self means surrendering all of yourself to the Cross of Christ, regardless of personal opinion or prejudice. In Jesus’ story, the Samaritan thought nothing of helping and showing mercy to a neighbor in need. Jesus’ desire is that in our everyday life we walk by the Spirit of God who empowers us to extend the mercy of Christ to those around us.
In our fleshly lusts there is plentiful evidence of jealousy, strife, pride, envy, and anger, but in the Spirit of God we find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. (Galatians 5:16-26) Moment by moment, we get to decide if we will live for self or surrender ourselves for the purposes of God!
The Original Intent
4) What command is Jesus giving in this passage? (verse 37)
Not all places in Scripture are as plain in its directive as this one, but the command from Jesus is clear in verse 37, “Go and do the same”. Jesus instructs the expert of the law, and the broader Jewish audience, to show mercy like the Samaritan.
In reading the story and studying the broader perspective and history behind the cultural divide between these two people groups, it becomes evident that Jesus is pointing to the scribe to swallow his pride and show mercy to all neighbors God puts in his path.
As much as Jesus is pointing to the example of the Samaritan, he is also pointing to the non-example of the priest and Levite in this story as “what not to do” in claiming to follow Christ. The thrust of Jesus’ point emphasizes that the Samaritan, though dismissed by culture and society by the self-righteous Jews, was the true follower of God’s ways. (Luke 10:36-37)
The Everyday Application
4) What command is Jesus giving in this passage? (verse 37)
Jesus desires us to love as He loved, and by His Spirit living within all who genuinely trust Him for salvation, He compels us to choose love. (2 Corinthians 5:14)
In order to be truly effective at loving others as Christ loves us, we must set aside our own agendas and pride, submitting to His Spirit’s leadership in us. (1 John 4:7-21)
The definition of neighbor was how the conversation began between Jesus and the scribe. Jesus’ answer widely included all persons, putting no disclaimer on His definition of “neighbor”. God so loved the world that He gave His son; it’s His example of self-sacrificing, generous love we follow when we surrender to Him completely. (John 3:16)
Can We Pray With You?
Prayer is central to our ministry as believers in Jesus as we carry eachother’s burdens and intercede for one another. Our team is honored to share the work of praying alongside you!
This Week's Lock Screen
Authentically living out a life of worship to the God who rescued us from darkness requires accountability and intentionality. Join a GT POD and take the next step in your faith journey!
