Bible Study series: Luke 10:25-37. These verses are important because they define what the greatest commandments are, and the parable is very beloved and admired.
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37
25 And look! An expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what do I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He told him, “What has been written in the law? How do you read it?” 27 In reply, he said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul and with your whole strength’ and with your whole mind, [Deut. 6:5] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” [Lev. 19:18] 28 He told him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus took up his reply and said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was surrounded and attacked by highway robbers who stripped him and rained down blows on him and left, leaving him half dead. 31 By coincidence a priest came down that road and saw him and passed by on the opposite side. 32 Likewise also a Levite happened upon that place and went and saw him and passed by the opposite side. 33 But a Samaritan was traveling, came upon him, saw him, and felt compassion. 34 And approaching him, he bandaged his wounds and poured olive oil and wine on them and put him on his own mount and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day, while he was leaving, he gave two denarii to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend, on my return I’ll repay you.’ 36 Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man attacked by highway robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who had compassion on him.” Jesus told him, “Go, and you do the same!” (Luke 10:25-37)
Comments:
This is the one of the most beloved parables in all of the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (though it appears only in Luke’s Gospel). I approach it with fear and trembling because I may not have the fireworks of insight that readers expect. So instead I’ll interpret it in its simplest form, as I believe that’s what Jesus would ask of his original audience. Do you see yourself in the parable?
25:
“An expert of the law”: See this post and scroll down to the term in alphabetical order:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
If pressed logically, the lawyer’s [legal expert’s] question about how to “inherit” eternal life is pointless. One does not do anything to inherit something; one either is or is not an heir. But the question exposes a self-centered concern about ensuring one’s own salvation. Jesus’ parable focusses on someone who is concerned with saving the life of another. The question also reflects a misconception about eternal life. It views it as something that happens after death as a reward for a life of good deeds. According to Jesus, eternal life is a relationship with God (see especially John 6:47, 54, 68; 10:27-28; 17:3) that begins in this life. (Garland, p. 447)
“test”: Now the legal expert wants to see what Jesus is made of, and the expert is about to find out. No doubt he wanted to intimidate Jesus, so the expert could win the cultural battle of shame and honor. The expert would get the honor in public with other experts standing around, while Jesus would slink away. But Jesus was not flustered or startled. He held his peace. For many years now there has been a teaching going around the Body of Christ that says when Christians are challenged, they are supposed to slink away or not reply. This teaching may come from the time of Jesus’s trial when it is said he was as silent as a sheep (Acts 8:32). No. He spoke up then, as well (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:32; Luke 23:71; John 18:19-23; 32-38; 19:11). Therefore, “silence” means submission to the will of God without resisting or fighting back. But here he is about to reply to the test and pass it. Get into a discussion and debate with your challengers. Stand toe to toe with them.
We are about to watch the literal genius and literal anointing of Jesus on full display. It is stunning (to me at least) that he could come up with such a piercing and clarifying and rich parable immediately after this challenge. At the end of the discussion the legal expert will be hushed, and Jesus will emerge victorious in public.
“inherit”: The Father passes on everlasting life, so we inherit it, but only in part. We can live a life of peace and victory over Satan, the world and our sin nature, but we will inherit it fully when we die or when Jesus returns.
“eternal life”: the two words in Greek can be translated as “life of the new age” or “life of the age to come” or “life in the next life” or “eschatological life” (eschatology is a fancy word for last or final things). But God offers people who love and know him eternal life in the here and now, so it means both life now and life in the age to come. The kingdom breaking into the world system through the life and ministry of Jesus brings life right now.
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
Now let’s look at the noun life more closely. It is very versatile.
