The One Who Shows Mercy
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“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” (Luke 10:36–37).
“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” (Luke 10:36–37).
Grace and peace to you
from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
The man who comes to “test”
Jesus is an expert
in religious law. Our text calls him a “lawyer,” but the Gospels more often
identify such people as “scribes.” These men are often depicted as hostile toward
Jesus and acting in league with the Pharisees. Typically, they let it be known
that they considered Jesus’ observance of the Law to be deficient. In contrast
to the majority of scribes in the Gospel accounts, however, this one shows no
overt antagonism toward Jesus.
Still, with his opening question,
you sense there is going to be more than a little tension. “Teacher, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life?” he asks. What does anyone ever do to get an
inheritance? Someone else has to die and you have to be in his or her good
graces. Still, the word “inherit” does, at the very least, hint at the gracious
nature of salvation. No one can earn or compel another to give an inheritance.
The giver (or testator) always retains the full right to give the inheritance
as he or she wishes. Thus, it can be said that God graciously bestows eternal
life as an inheritance. So, at least this lawyer is on the right track. But as
they say, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
Jesus lovingly seeks to improve his
aim: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Though he is considered
an “expert in the law,” this scribe is a representative of the “wise and
understanding” from whom Jesus has just said the things of God remain hidden
(Luke 10:21). He demonstrates his knowledge of Scripture by quoting Deuteronomy
6:5 concerning love to God and Leviticus 19:18 about love for one’s neighbor,
but he can’t seem to apply it to himself.
The lawyer gives the correct answer,
but Jesus has to direct him to put it into practice: “Do this, and you will
live.” If a person fulfills the Law of God, then that individual will receive
eternal life on Judgment Day. However, God expects perfect obedience. “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and will all your soul and with
all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as
yourself” (Luke 10:27). 100% love, 100% effort, 100% of the time. Obviously,
perfect obedience to God’s Law is beyond the capacity of fallen human beings.
Jesus has just made this expert in
the law look foolish. He feels the need to “justify himself” for asking such a
simple question, one he himself easily answers, (a question I would expect my
second year catechumens to be able to answer). This is the point at which the
lawyer really starts to squirm. He tries to deflect attention away from himself
by implying that the Law is the problem, that the Law is unclear. So, he asks a
further question, seeking to demonstrate that loving your neighbor as yourself is
not so simple as Jesus makes it sound.
The lawyer suggests that before
anyone can keep this command, it is necessary to legally clarify who is
“neighbor” and who is not. Coincidently, legal definitions just happen to be in
his area of expertise. The question, “Who is my neighbor?” implies that there
are some people who are not my
neighbor. By asking the question, the lawyer asks Jesus to interpret the Law as
to the kinds of people Jesus would exclude
from His love. Anyone vaguely familiar with Jesus’ ministry up to this
point should know that as Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in His ministry,
absolutely no one is excluded from
His love.
Generally, among the Jews, the
“neighbor” was defined as a fellow countryman, one of the same race. The Greek
word translated “neighbor” is really an adverb that means “nearby,” “close,” or
“beside.” When combined with an article, it becomes something like “the one nearby”
or “the one beside.” We generally define neighbor in a similar way, as someone
who lives near to or next to us.
This question, “Who is my neighbor?”
was something that other Jewish thinkers had wrestled with. How do we know? For
one thing, the translators of the Septuagint chose the word “neighbor” to describe
not only people related by blood or common religious commitment, but also those
who are not kinsmen or part of the covenant community. So, Jesus is not giving
a new teaching here. Pious Jews before Him had understood that God’s love transcends
blood and tribal relations.
As in the first round, Jesus will
answer the lawyer’s question with another question, but first He tells a story
that will prepare for and clarify it.
A man was traveling the winding
road through the rocky desert from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was accosted by
thugs who robbed him, beat him, and left him on the side of the road as if he
were road kill. Three men came upon his bloodied body. Of these three, a priest
and a Levite (a temple assistant) both saw the man but did not stop to help.
They “passed by on the other side.”
Why they did not stop, Jesus does
not say. It doesn’t really matter why. They may have had some reasonably
legitimate reasons; such as concern for maintaining ceremonial purity or more
pressing business to do or fear that the robbers might be lying in wait for
them also. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that they did not love their
neighbor when they had the opportunity. They failed to show mercy to one who was
in urgent need. Both of these men represented respectable religious positions,
the kind this lawyer no doubt would be eager to include among his neighbors;
but sadly, their religion did not have room for much mercy.
