You're listening to audio from Faith Church located on the North Side Of Indianapolis. If you'd like to check out more information about our church and ministry, you can find us at faithchurchindy.com. Now here's the teaching. Well, good morning. I'm Nathan, one of the pastors here at Faith Church.

It's good to be with you all. It is always a privilege to be able to open up God's word with you, and I'm excited that we get to do that together right now. During this season of Lent, we've been, we actually just started last week with pastor Jeff, started this series called disrupted, where, we are looking at the ways that Jesus uses parables to disrupt the ideas and actions and habits of his listeners. And and last week, pastor Jeff opened us up with the parable of the sower, which, he kind of brought us in with this question of, are we willing to listen? Are you willing to listen?

And today, we're going to be tackling the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. And it's one that's so familiar that it's even made its way into common vernacular of English, that if you ask anyone on the street what a Good Samaritan is, they could probably come up with some sort of definition for that. Well, before we jump in, to our time together, let's just go to the Lord in prayer, and I'll be using the words from Psalm 19. Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. Oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Amen. So Mike just always seemed to get on my nerves. I was a freshman in college, and I was living in a freshman dorm on campus. And, you know, it was a trying time for all of us. We're all trying to make friends and build relationships.

But there's this one guy, Mike, who I could never stand to be around. He lived just around the corner, on my hall, and he was one of those people that I've heard other people refer to as a me monster, which is someone who's everything is always about me. You tell a story or anyone tells a story, and he immediately comes in with, like, well, my story's better and cooler because look what I did. Or, well, you think that's cool. Listen to this.

And I probably liked some other people, just didn't really have much patience for him. Well, one day, we were in the cafeteria at lunch, and, the opportunity finally presented itself, where Mike started waxing on poetically about how much he knew about honeybees. He was, I can't even remember the context of how it came up. I just know that I knew my time had come. Because, maybe some of you know, it's okay if you don't, but Mike definitely didn't know that my dad and my brothers and I had been raising bees for over the last twelve years or so, and I knew a thing or two.

And I knew that most of what he was saying was just totally made up. I don't know where he heard it, but most of what he's saying wasn't true. But he always came off with this, hey, I'm I'm right. I know what I'm talking about. And so, like any good fisherman, I just let him take the bait.

Let him go out, let him take the bait. And then at the right moment where I felt like I would be particularly, you know, just kind of twisting the knife a little bit, I asked him, so Mike, tell me, how do you how do you know these things about bees? Interesting. Okay. Well, let me just tell you that everything you've said is categorically false.

And, I don't even remember how Mike responded to that, but I do remember that my head was so big I couldn't get out of the cafeteria. Because my pride and my conceit got the better of me. Right? I had convinced myself that Mike was the true villain here. And I was just doing what any good citizen should do and show him where he was wrong because he could never admit that he was wrong either to himself or to anyone else.

Well, today we're looking at the parable of the Good Samaritan, which also might come as a shock considering the fact that the story I just told had nothing to do with me, you know, coming across someone on the side of the road. But hopefully, you'll see how it connects in just a moment. Well, this story of the Good Samaritan is not just a story about love and compassion. It's this subversive story that Jesus tells to help us ask the question about what it means to orient our lives to Jesus. So the question for today is, are you asking the right question?

Are you asking the right question? Because we'll see in this passage, Jesus is asked a question, but the answer he gives is to a question that he wasn't asked Because the person asking the question was asking the wrong question. So if you haven't turned there already, turn with me to Luke chapter 10. And through this parable, we're going to see three ways that following Jesus drastically shapes our perspective. Three ways that following Jesus drastically shapes our perspective.

And the first is that following Jesus disrupts our pride. Maybe now you see the connection. Following Jesus disrupts our pride. Pick it up in verse 25. And behold, a lawyer stood up and put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

So a lawyer stands up seemingly out of nowhere to put Jesus to the test. And the context of this parable or this passage is helpful, because Luke doesn't give us an indication that in this interaction with the lawyer and the thing that happened just before that there was any passage of time. It might not have happened back to back, but he doesn't really give an indication for that. So as I was studying this and looked back before and reading some commentaries about it, there is seems to be an interesting connection between what happens and what happens with this lawyer. So what had happened before there was just a lawyer there?

