The Self Justifying Lawyer: Luke 10:25-29
“25) And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26) And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27) And he 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 neighbor as yourself.” 28) And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29) But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”” Luke 10:25-29
It is fitting that a lawyer, representing humanity asked Jesus the big question; “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
In one way or another, all people ponder this question. Many times it’s expressed by questions about life after death.
True to form, Jesus turned it into two questions. “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” Questions can be incredibly. They can get to core issues very quickly.
The first thing the lawyer said is very instructive; “You shall Iove…” Ironically, he used the word “agape” for love in his answer. I often call this “the God kind of love.”
This kind of love goes way beyond brotherly kindness, respect, granting dignity, benevolence or good will. It is the kind of love the Apostle John had in mind in 1 John 4:8 and 16 when he said, “God is love.” The lawyer set the standard very high!
Then he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5; “ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is the standard for the way we should love God.” Then for good measure he added; “… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” from Leviticus 19:18. This is the standard for loving people.
There was only one problem, he had fallen short of loving people as himself. If you read the context of Leviticus 19:18; it is a prohibition against taking vengeance on people. As a lawyer, much of his job was ensuring vengeance on people.
Ironically, Jesus responded that he had answered correctly. After all, agape love is the fulfillment of the Law. (See Romans 8:10 and Galatians 5:14) This is impossible for the unregenerate human heart.
Wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus; “And who is my neighbor?” He wanted to boil it down to those few people living next to him.
Of course, these are sometimes the hardest people to consistently show agape love toward, but it was a lot safer for the lawyer to apply this standard to loving his neighbor to the few people in his neighborhood than the many people he was prosecuting in the legal system.
Applying the letter of the Law to others always evokes contention and conflict between people. It is based on anger, bitterness and vengeance. Human nature cannot judge and prosecute others while loving at the same time! That’s why legalism is self defeating. It always violates love.
This episode with the self justifying lawyer resulted in Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan. Stay tuned, there is much to learn.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global.
Sent from my iPhone
“25) And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26) And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27) And he 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 neighbor as yourself.” 28) And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29) But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”” Luke 10:25-29
It is fitting that a lawyer, representing humanity asked Jesus the big question; “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
In one way or another, all people ponder this question. Many times it’s expressed by questions about life after death.
True to form, Jesus turned it into two questions. “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” Questions can be incredibly. They can get to core issues very quickly.
The first thing the lawyer said is very instructive; “You shall Iove…” Ironically, he used the word “agape” for love in his answer. I often call this “the God kind of love.”
This kind of love goes way beyond brotherly kindness, respect, granting dignity, benevolence or good will. It is the kind of love the Apostle John had in mind in 1 John 4:8 and 16 when he said, “God is love.” The lawyer set the standard very high!
Then he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5; “ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is the standard for the way we should love God.” Then for good measure he added; “… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” from Leviticus 19:18. This is the standard for loving people.
There was only one problem, he had fallen short of loving people as himself. If you read the context of Leviticus 19:18; it is a prohibition against taking vengeance on people. As a lawyer, much of his job was ensuring vengeance on people.
Ironically, Jesus responded that he had answered correctly. After all, agape love is the fulfillment of the Law. (See Romans 8:10 and Galatians 5:14) This is impossible for the unregenerate human heart.
Wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus; “And who is my neighbor?” He wanted to boil it down to those few people living next to him.
Of course, these are sometimes the hardest people to consistently show agape love toward, but it was a lot safer for the lawyer to apply this standard to loving his neighbor to the few people in his neighborhood than the many people he was prosecuting in the legal system.
Applying the letter of the Law to others always evokes contention and conflict between people. It is based on anger, bitterness and vengeance. Human nature cannot judge and prosecute others while loving at the same time! That’s why legalism is self defeating. It always violates love.
This episode with the self justifying lawyer resulted in Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan. Stay tuned, there is much to learn.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global.
Sent from my iPhone