It is the noun zoē (pronounced zoh-ay, and girls are named after it, e.g. Zoey). BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, says that it has two senses, depending on the context: a physical life (e.g. life and breath) and a transcendent life. By physical life the editors mean the period from birth to death, human activity, a way or manner of living, a period of usefulness, earning a living. By transcendent life the lexicographers mean these four elements: first, God himself is life and offers us everlasting life. Second, Christ is life, who received life from God, and now we can receive life from Christ. Third, it is new life of holiness and righteousness and grace. God’s life filling us through Christ changes our behavior. Fourth, zoē means life in the age to come, or eschatological life. So our new life now will continue into the next age, which God fully and finally ushers in when Christ returns. We will never experience mere existence or death, but we will be fully and eternally alive in God.
In this verse, Bock writes: “‘Eternal life’ … is a technical expression for the eschatological blessing of the righteous as opposed to the rejection of the unrighteous (the allusion to eternal life probably goes back to the image of resurrection in Dan. 12:2)” (p. 1023).
26:
Jesus answered the question with another question. But the question was relevant to the legal expert’s question.
Jesus based his entire ministry on Scripture, but he was about to fulfill most of Scripture, at his death, burial, resurrection and ascension. He will fulfill all of it when he returns.
“the law”: In this verse, it means the law of Moses. Now was the moment for the expert in the law to shine.
27:
This verse could be called the law of love.
And the expert in the law did shine. He answered as far as the Law would allow. He could have quoted verses that talked about law keeping (Deut. 6:6-8). He could have recited all or any one of the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-21). But he talked about the love relationship with God and with his neighbors. That’s what gives us eternal life—loving God—not law keeping. Jesus was in the process of revealing who the Father was and fulfilling all of the Torah (first five books of the Bible, particularly the legal aspects), so that the way to God is less complicated and more streamlined than the way that the Torah prescribes.
Two rabbis who gave summations of the law. Hillel (40 BC to AD 10) said, “Do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to you; this is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary.” Akiba (c. AD 50-135) said: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself … This is the encompassing principle of the law.” And recall Jesus’s summation of the law: “Therefore, everything that you want people to do to you, in the same way you also do to them. For this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12). A famous passage in the Mishnah says: “The world rests on three things: the Torah, sacrificial worship, and expressions of love.” Paul writes: “for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8, ESV).
“you shall love”: the future tense in these contexts is equivalent to a command: “Love!” It is difficult to sustain love if we define it as a gooey feeling, so it must go deeper.
This verse talks about our love for God, but let’s first look at his love for us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
“love”: it is the verb agapaō (pronounced ah-gah-pah-oh). BDAG says that the verb means, depending on the context: (1) “to have a warm regard for and interest in another, cherish, have affection for, love”; (2) “to have high esteem for or satisfaction with something, take pleasure in; (3) “to practice / express love, prove one’s love.” In most instances this kind love in Scripture is not gooey feelings, though it can be a heart-felt virtue and emotion, as we see in the first definition. Rather, mostly love is expressed by action.
Further, both the noun agapē (pronounced ah-gah-pay) and the verb mean a total commitment. For example, God is totally committed to his church and to the salvation of humankind. Surprisingly, however, total commitment can be seen in an unusual verse. Men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19), which just means they are totally committed to the dark path of life. Are we willing to be totally committed to God and to live in his light? Can we match an unbeliever’s commitment to bad things with our commitment to good things?
Agapē and agapaō are demonstrative. This love is not static or still. It moves and acts. We receive it, and then we show it with kind acts and good deeds. It is not an abstraction or a concept. It is real.
It is transferrable. God can pour and lavish it on us. And now we can transfer it to our fellow believers and people caught in the world.
The expert in the law adds the phrase “with your whole mind,” and Jesus approved. It is perfectly all right to love God with our whole minds. Life in Christ is not only emotional and feelings based. So many big-name preachers don’t emphasize the intelligent side of the kingdom of God, so the people are inadequately trained to handle the challenges from intelligent skeptics. This is especially true of high school and college students. Therefore many of them needlessly fall away from the faith. Training of the mind can fix the problem. So it is possible to love the Lord God with our whole minds.
