July 14, 2013 at Calvary
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test, saying, ‘Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in
the Law? How do you read it?’”
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The
lawyer’s question is spoken to challenge Jesus. It is meant to test Him. The
lawyer wants to know: Is Jesus a rabbi who goes around changing what the Lord had said? Is He establishing a new
way of salvation, telling everyone to disregard what the Lord had set as His Covenant? Will Jesus
speak out against the Torah or Temple? If so, then the lawyer will have boxed
Him in and discredited His teaching.
So how does Jesus answer the
question? “[Jesus] said to him, ‘What is
written in the Law? How do you read it?’” Interesting response. Jesus wants
to discuss the Torah with the lawyer, to discuss what the Lord had declared in His Covenant. So
the lawyer gives a basic summary of the Law that every Israelite had been
taught from youth: “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” He recites
part of the great creedal statement of Israel and the basic rule about moral
behavior.
And what does Jesus think about
this? Does He reject the lawyer’s answer? Does Jesus tell him that what the Lord said in the Torah is not the way to
life? Not at all; He confirms it: “You
have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Jesus had not come to
discard the Torah; He had come to fulfill its promises. The Law’s main message
was to reveal the Lord’s identity,
the Lord’s work, and the Lord’s promise of salvation given to His
people. The Torah recorded the acts of rescue and deliverance that He had
performed. It spoke of the status that the Lord
had given those whom He delivered, making a nation out of them and providing
them a way of life. In that Law, the Lord
tells His people to love Him, to place their hope and trust in His saving
actions for them and then to walk in the new ways that He had established.
In the Old Testament Reading, you
heard an excerpt of that Law. The Lord
addresses His people through Moses: “Speak
to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of
Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan,
to which I am bringing you.” The Lord
declares that He has taken His people out of Egypt and is bringing them to
Canaan. This is His work of rescue. They had been saved from their slavery. The
Lord was fulfilling the promises
that He made to Abraham, their forefather, and to them. And as the Lord has saved the people, they now had
a new way of life: “You shall follow My
rules and keep My statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My
rules’ if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” The people’s actions would
reflect their love for the Lord
who had delivered them.
So what does the lawyer think
about this? Does he accept Jesus’ teaching on the matter? Not really: “But he, desiring to justify himself, said
to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” This question reveals an issue within
the man. He seems to seek a way to disregard the Covenant that the Lord had established—the very thing that
he was challenging Jesus about! His question looks to define what the Lord had commanded so narrowly, so that
there would be certain individuals that he would not have to love at all. The Lord had given the overarching rule
about moral behavior: “Love your neighbor
as yourself.” All of the commandments about interacting with other
individuals could be summarized by that. But the lawyer’s question puts forth
the idea that some persons exist who don’t have to be loved, some who are
exempted. Such thinking shows that the lawyer’s love of the Lord and His ways is a bit lacking.
That is why Jesus tells the
story of the Good Samaritan. He shows what the Torah’s statement about love of
neighbor looks like. It is seen in the Samaritan’s actions: “When he saw [the robbery victim], 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. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper,
saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I
come back.’” There was no looking for an exemption, no looking for a way to
avoid doing what the Lord had
commanded. None of that at all. Instead, the Samaritan reflects the love that
the Lord had for His people
through the actions that he performs for the robbery victim. And that is the
type of behavior that the Lord who
has delivered His people by compassionately acting for them desires to see them
perform for others.
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” That
question is asked by you and others. It can be asked in times of doubt.
Sometimes it is asked as a bit of a challenge to Jesus and His teaching. But
how does He answer? “What is written in
the Law? How do you read it?” The answer is in the Lord’s Word for you. For that is what the Scriptures
describe. They tell you of the Lord’s
identity and work and His saving actions for you. You have heard it again this
day, as the words of the Epistle Reading stated: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to
the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.” That is what the Lord
has done for you. He has rescued you. He has taken you away from slavery to
sin, death, and Satan. He has brought you to a new way of life.
And so you are called to love
the Lord for His saving work done
for you. That is how you inherit eternal life. This is why Paul says to the
Colossians: “May you be strengthened with
all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with
joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the
inheritance of the saints in light.” Such giving of thanks includes the
living in the ways that He establishes for you. Abiding by the commands that
Jesus gives to His disciples about loving one another reflects the love for Him
who delivered you. Again, as Paul writes: “We
have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk
in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
But what is lacking from those statements?
What can’t you find in them? The question that looks for ways around any of the
rules or statutes. What the lawyer does in the Gospel Reading is out-of-bounds
for those who love the Lord. Love
of Jesus for His saving work does not ask such a question. Love for the Lord’s great act of deliverance does not
lead to any attempts to figure out if there are neighbors you need not love at
all. Love for the salvation that has been given to you does not bring up the idea
of trying to save or justify oneself either. Those statements written to Jesus’
followers in Colossae don’t mention trying to skimp on or to ration out
discipleship. No, they spoke of filling, bearing, increasing, and strengthening
such living.
Filling, bearing, increasing,
and strengthening the life of discipleship—including love of neighbor—that is
what Jesus’ gospel does. Again, this is what Paul speaks of to the Colossians: “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and
of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for
you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel,
which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and
increasing….” This is what the Lord’s
Word—the statements about His identity and saving work—accomplishes in those
who receive it: “as it also does among
you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.”
But does the lawyer’s question still
get asked? Does it even flow from your mouth? Yes, indeed. The challenge does
come. It’s part of your being conformed to Jesus’ way of life. But when you
ask, “And who is my neighbor?” then
Jesus answers again with the story of the Good Samaritan. He responds: “Let Me
again adjust your way of thinking. The love that you say that you have for Me
is to be displayed in what you do for your neighbor. And when you do so, what
really happens is that the love that I showed to you is reflected in your love
for them.”
Jesus says to you: “So let me tell
you again about My identity and My work for you. Hear again the good news of
what I’ve done for you. Once you were a victim of sin, death, and Satan, lying
beaten and dead. But I journeyed down from heaven and came to where you were. I
saw you and had compassion. So I bound up your wounds. I picked you up and
carried you. I brought you back to life again. And it didn’t cost two days’
wages; it cost My body being broken for you and My blood being poured out for
you. But that is the love that I have shown for you. I have proved to be a
neighbor to you. This is what saved you. This is how you have been given
eternal life. You love Me for this. Now go and do likewise. And with My gospel
bearing fruit in you, it shall be so.”
+ In the Name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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