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Sunday 7 June 2026
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Sermon Notes [Download.]
The Parables of
Jesus
Parables of the Christian Life
The Parable of the
Good Samaritan
A Parable of the Christian Life = how one lives in the Kingdom in the present – marked by love: ‘So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love’ (1 Cor. 13:13)
Parable of the Good Samaritan – one of the best-known of the parables. NOT about being nice!! Something much more radical and all-encompassing.
The parables context in Luke (only appears here in the gospels):
· very much in the shadow of the cross – Luke 9:51-19: 27 unfolds in the context of: ‘When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51) – the cross being the ultimate expression of love: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life John’ (3:16); ‘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. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us’ (1 John 4:7-12)
· linked to mission – Jesus sends out the 72, declaring: ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’ (Luke 10:9)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is not simply a call to be nice to people! It holds up a mirror that exposes the true nature of the human heart.
The parable begins with a lawyer asking a lawyer’s question: ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ (Luke 10:25) – not a genuine question, he is not seeking insight, only testing Jesus!
Jesus gives a Rabbi’s answer, namely asks a question: ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ (Luke 10:26) What else would he ask an expert in the Law?
The lawyer, easily answers by quoting the Shema (a Jewish daily prayer): ‘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’ (from Deuteronomy 6:4-5), ‘and your neighbour as yourself’ (from Leviticus 19:18) (Luke 10:27)
Jesus acknowledges the lawyers correct answer and NOW answers his original question by saying: ‘do this and you will live’ (Luke 10:28)
Something very important happens in this moment! The lawyer knows what the law says, but not what the law does! That is until Jesus says, ‘do this and you will live’. In saying this Jesus exposes how the lawyer has fallen short of the requirements of the Law and so cannot earn eternal life – ‘For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin’ (Rom. 3:20)
The lawyer now begins to scramble, looking for a way to ‘justify himself’ (Luke 10:29) he asks, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ – he is looking to limit the scope of the commandment to put himself back in credit!
In reply to the lawyer’s question Jesus tells a parable:
· This may well have been a familiar story; his hearers may well have known victims on this 18-mile route between Jerusalem and Jericho.
· They may not have been impressed with the inaction of the priest and Levite but may have understood.
· The idea of a ‘good Samaritan’ would have been an oxymoron to his hearers!
· In stark contrast to the Jewish clergy and their calling to compassionate ministry the Samaritan goes above and beyond in helping this man. – tending to his wounds, lifting him on to his beast of burden, staying the night and providing for his immediate and ongoing care – from the moment he saw this man left for dead the Samaritan made him his only priority.
· No doubt, the lawyer and those who heard this parable would have been shell-shocked as Jesus concluded by asking, ‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?’ (Luke 10:36)
The lawyer had asked the wrong question! Rather than asking, ‘who is my neighbour,’ the question those who wish to enter the kingdom should ask is, ‘how can I be a loving neighbour to anyone at any time?’
How? As the lawyer rightly answered: ‘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 neighbour as yourself’ Jesus in summing responding to another lawyer’s question, ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ gives the same answer, concluding, ‘On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets’ (Matt. 22:40)
How?
1. Love God with all you have – which covers the first tablet of the Law – Commandments 1-4
2. Love your neighbour as yourself – anyone, anywhere – which covers the second tablet of the Law – commandments 5-10
How?
1. Loving God with all you have, is only possible if you know the love of God, revealed in Christ first.
2. Loving your neighbour as yourself is the fruit (or evidence) of the first!
This is the love that is about to be made manifest in the cross. This is the love that shapes the gospel that believers are sent to proclaim in word and deed.
‘When you see a person in need you don’t ask them how they
got there. You help them out of it’ (RC Sproul) – ‘But
I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on
the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not
withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one
who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others
would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what
benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those
from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend
to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good,
and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you
will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36)
Jesus at the conclusion of the parable asks, ‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?”’ and the lawyer responded, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)
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