In any case, if our love for the Lord does not translate to loving people, then our love for God is merely academic. 1 John 4:7-9 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:7-9, ESV). So now the New Covenant Scriptures offers a fuller picture of God’s love. He is love, and when we are born of God, we will love one another. The greatest expression of God’s love is that he sent his Son into the world.
Further, as noted, 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us” (ESV). Rom. 5:5 says that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. The NT says therefore that any love we have for him begins first with him. Love flows from him to us and back to him. The NT fills out the picture more than the Torah does.
“whole”: it could be translated as “entire” or “all.”
“mind”: The Septuagint (pronounced sep-TOO-ah-gent) is the third-to-second-century translation of the OT from Hebrew into Greek. And it does not have the word for “mind” in Deut. 6:5. Jesus inserted it, though the Hebrew word for “heart” can also be interpreted as “mind” or the seat of thinking.
It may be difficult for members of Renewal Christianity to receive, but we can love the Lord with our minds, and not just our hearts. I belong to the Renewal Movements, and I know this anti-intellectualism from observing things first hand. The mind and thinking are downplayed too often, and people go astray easily, as they take flights of fancy through their revelations and words from the Lord. Don’t neglect your love for God through your mind or thinking.
Yes, be sure your mind is renewed (Rom. 12:2), but live a balanced life, body (strength), soul / mind, and spirit.
“neighbor”: this means more than a person who lives nearby; here it means a community or fellowship (Morris, comment on v. 27).
Jesus said that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Self-love is natural and assumed. Jesus is telling us that we should learn to love our neighbors as we naturally love ourselves. Love does not necessarily mean we have affection for our neighbors. But we do kind things for them and treat them as if they are made in the image of God (and they are).
This verse comes to mind:
And just as you want people to treat you, treat them likewise. (Luke 6:31; cf. Matt. 7:12)
It is the Golden Rule. That verse explains how we love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
28:
Jesus praises him. I hope no parent out there is above complimenting his children for giving a right answer. I hope the same for a teacher. When a questioner correctly replies to your challenge, say so.
“do this and you will live”: = practice what you preach (Garland, note on 10:28).
You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord. (Lev. 18:4-5, NIV)
“The lawyer wanted a rule or a set of rules that he could keep and so merit eternal life. Jesus is telling him that eternal life is not a matter of keeping rules at all. To live in love is to live the life of the kingdom of God” (Morris, comments on v. 28). Then Morris quotes another scholar who says that if our soul and spirit are well, the whole person is well. “Our attitude to God determines the rest. If we really love him, we love our neighbor too (1 John 4:20).”
29:
Now the legal expert takes things a step farther. He wishes to defend or justify himself by asking Jesus to define a term that appears to be so broad that it defies definition. Or maybe the legal expert had an excessively narrow definition; he believed that his neighbor was a devout expert like himself. Perhaps for him a neighbor belonged to his same elite club. Whichever the case, Jesus is about to redefine the definition considerably in an unexpected way.
“justify”: BDAG offers these definitions of the verb, depending on the context: (1) “to take up a legal cause, show justice, do justice, take up a cause”; (2) to render a favorable verdict, vindicate or treat as just, justify (3) “to cause someone to be released from personal or institutional claims that are no longer to be considered pertinent or valid, make free / pure”; “to demonstrate to be morally right, prove to be right, e.g. God is proved to be right (e.g. Rom. 3:4; 1 Tim. 3:16). In some contexts, it can mean to practice righteousness (Rom. 6:7; 1 Cor. 4:4; Luke 18:14). The verb is used when God justifies the sinner when he repents and puts his faith in Christ. That direction goes from God (subject) to man (object). Here, however, the verb is a man defending or vindicating or justifying himself before other humans.
Jesus is about to tell a parable. What is that?
Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah and means “alongside”) and bolē (pronounced boh-lay and means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a clear truth. It is a story or narrative or short comparison that reveals the kingdom of God and the right way to live in it and the Father’s ways of dealing with humanity and his divine plan expressed in his kingdom and life generally. The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.
