25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

This Bible reading contains what can arguably be called the most famous parable in all of Scripture. Certainly it can be called the most influential parable of Scripture. Almost every state in the union, if not in fact EVERY state in the union, has on its books of law, a statute called the Good Samaritan law. These laws throughout the states essentially declare that any citizen who stops to help an injured person cannot be held liable and sued for medical malpractice because of mistakes made in rendering assistance. There are of course fine points of distinction in each version, but that about sums it up: if you stop to help anyone, you are free from persecution and prosecution for your effort.

The parable for this morning is that influential in our society. It's no wonder that it is, considering the Christian roots of the founding of the country. And making laws based on the concept of a "Good Samaritan" is beneficial to the well being of any one in need. I'm sure that you have heard this parable since your earliest days in the Church, from Sunday School on up, with your teacher exhorting you to, "Go and do likewise." Every one of you has been exhorted to be a "Good Samaritan" whenever the possibility presents itself. Let me read you a quote from one of the classic Missouri Synod Lutheran commentaries on this passage:

...the word of Jesus made the application of the whole story: Go, and do thou likewise. The lesson was clear There is no need of spending much time looking for neighbors. Every one whom the Lord places near us, brings us into contact with, and who is in actual need, is one whom we can and ought to show mercy. For the chance of which we are apt to speak is God's way of bringing suffering to our attention. If we should harden our hearts in such a case and refuse to do what is so obviously our duty under the circumstances, we deny our neighbor the help which the Lord demands of us and thus become murderers in the sight of God. Not that we are commanded to encourage idleness and loafing. But we have homes, institutions, in which poor, sick, orphans, and other unfortunate people are taken care of. Not all of us can go and tend to the service of these people. On account of the labors of our calling we would have neither the time nor the ability to do so. But we engage people that have the proper training for the work, and then see to it that the charity account of such institution does not suffer from a chronic shortage." (Popular Commentary of the Bible, New Testament, Vol. 1 Paul E. Kretzmann, Concordia Publishing House, 1921, pp.325-326

This is a classic understanding of this passage in all the Christian churches: help your neighbor. If you can't help, then help those who can help with your giving. If not that, then pay your taxes so the state can help those in need. If you fail to do this, then (as I just read from the quoted commentary) you "becomes murderers in the sight of God." This is, in fact the way most of us, if not all of us were taught. But let me tell you that this IS NOT the intended meaning of this parable.

And in this meditation I would like to show a better way to understand this parable, a way intended to show you the glory of the Gospel in the text, and spare you from the condemnation of the law. Before I do that, it is proper to affirm that God does indeed want His children to show love to those in need. For example, the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews contains such admonitions as "Do not forget to entertain strangers... Remember those in prison...those who are mistreated......do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." All these admonitions are summed up in the Epistle of James (chapter 2): "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

But to confuse Law and Gospel, to place the children of God under the burden of the Law when this gospel text proclaims the sweetness of the Gospel, is a burden that must be lifted from your shoulders..

Our text begins with an expert in the law approaching Jesus and asking Him, "What must I do to be saved?" So Jesus asks him "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" To which the expert in the Law replied, "Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself."

Now Jesus' answer was direct, "You have answered correctly," that is, the expert answered correctly regarding what the Law said. But then Jesus throws the expert this line: "Do this and you will live."

Did you notice that the expert in the law does not take exception to this? That if he keeps this law of Moses, then he will inherit eternal life by his observance of the law? He doesn't protest that an inheritance is given, not earned. And neither should you expect him to protest for he first posed the question, "What must I DO to inherit eternal life?" So Jesus' answer, "Keep the Law," is not grounds for protest for this so-called expert.

Not only that, but Scripture supports such a notion as well. An expert of the law would know the verses in Ezekiel where it is recorded (18:20-21): "The soul who sins is the one who will die...But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does that is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die." He would know this and many others where it is recorded that the man who keeps the Law of God will have eternal life.

Now, just to make sure he has all his bases covered, the expert in the law now asks, "Who is my neighbor?" You see, the text is clear--the expert wanted to justify himself. According to his way of looking at things he had always kept the law, and that Jesus would suggest that there may be something he hasn't done probably irritated him no end. His argument is that no one can always know who is neighbor is. Certainly, he can't be expected to help all men in all their misfortunes.

And you know, the expert in the law was correct in this. In the commentary I read earlier the commentator implies that you CAN help all men in all their misfortunes. The commentator writes that you have homes and instutions to rely on. You can give to charitable organizations so they can carry on their work. In short, where the expert in the law wants to know what the boundary of his responsibilities are, the Lutheran commentator says there are no boundaries. You are responsible for them all!

But that is not the message that Jesus gives. He tells the wonderful story of the Good Samaritan, which I will not repeat in detail here. But in summary, a Samaritan who is the most despised person among the Jews, stops to help a poor victim that not even priests and Levites would stoop to help. Both of these men were leaders of the people who were supposed to be teaching and practicing mercy and kindness toward all men. Instead of receiving mercy from these men, the poor victim receives mercy from the most despised of men.

So Jesus asks the piercing question: "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."

Did you catch that? The one who had mercy on the victim was the neighbor to him. Let's restate these questions in our text. The expert in the law asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells him a parable and turns the question back on the expert by asking, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man." and the answer was, "The one who showed mercy."

The neighbor was not the victim as you have been led to believe over so many years. People take this parable and say, "Now you be a neighbor to the victims in the world." No, the answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" is not the victim. The answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" is "The one who showed mercy." The neighbor, the Good Samaritan, the man who showed mercy, he is the neighbor and he is none other than Christ Himself.

You cannot possibly be a neighbor to everyone in the world. But Christ is. You cannot possibly show mercy to everyone in the world. But Christ did, and continues to do so.

The Son of God came in the flesh as the Christ. He came to His own who did not receive Him. He was the most despised man in the world, many times over the way the Jews despised the Samaritans among them. He was rejected. Sins that were not His were laid on Him. He paid the price that was necessary before God in order to cleanse the wounds and bind the wounds of the fallen sinner.

And He didn't just stop there. He turns the fallen sinner over to the care of the Church, to take care of him until the Savior returns to claim the one He has saved. At that time He will reimburse, pay back, redeem, for all time, for eternity, the one who was left in the care of the caretaker.

You know, this might seem like a small point, but there are some church bodies and teachers of those church bodies who teach that after you have been baptized and washed clean of all sin, from that point on in your life you have to do good works to pay the price of any sins committed since that baptism. We term such a teaching works-righteousness, and I know you understand the error in such teaching. But were you aware how this parable refutes such an error in teaching?

Not only does Christ wash you clean of all sin, but when He returns He pays the price of all sin you have ever committed. He doesn't just wash you clean once in Holy Baptism and then leave on your own. He puts you in the care of the Church. He proclaims in the words of Holy Absolution that you are forgiven again of all your sin. He comes in the Sacrament of the Altar during your life in the Church to forgive your sin once more. And then He comes on the last Day, separates the sheep from the goats, and gathers His flock to Himself in the heavenly realms. Christ pays it all from beginning to end. And this my dear friends of Risen Christ, is the Gospel in all its Glory!!!

Risen Christ Lutheran Church is a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.