The third man who came by was a
Samaritan. Such people were mistrusted and despised by Jews, who considered
them racial half-breeds, traitors to the nation, and religious heretics. So
when Jesus introduces this character, quite likely the original audience expects
him to be a villain. Given this long-standing animosity, one would not expect a
passing Samaritan to help the half-dead man. Yet, Jesus says that when “he saw
him, he had compassion” (Luke 10:33).
Matthew Harrison explains the
significance of the Greek word translated here as “had compassion”:
In
ancient pre-Christian usage, the Greek word splanchnon
denoted the “inward parts” of a sacrifice, such as the liver, lungs, and
spleen. It also denoted the lower half of the body—the womb or the loins. In
more figurative usage, and for obvious reasons, the word meant “the seat of
‘impulsive passions.’” In pre-Christian use, splanchnon is never used for mercy. In the Septuagint, the Greek
edition of the Old Testament (ca. 100 BC), splanchnon
began its journey toward its significant and sacred use in the Gospels…
Study
of the word splanchnon in reference
to Jesus reveals something extraordinary about our Savior’s compassion. For
Jesus compassion is literally “visceral.” The verb is used eleven times in the
Gospels. Seven times the verb appears as an action attributed to Jesus. Twice
the verb is used as an action attributed to characters in parables told by
Jesus. Given the origin and development of the use of the word, we might think
that in the Gospels it came to mean simply “to have compassion” or “mercy,” and
it does. However, each time splanchnon occurs
as a conviction or sentiment or emotion in Christ (or of characters in
parables), there is consequent merciful action.
Compassion begets action. Mercy makes something happen.[i]
That is certainly the case here. The
Samaritan, moved by compassion, was compelled to help, and he did so in a
manner far surpassing ordinary obligations. He bound up his wounds, pouring on
oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and
took care of him overnight. Before leaving, he paid two days’ wages for the
man’s care and promised to pay more if necessary.
Many people have noticed that the
order of the Samaritan’s actions seems to be the reverse of what one would
expect. Oil is to clean the wound, wine is to disinfect it, and then it would
be bound with a bandage. But Ken Bailey suggests a theological rationale for this
order as it relates to liturgical worship:
Furthermore,
the oil and wine were not only standard first-aid remedies. They were also
“sacrificial elements in the temple worship” (Derrett, 220). Likewise, the verb
“pour” is for the language of worship. There were libations in connection with
the sacrifices. Yet for centuries the call had been sounded for going beyond
ritual in an effort to respond adequately to what God had done for them. Hosea
(6:6) and Micah (6:7-8) called for steadfast love and not sacrifice… The Jewish
priest and Levite were the religious professionals who knew the precise rituals
of the prescribed liturgy. In worship they officiated at the sacrifices and
libations. They poured out the oil and wine on the high altar before God. Here
in the parable this same freighted language is applied to the Samaritan just
after the priest and Levite have failed miserably in their ability to make the
“living sacrifice.” It is the hated Samaritan who pours out the libation on the
altar of this man’s wounds. As Derrett observes, “To show what is the [steadfast
love] which God demands one cannot be more apt than to show oil and wine
employed to heal an injured man” (Derrett, 220)… It is the Samaritan who pours out the true offering acceptable to God.[ii]
This Samaritan, whom the lawyer
probably would have excluded from his definition of a neighbor, showed himself
as the one who fulfilled the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself, in this
case even an enemy. Those related by ethnicity and a common faith (religious
leaders, at that!) left the victim to die, while one thought to be an enemy
rescued him and provided for his ongoing care.
Accordingly, this parable conveys
dramatically what Jesus had previously taught in the “Sermon on the Plain”
(Luke 6:27-38): Godlike love extends even to those who hate, curse, and abuse.
Luther saw this clearly and reiterated the point, stating, “Our neighbor is any
human being, especially one who needs our help, as Christ interprets it in Luke
10:30-37. Even one who has done me some sort of injury or harm…does not stop
being my neighbor.”[iii]
The expert in the law had asked,
“Who is my neighbor?” But Jesus goes a step further with the question he now
puts to the lawyer: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a
neighbor?” The man has no choice but to answer: “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus instructs: “You go, and do likewise.”