Well, the '72 disciples that Jesus had sent out on mission in pairs, They had returned with their reports of all that they had done, all that they had taught, and Jesus rejoices in the spirit for what the father was accomplishing. He was seeing the kingdom played out. And then he pulls his disciples aside privately and tells them that what they have seen and what they have heard brings envy to prophets and kings, and that the disciples are blessed because of what they've been able to see, what they've been able to do. And we don't know if the lawyer heard this part of the conversation, or maybe he saw Jesus taking this inner circle aside, and he's like, I mean, I I know the law. I know what it means to follow God.

I feel like I should be over there. We don't really know for sure, but it's I don't think it's an accident that Luke includes this interaction with the lawyer right after that. And so what do we mean by lawyer? The lawyers in the first century Jewish world are not like the lawyers we think of today. This was not an expert in the Roman law or the civil law that governed, you know, all the cities in the area.

No. This was an expert of the Jewish law that all good Jews sought to live by. Also, another thing to pay attention to is that we don't always get details of intent in the gospels, especially when it comes to unnamed individuals. But here we get a picture from Luke of what is driving this lawyer to ask this question. He wants to test Jesus.

He wants to see what Jesus is all about. So he asks him a basic question that any good rabbi would be able to answer. What must I do to inherit eternal life? So how does Jesus respond? He said to him, what is written in the law?

How do you read it? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.' But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor?' Jesus, not really interested in playing the lawyer's game, answers his question with a question, something Jesus notoriously did. And so he asked him, well, what is written in the law?

How do you inherit eternal life according to the law? You are the expert, you tell me. And guess what? The lawyer actually answers correctly. From Deuteronomy six, the lawyer pulls this command to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.

But Jesus once again responds in a way that is not very satisfying to the lawyer. Jesus tells him, alright, good job. You got the question right. You answered correctly. Do this and you will live.

The lawyer got what he came for, did he not? Well, not exactly. And so Luke clues us into part two of the lawyer's intent. He wants to justify himself. This lawyer wants to be assured of his righteousness before God and his blamelessness according to the law.

Jesus's answer to simply do this and you will live was not a good enough answer. He wants to hear it from the rabbi himself that he is righteous and blameless as far as the law is concerned. And so he asks the second question. And who is my neighbor? Where is the definition and boundaries of this law so I know whether or not I have fulfilled it?

What is the extent that I have to obey this law? And so here we come back to the idea of, am I asking the right question? This lawyer certainly was not. This question was selfishly focused on setting limits and boundaries to obedience to the law. It's kind of like one of my other less desirable college time habits where you do the math in your head and you're wondering, what's the least amount I have to get on this test to get a B in the class?

Okay. Apparently, that doesn't apply to any of you. But, yeah. It's something like, okay, what's the what's the minimum I have to do to kind of just skate by here? Right?

But notice that the lawyer doesn't ask how. Right? Jesus replies with, you know, do this and you will live. And maybe a a a genuine question where he's interested to know the answer to, a question would be, okay, Jesus, how do I do that? No.

He doesn't ask how. He just says, okay, and who is my neighbor? Because he wants to put the boundaries. He wants to know where he fits. So So are you beginning to see how Jesus is disrupting our pride, and that to follow Jesus means that we have to be open to that?

That if we want to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, our soul, and our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, there has to be room for someone in my heart other than me. So we need to say goodbye to self righteousness, to pride, and comparative holiness if we truly want to be a follower of Jesus. So following Jesus disrupts our pride, but it also defies our presuppositions. It defies our presuppositions. So then he begins to tell the parable, verse 30.

Jesus replied, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance, a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. So Jesus begins by telling this very ordinary sounding story. At first glance, this businessman on a trip seems to be the main character, and that's how most of our stories go.