Now begins the parable proper.
Do you see yourself in the parable? Or are you above it? (Hint: you are not above it.)
30:
“went down from Jerusalem”: Going from Jerusalem, you go down, because the city is on the high ground, particularly going eastward towards Jericho. (Please google a Bible map.) Along that road, “road robbers” or highway robbers skulked and lay in wait. The road to Jericho was known for it.
“surrounded and attacked”: the unnamed man fell into the hands of the robbers who surrounded him—as I see things.
“stripped him”: he must have had an expensive set of clothes on, for the robbers to take them.
“rained down blows”: it can be translated as the more benign “put or place blows.” Or it can mean “inflict” or “bring upon, add,” or “set upon, attack.” The latter definition is the best one, but I like “rain down” because “put” or “place” is too gentle.
“half dead”” this severe and (seemingly) small element is important for the rest of the story. Touching a corpse was a big deal in Jewish culture.
31:
Now we come to the main points. Three men are about to see him. The same verb for “seeing” is used of the three men. They did not glance at him but saw him. What will each one do?
First, a priest came down the same route or road. “Came down” indicates that he too just left Jerusalem, without Luke having to name the city; the priest was probably fulfilling his priestly duties. Recall that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest from the hill country of Judea who went to Jerusalem to carry out his duties (Luke 1:8-9). This priest was likely doing the same thing, and he just completed his duties.
Even though the priest saw the man, he wasn’t sure whether the beaten man was dead. He was not allowed to touch a corpse, or else he would be unclean for seven days (Num. 19:11-12). So he walked by on the other side. Purity laws trumped basic human compassion.
Lev. 19:16b gave permission to the priest to help the man, but “later Judaism exhibited efforts to get around the text (b. Sanh. 57a)” (Bock, p. 1030).
“It is remarkable and probably significant that no inside information regarding the incentive(s) of the priest and Levite is provided. The stark reality is simply that they do nothing for this wounded man” (Green, p. 430).
My take: These two men are hyper-religious, and their badness takes on a religious dimension. They are a priest and a Levite. It’s an indirect critique of the impersonal religious system.
But the motive of the priest to neglect the needy man is not offered. Let’s take it as a story element.
32:
Here is the second man. A Levite came along to that same place. The verse doesn’t say that he “came down” the road from Jerusalem, so he may have walked from another direction. Levites were the assistants to the priests, and priests had a little more status because they could go directly closer into the Lord’s presence, and the high priest could go into the Most Holy Place (a.k.a. Holy of Holies).
In any case, he too was unsure whether the robbed man was dead, so the Levite did not want to make himself impure for seven days. He too passed by on the other side of the road. Purity laws trumped compassion.
|
Priests |
Levites |
| Offer sacrifices | Perform music accompanying sacrifices |
| Disqualified by impurity and blemish | Disqualified by impurity but not blemish |
| Serve God directly | Serve the priests |
| Guard the Court of the Priests | Guard the non-priestly courts |
| Superintend maintenance of temple complex | Maintain the temple complex |
| Not marry a widow or divorcee | May marry a widow or divorcee |
| May only mourn close relative | May mourn anyone |
| Garland, comment on 10:32, who gets it from Harrington, Holiness, Rabbinic Judaism, and the Graeco-Roman World. | |
The original people listening to this wonderful parable would have expected the third man to be one of the “people,” that is, an Israelite because post-exilic texts in Judaism often have the trilogy of priests – Levites – people (Liefeld and Pao, comments on vv. 31-32).
But here comes a shock.
