Luke 10:29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"
Luke 10:36 And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?"
Luke 10:37 The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him." Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."
In studying the parable of the Good Samaritan I found there is a whole lot more to this parable than I had originally thought. It might take us a bit to get through it all, but I believe it is worth the time it takes to fully examine this parable. This parable is a conversation between Jesus and a lawyer. The conversation starts at Luke 10:25. The lawyer had asked Jesus a question to test Jesus or to try Him. The reason for the question was not for good intentions, but the subject is on a matter of acting on our conscience and it is good for us all to know answer Jesus gave.
The question the lawyer asked Jesus was "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" This is the same question the Rich Young Ruler asked Jesus in Matthew 19. Both men were from wealthy families and were well trained in the laws. The Rich Young Ruler was asking his question out of a sincere desire to know what he needed to do to be saved. The lawyer in Luke 10 was asking for the purpose of test Jesus or possibly trying to expose Jesus as a fraud. The question was a good one, but it lost it's goodness when it was asked for such a mean purpose. I wonder if a person isn't using the Lord's name in vain when they get into religious discussions only for the purpose of creating arguments, or when they speak of the way to salvation in a casual manner. The Spirit of the Lord is not in them when they do this. They are not sincere in their comments or questions. God is not honored by arguments. What Jesus did for us is so great it should never be treated in a careless manner.
When the lawyer asked his question, Jesus turned the man's attention to the area the lawyer would know best. Jesus directed him to the law. Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" Jesus was asking the lawyer how he interpreted the law. Jesus spoke to the lawyer in a manner the lawyer could understand. There is another important thing to note here. God, in His love for His children, has made sure the Bible is available to us all. We have a responsibility to study it so that we can defend our beliefs from it. Too often we rely on the minister, or some other person to tell us what is in the Bible and unfortunately we are not able to give a Biblical defense for our beliefs, when asked about them, because we don't study the Bible for ourselves.
The lawyer gave Jesus a good answer. He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself." (Luke 12:27) His answer was to quote the two most important laws. All of the other laws are wrapped up in those two. If we focused on those two laws, we would do exactly what we should. By loving God that much we are giving everything to Him and completely submitting to Him. We will love Him with an intelligent love, one that has studied and understands what pleases Him, and we will be able to explain the grounds for our love for Him. When we love others as ourselves, we will want to take care of other just as we want to be cared for. However, sometimes we get so caught up in ministry that we get these two law turned around. We end up trying to love others more that God. God always comes first. How can we serve Him if we aren't spending time with Him and learning to listen to Him? God does not want us to love anything other than Himself, EXCEPT for what He has asked us to love and that is each other. It is okay to enjoy other things, but not to love them. Our love is only to go in two directions. It is to go to God and to others, and in that order. God first, then others.