Right? Once upon a time, there was a man. And if I say it in that way, you're probably thinking, this is the guy I've got to pay attention to. So a little bit of context about the situation that Jesus is setting up here. The distance between these two cities was about 18 miles, with several thousand feet of elevation descent along the way.

It was something that you could do in one day, but maybe would be breaking up over two. And this journey was one that many had taken, possibly even the lawyer himself had gone on this trip from Jerusalem to Jericho. But like most remote roads in the first century, there weren't patrols or guards to keep them safe. And oftentimes, outcasts, ne'er do wells, highwaymen would take advantage of unsuspecting travelers for their own personal gain, or oftentimes for their survival because they'd been outcast from society. So the setup of this story so far is something that the lawyer and the disciples listening that they would be familiar with.

But the story takes a turn when it becomes apparent that the beaten man on the side of the road is not the main character, but actually the one who comes to save him. So this man's luck certainly changes because, as Jesus says, by chance, a priest was passing on that road. He's saved. Except the priest passes by on the other side. He didn't want to be stopped or delayed to get down in the dirt and the blood.

Yet there was still hope because, wouldn't you know it, a Levi has found his way down the very same road. But the result is the same. The Levite passes by on the other side. And for the priest and the Levite, there were several reasons that could have played into why they passed by on the other side. They were in a hurry.

They were afraid for their own safety. Right? These highwaymen or outcasts who had beaten this poor man, they might still be lurking somewhere. I don't want to stick around to find out. Maybe they didn't want to make themselves unclean.

You know, as they come up to this man on the side of the road, they can't tell if he's dead or alive, especially not by keeping a distance. And if they come in contact with the corpse, then they have to go through seven days of rites of purification. You can no longer receive offerings or or give temple sacrifices. You can't fulfill your duty as a Levite or a priest if you become unclean. So why risk it if he's already dead?

So even though the priest and the Levite had somewhat legitimate reasons for avoiding this victimized man, they both chose convenience, safety, and efficiency over actually stopping to help. And a listener to Jesus's story would presuppose that surely one of these two men would have stopped. But following Jesus defies our presuppositions. And before we get to the conclusion of this parable, one note that I thought was particularly interesting that I read this week. Many commentators point out that in, like based on other stories and parables outside of the Bible, not from Jesus, but of the time of Jesus, the next person down the road and the hero of the story would have been expected to be a Jewish peasant.

Right? The everyman, the common man, the person who's just trying to scrape by. Right? The the Jewish elite, the priests and the Levites, they yeah. They're not good enough.

They maybe it makes sense that they pass by on the other side, but the hero, the person who's going to stop, is going to be just an ordinary Jewish person. But as we know, Jesus takes the parable in a totally unexpected and convicting direction. Because who comes down the road? It's the Samaritan. Now, I probably don't need to tell you that relationships between Samaritans and the Jews were tenuous at best.

Samaritans living North Of Jerusalem are the descendants of the result of Assyria destroying the Northern Kingdom Of Israel in July and then repopulating it with people from other captured nations. As they intermarried with the people who remained, they became sort of these, like, Jewish half breeds. And then add on to that hundreds of years of animosity, and here's where we are. But the disdain went both ways. Samaritans only recognized the five books of the Torah as God's word, and they had a separate mountain that they worshiped God on, and that was in their own region.

And we actually get a hint of this disagreement about the mountain when Jesus meets the woman at the well in John chapter four because she has questions about that. Like, okay. You're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan. You worship there.

We worship here. What's going to happen in the future? Good Jews who could afford to do so would go out of their way to avoid having to travel through Samaria. They would cross the Jordan River, travel all the way south, then recross the Jordan River just to avoid it. The ancient historian Josephus mentions that Jews claimed that Samaritans were responsible for scattering bones in the temple courtyard during Passover, desecrating the entire space.

And this happened, according to Josephus, shortly before what we would call September, so in the lifetime of Jesus and his audience. I think sometimes when we think of the word Samaritan, we don't have the same negative connotation that Jesus' listeners would have. Because when we hear Samaritan, we think Good Samaritan. Right? The hero.

