Prejudging and Presumption

Series on Luke

IV The Imperatives of the Kingdom

A Increasing Opposition

1 The Samaritan Situation

Text: 9:51-56,10:25-37

Introduction

As we begin our study in a new section of Luke’s gospel we see the Lord teaching the demands of his kingdom as the opposition increases. Today we look at two passages both of which center on the Samaritans and deal with hatred and prejudice. The Samaritans were a people of mixed Jewish and foreign ancestry due to the policy of Assyrian conquerors who began in the 8th century BC to deport the Jews and import other conquered peoples. At the end of the fifth century BC Nehemiah refused to allow them to participate in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and they built a temple on Mt. Gerizim. Though they held to the Torah or books of Moses, they continued to reject the rest of Judaism and the animosity and hatred between the Jews and Samaritans was fueled over the centuries by this separation. This is the background of our texts. the first thing we find here therefore is the prejudice.

I The Prejudice

Prejudice means to judge before hand, in other words it means my mind is made up don’t confuse me with the facts. We may joke about it but it is a serious problem. Not only is there racial prejudice in our society, but we tend to judge other people all the time without getting all the facts. I think of that old Indian saying, “Do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.” This is advice we rarely follow. Our brief story is in verses 51-56, As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. Jesus was going up to Jerusalem to die as he had announced. The Samaritans somehow knew of his destination, and in a season of religious festivals the animosity was running high so they refused to help. This is a human problem. If the shoe had been on the other foot the Jews would have refused to help a Samaritan as we shall see later. Prejudice is a sin. It is dishonest, unfair and unloving and yet we all do it.

II The Presumption

The reaction of the disciples James and John, the sons of thunder, was to wipe the Samaritans off the map. After all God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and Elijah brought down fire from heaven. But Jesus is here on a mission of mercy. When he commissions his disciples in Acts 1 he says you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus’ intention is to postpone external judgment and bring judgment of sin in the Spirit. He is here to bring the good news of the gospel, forgiveness through his atoning death and righteousness so that prejudice can be destroyed in the hearts of his people. We know it works because when we later encounter the Apostle John he is writing in I John 2:2 that Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world, that is, Jesus came not only to Jews but to every family, and kindred and people, even to the Samaritans. So Jesus loves Samaritans, and black people and Puerto Ricans and Vietnamese and all the rest. The Christian communion table is the place where we remember that he died for people from every race and he loves them, so we cannot come worthily and retain hatred in our hearts.

III The Pretense

In the second part of our Scripture in 10:25-29 the lawyer or scribe came to Jesus asking the most important question in the world, what must I do to inherit eternal life? On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: ”‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” “What does the law say?” said Jesus, and He respectfully asks the “expert” how he reads it, that is how does he understand the teaching. He answers correctly with the great commandment which is the summary of the law. However, when told to go and do it he tried to justify himself by asking who is my neighbor? Now if he understood the grace of God and the mercy of Jesus he would have said I can’t do it or i have failed to do it, but he didn’t. We must remember that Jesus says his answer is correct. The scribe was a man of the covenant and the command to love God and love his neighbor was addressed to God’s redeemed people. It presupposed that God loved him. The point here is that the man is like a church member. He is presuming on God’s mercy and making a pretense at holiness. He thinks it’s all right to accept God’s mercy and yet not show it to others in the same way that he has received it from God. This is why Jesus proceeds to give a parable, the well known story that we call the good Samaritan.

IV The Parable

Like all parables, the story is illustrating a point and that point is that believers have a responsibility to show mercy to others. We read in verses 30-37, In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” It is a story, like all parables. from everyday life; a common occurrence. The tragedy occurs all the time around us, minute by minute. The point here is that two covenant representatives pass by on the other side, so rather than being a story of how good the Samaritan was it is at least equally a story of how bad the two alleged believers were. Two church members ignore the man’s needs. but the despised Samaritan doesn’t. He helps. It doesn’t matter much that he’s a Samaritan except that the Jews hated the Samaritans so his showing mercy is an ironic reminder of how they were failing to do the same thing. Jesus says go and do likewise. He is not suggesting that this will save the man, only God can do that by justifying him through Christ. But it will make him think about his failures and if he obeys it will authenticate his faith and demonstrate that he is a true member of Israel and a true child of God. We gather come to worship and to rejoice in the grace of God, in salvation full and free, in the mercy of Jesus in giving himself for us upon the cross. It is the worst insult to God to come with prejudice in our hearts or to come with any hatred toward another and an unwillingness to show them the same mercy we have received. That mercy is that while we were still enemies Christ died for us. We deserved death but he gives us life. Who do you know that deserves death, or maybe just a snub? Give them life.