33:
Here is the third man. And now a despised Samaritan traveled along the same road, and the verse does not say he was “coming down” from Jerusalem, so he must have taken a different route. It is known from other passages that Jews and Samaritans did not like each other (John 4:9). In fact, some extra-devout Jews walked around the entire region instead of passing through it. But what was so despicable about the Samaritans? They were remnants of Israelites who were not deported when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. They were also foreign colonists who were imported from Babylonia and Media by the Assyrians into Israel (in the north), so the newcomers would be loyal to Assyria. So these two groups intermingled and became unorthodox in their beliefs and mixed in their ethnicity, by the standard of “pure Jews.” Many Jews of Galilee and especially Judea and Jerusalem avoided the region of Samaria and Samaritans.
See my post about Jewish groups and scroll down until you find the term in alphabetical order:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
So his being a Samaritan is an unexpected element to the story. The priest and Levite did not show compassion, but the despised Samaritan did.
“felt compassion”: The verb “It describes the compassion Jesus had for those he saw in difficulty” (Mounce, New Expository Dictionary, p. 128). BDAG defines the verb simply: “have pity, feel sympathy.”
Do I Really Know God? He Is Compassionate and Merciful
34:
Instead of passing by on the opposite side, the Samaritan approached the half-dead man. He immediately bandaged his wounds, so the Samaritan must have been carrying some equipment with him. One can imagine that if he was a traveler, he brought a lot of supplies for a long trip. Wise move. He had olive oil and wine, which he mixed together. Alcohol sanitized the wounds, and oil soothed them. Then he placed him on his domestic animal. The Greek is generic, not specifically a mule or donkey, but most translations reasonably have “donkey.”
“inn”: it is the noun which literally means “all-welcome,” and only Luke uses it and only in this verse. It is a wonderful word choice for an image or metaphor for how God welcomes all.
“innkeeper”: it is the noun that literally means “he who welcomes all.” Only Luke uses the word, and only in this verse. Once again, this word choice is wonderful because it reveals God’s heart. He is the “all welcomer” or “he welcomes all.”
35:
The Samaritan cared for him for the entire night. He went beyond the call of duty and demonstrated his feelings of compassion. During your wounded state, God will care for you throughout the night. He will be there with you in the dark moments of your body or soul.
“two denarii”: one denarius was worth a day’s wage for a farm laborer (Matt. 20:2-13), but even this valuation can be misleading, because farm labor was seasonal, during the harvests. So one denarius was precious. This was a very generous offer from the despised Samaritan, who was probably a traveling merchant (but we don’t know for sure). And he was so trusting and generous that he would take the word of the innkeeper when he itemized the bill after he had cared for the half-dead man.
36:
Here is the punch line. Which of the three men was the neighbor to the man who was robbed? Jesus repeats the devastating element to the story—the man was beaten and attacked by robbers. He was emphatic. “The Jewish ‘expert’ would have thought of the Jewish victim as a good person and the Samaritan as an evil one; to a Jew there was no such person as a ‘good’ Samaritan. Jesus could have told the story with a Samaritan victim and a Jewish helper, but the role reversal drives the story home by shaking the hearer loose from his preconceptions” (Liefeld and Pao, comments on v. 36). I add: the extra-devout legalistic Jew may not believe in a “good” Samaritan, but ordinary people learn to get alone. However, the trilogy of terms priest—Levite—Samaritan would have shocked all listeners.
37:
The expert in the law, who had originally intended to test Jesus, replied correctly. “He who had compassion.” In Greek, the legal expert said, “did compassion.” But notice that he did not say, “The Samaritan.”
“Go and you do likewise!” Or “Go and do likewise—yourself!” “Do” is the same verb in the expert’s reply: “Did compassion.” “You do likewise.” Love and compassion must act and be demonstrated.
So rather than slinking away from a test given by the legal expert, Jesus won—yes, won—the verbal sparring match. The expert lost the tussle.
GrowApp for Luke 10:25-37
1. Samaritans were despised by extra-pure Jews. Have you been despised like the Samaritans? How have you moved forward anyway and done the ministry or helped people along your path of life?
2 Or maybe you have done your share of despising undesirable people. How did you overcome this sin?
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1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
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