Or maybe we think of the organization Samaritan's Purse, which is based on this story, which is the organization that delivers all those great Christmas boxes we put together for kids around the world every year. So a couple more things, just to, like, really try to put yourself in the perspective of a Jew at this time as you think about Samaritans. Couple other things. There's, rabbinic extra biblical texts, meaning not from the Bible, but writings from rabbis, that mention that a Samaritan could not serve as a witness in court except in matters of divorce or emancipation. Another quote from a rabbinic text says that he that eats the bread of the Samaritans is like to one who eats the flesh of swine.

So to share a meal with a Samaritan is the same as eating pork, which as you may know is unclean. You're desecrating yourself if you do that. So yeah, the Jews don't especially like the Samaritans. There is no reason to. But this is why Jesus uses a Samaritan as the example to be followed.

Of the lawyer and knew that it would strike a chord with someone who has spent the better part of his life studying the law and following it as best as he could. For us in 2025, it's it's hard to accurately culturally translate exactly how repulsive this story would be to this lawyer or maybe even just others listening. It would be like me telling a similar story and saying that Billy Graham and Mother Teresa passed by on the other side and a Nazi stopped to help. That's kind of the situation that he's setting up here. Though no offense to Billy Graham or Mother Teresa, we know they have compassion.

But that's the type of reaction Jesus would have received from anyone listening. Maybe even some of his disciples, like, wince when they hear the Samaritan enter the story, and especially when he's the one that stops and helps. So as Jesus is teaching more and more about the kingdom of God, he wants to make sure that all who listen know that his kingdom is not built like how we would choose to build the kingdom. It is inclusive. And even those that we feel like should be outside, he shows love and grace and mercy to.

So if Jesus was telling this story to you, who would be that person that would really challenge your heart if you heard that they were the hero of Jesus's parable? Maybe it's someone like Putin, who has just caused so much evil and suffering in the world, and seems like he can't be stopped. Maybe it's the politicians on the other side of the aisle that we feel are ruining our country. Maybe it's that one coworker or family member that, like Mike did for me in college, they are always just that perfect reminder of how much you don't like them. Another way to ask it would be like this.

Who drives you crazy when you witness them doing something good or kind? Where it's easier to hate them because of the bad things they do, but then when you see them do something kind, it forces you to question your own heart. Are the judgments you have against this person representative of how God sees them? So if we're going to follow Jesus, we have to be prepared that it's going to disrupt our pride. We have to be prepared that it's going to defy our presuppositions.

And last, if we're going to follow Jesus, we must know that it's going to drive us to compassion. So he finishes this parable. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

On the next day, he took out 2 denarii, gave them to the innkeeper saying, take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. Jesus purposely goes to great length to describe in detail what this Samaritan did, what he went through to take care of this man that he didn't know. He didn't just end the story with, and then there came a Samaritan, and he did what the other two did not, the end. While the Levi and the priest get a sentence in the story, the Samaritan gets the bulk of this parable. He bound up his wounds.

He poured on oil and wine as a healing balm. He put this man on his own animal. He brought him to an inn. He paid for his stay and he offered to come back and pay more if there is any additional cost. So that no matter what, this man did not owe anything.

And 2 denarii, lest you think it was 2 pennies, was two days' wages. It was good for probably about two weeks at an inn. So it's not a stretch to say that this Samaritan truly went above and beyond what anyone was expecting, or even what any of those listening to Jesus probably would have done themselves. Like, if I was there, if I was the lawyer, like, maybe I would have stopped. Maybe I would have given him some clothes or food or water.

Maybe helped him to the next town. But doing all this to this extent, yeah, that's that's too much. I I wouldn't go that far. There's also one word in this part of the story that Jesus uses that I passed over for a moment. Jesus is clear what drives this Samaritan to do this.

He is moved by what? Compassion. Right? He is moved by compassion. And this word compassion would have touched a nerve with this expert of the law.

Of all the passages in the Old Testament, or you know, the Jewish scriptures, which passage about God is quoted or referenced the most? It's Exodus 34, where the Lord passes before Moses and tells this about himself. The Lord, the Lord, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and faithfulness. So you're telling me that this Samaritan is moved by the same thing that Yahweh is moved by? I'm having none of that.