This is a parable which shatters
the values of the Jewish religion as practiced by the lawyers and the
Pharisees. The priest and the Levite are pictured in a bad light; the Samaritan
outcast becomes the example of mercy. But it shatters our own illusions as well,
for Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan leaves no doubt that Jesus expects His
followers to do good to all people. And His concluding words, “You go, and do
likewise,” reminds us just how we far we are from the loving, self-sacrificing
behavior the Lord expects. We do not show mercy as we ought.
So it was that Jesus became the Good Samaritan
for us, radically fulfilling the commandment to love by laying down His life for
us while we were yet His enemies. Truly He is the One who shows mercy.
Nevertheless, I do not want to
leave you with the impression that the important or decisive thing about Jesus
is His example of or instructions (Law) to care for the needy. The moral teaching
Jesus presents offers nothing that can’t be found in other religions. What’s
more, the attempt to follow Jesus’ example as the means to gain God’s favor will
merit nothing but hell. Even Jesus’ miracles are not the center of our
confession of Jesus Christ as Savior. These acts of mercy are significant
because they flow from and point to Jesus as God Incarnate and Savior.
The coming of God into the flesh is
Gospel. It is God’s gracious act to accomplish our salvation. Luther writes
that Jesus “became incarnate to comfort”[iv] Jesus is mercy incarnate.
Christ’s life is filled with compassion and actions of mercy for those in need.
Christ’s life is more than an example for our living. The incarnation of Christ
is the strongest and most powerful Gospel gift. He is the sacrifice that earned
salvation for us.
In Word and Sacrament, the Church
delivers what Christ obtained on Calvary—the forgiveness of sin. In Word and
Sacrament, the Christian is born again. Raised to walk in newness of life, the
believer demonstrates compassion for those in need, the lowly, the suffering,
the orphan, etc. However weakly and imperfectly, our compassion reflects the
compassion of God Himself. God accepts our daily acts of compassion as our
daily and holy worship because of Christ.
Philippians 2:5-8, St. Paul’s great
hymn of the incarnation, teaches us the key motivation for mercy: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is
yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the
form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human
form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross.”
The Law calls for love and mercy,
but it cannot create it or motivate us to do so. The Law is but a mirror that
shows us our sin. The Law condemns and kills. Only the Gospel makes alive and
empowers. Christ’s incarnation, servanthood, humble obedience, and finally
death on a cross on our behalf—the Gospel—is what creates His attitude in us.
We are baptized by Christ into merciful compassion for those in need around us.
A man once observed Mother Teresa
cleaning the wounds of a leper. He turned away in revulsion and said, “I
wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Teresa look at him and replied,
“Neither would I. But I would do it for Christ.”[v]
The Gospel reveals that such showing
mercy flows only from having received
God’s mercy. Legalists who cross-examine Jesus make no progress until they
recognize that they are the man half
dead and Jesus is the one who does
mercy as a neighbor. The lawyer in each of us says, “I will act to love my
neighbor as myself; tell me who he is.” But Jesus answers, “You cannot act, for
you are dead. You need someone to love you, to show mercy to you, to heal you, to
pay for you, to give you lodging, to revive you. I am the one you despise
because I associate with sinners, but in fact I am the one who fulfills the Law
and brings God’s mercy to you. I am your neighbor and give you the gifts of
mercy, healing, and life.
“You are baptized into My death and
resurrection. You are fed My body and blood, which strengthens you in faith
toward Me and in fervent love toward one another. As I live in you, you will
have life and will do mercy—not motivated by laws and definitions, but animated
by My steadfast love and mercy. As you remain in My love, and empowered by My
Spirit, you will grow daily until at last you are transformed and glorified
into the perfection the Father planned for you from before the foundation of
the world. Even now, by grace through faith, I find you blameless and
righteous. You are forgiven for all of your sins.”
In the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] Harrison, Matthew C., Christ Have
Mercy: How to Put Your Faith in Action (S.
Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2008) 40-41.
[ii] Bailey, K, Through Peasant Eyes, 49-50, citing J. D. M. Derrett (Law in the New Testament [London:
Darton, Longman and Todd, 1970].
[iii] Luther, Martin, Luther’s Works, American Edition. General editors Jaroslav Pelikan
and Helmut T. Lehmann. (St. Louis, MO: Corcordia and Philadephia: Muhlenberg
and Fortress, 1955-86). 27:58
[iv] Tappert, Letters of Spiritual Counsel, 98.
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