As Jesus ends this story, I can kind of picture him kind of taking a pause and letting the whole thing kind of sink in for the lawyer a little bit. And then Jesus brings it almost full circle. Because what was the question that the lawyer had asked seeking to justify himself? Who is my neighbor? And then Jesus flips it around.

Verses thirty six and thirty seven, he asks him, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, you go and do likewise. So instead of answering the question, who is my neighbor? Jesus then asks him, which of these three proved to be neighborly?

And do you notice the lawyer couldn't even bring himself to say the Samaritan? He instead opts for the one who showed him mercy, probably just gritting his teeth the entire time he had to say it because he just couldn't believe that Jesus would tell him a story where the Samaritan is the hero. So Jesus is asking like, who is your neighbor? How about instead you try to show mercy and compassion like this Samaritan? I don't know what was going through the lawyer's head, but I don't think be like the Samaritan was the moral of the story that he was hoping for.

So what about for us? The questions that we often ask about our own discipleship with Jesus might tend to be concerned with the boundaries of what we have to do. Are we asking the right question? How often do I have to pray? How often do I have to read my bible or go to church?

What's the least amount that I have to give or tithe? If I show enough love to other people, can I avoid showing love to the people who really annoy me? Jesus is teaching this lawyer, his disciples, and each of us through this parable that what matters is the heart and our intentions. Do we wish to follow Jesus and serve him in whatever way he asks of us, or only following Jesus when it's convenient or easy? The parables of Jesus as a whole can often be categorized as either a door, a window, or a mirror.

And this one is definitely in the category of mirror, in that it sits in front of us and lets us see ourselves and reflect to us what we should see. But we have to be willing to see what we see in the mirror to make changes. It's designed for us to look inward at the intentions of our hearts and our lives. So as we kind of draw this to a close, couple thoughts for us. First, our love of God and our love of neighbor must be connected.

These are not two commandments. To love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself, that's one commandment. As we experience the love and grace and mercy from God, we should turn around and share those things with those around us, even those we don't like. Do we see people how God sees them? As created image bearers that he has love and compassion toward.

Do we not just see, but act towards others in a way that is consistent with how God has acted towards them? Do you appreciate the great mercy he has shown you? That our savior who saw us in our helpless estate and bound up our wounds, paid the debt that we owed and set us on a path of following him. He has showed us great mercy. That is truly an incredible mercy when you consider where we each were when he found us.

Second, where have you been asking the wrong question? Have you been seeking to do the minimum for following Jesus when your heart really isn't in it? Have you fully surrendered your future, your family, your finances, your life to him? Or are you only interested in Jesus for the get out of hell free card? Well, you can't have it both ways.

To follow Jesus as his disciples requires a heart set on surrender, And it's surrender to him and serving him for the remainder of our days. And then last, who do you need to show love or compassion to? Earlier, I asked for each of us to consider who would be the person in the story that would evoke the strongest reaction from us? Who is that person? Well, if a person came to mind, someone you just can't stand for whatever reason, someone you just can't stand for whatever reason, what are you going to do about it?

Well, it might look like letting Jesus do a work in our hearts and praying for help to love what we would say is this unlovable person. But maybe it's also taking a step, taking a movement towards that person. So will you be moved by compassion and mercy? Will you choose to love even those that you would maybe deem unlovable? Will you let go of your pride and presuppositions and judgments about others to try and see them as God would see them?

This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in God's kingdom. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are convicted and challenged when we consider that to be like the good Samaritan is not just being thoughtful or being observant about the trials of others, but it means to be moved by compassion. The same compassion and mercy and grace that you have shown us, that is what should motivate us to love others. So father, may we not just be hearers of the word, but may we be doers of the word as well.

Father, where the spirit has brought about conviction in our hearts this morning, may we not let that pass by, but put it into practice as we seek to be a neighbor and to love with the same love that you have loved us. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, your son, our savior. Amen.