(Ref. Texts: Deut 30:10–14; Col 1:15–20; Luke 10:25–37)
“In great cities men are brought together by the desire of gain. They are not in a state of co-operation, but of isolation, as to the making of fortunes; and for all the rest they are careless of neighbours. Christianity teaches us to love our neighbour as ourselves; modern society acknowledges no neighbour.”
Introduction
This Sunday Gospel (Luke 10:25–37) touches a fundamental question – life after death. It is about the raison d’être of human righteous conduct – the quest for eternal life. The lawyer’s question is both an existential and soteriological questions. Who is not in any way concerned with the hereafter? The concept of eternal life is a universal concept. Although stated differently, every religion and every people believes in the afterlife. According to Hinduism for instance, until a person attains Enlightenment, Samsara will continue. Samsara is a continuous cyclical process of birth, life, death and rebirth. This is the Hindu concept of the transmigration of the soul. The attainment of Enlightenment signifies a person has attained eternal life and will no longer experience samsara. What is the connection between God’s kingdom and neighbour?
As Jesus journeys to Jerusalem, he is confronted by a scholar of the law who pretended to know what he must do to inherit eternal life, but the truth is that he wanted to test Jesus. He must have listened to him and became uncomfortable with Jesus’ interpretation and application of the law, that he now moved to tempt him. In Mark and Matthew, the question is about the greatest commandment. But here in Luke, the lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Again, In the Gospels according to Mark and Matthew, Jesus answers the question by citing Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. While the former concerns loving God, the latter is about loving the neighbour. In Luke, Jesus asks the scholar to answer what is written in the law. Naturally, the man responds with Deuteronomy 6:5. Deuteronomy is one of the most important prayers in Judaism. It was said twice a day in Jesus’ time. Love of God and neighbour are what is required for eternal life. Jesus’ response to the man is simple and direct: “Do this and you will live.”
Not wanting to give up, the lawyer raises another question. Who is my neighbour? Who is this person that I must love like myself? With the distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, men and women, clean and unclean of Jesus’ time, the question on neighbour was a trick question. Jesus responds with one of the most beautiful of all the parables – the Good Samaritan. This parable is found only in the Gospel according to Luke.
What must I do?
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). I must observe that it is strange for an observing Jew to ask what he must do to have eternal life. the Greek word nomikos pertains to the law. It refers to someone learned in the Mosaic law. In the Christian (New) Testament, nomikos refers to the interpreter of the Jewish religious laws (cf. Matt 22:35). This lawyer must have listened to Jesus on several occasions, and must have observed that his teachings are not on the same pedestal with that of the Scribes and other Jewish authorities. His interrogation immediately follows the sending and return of the seventy-two disciples with Jesus’ final comment to his disciples in Luke 10:23–24. However, the expert in law did not ask this question because he genuinely desired to be taught by Jesus. He only wanted to justify himself (cf. Luke 10:29).
The Jews believed that sheepish observance of the Torah was enough to merit them the kingdom of God. Since the lawyer have been observing and listening to Jesus and so needed to confirm his doubts, he needed to find out why the Jewish law was not enough to earn him eternal life. Initially, Jesus answered him in terms of the commandments (Luke 10:25–28), then follows an explanatory story explaining the meaning of neighbour and the rightful way to interpret the law. Although the lawyer had a different intention for questioning Jesus, yet, Jesus seconded him in order to bring him on the right track. Jesus took his mind to the words of the Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 (cf. also Luke 18:19–20). If the lawyer wants to inherit eternal life, then, he should go and do what the law says. But was this man satisfied by Jesus’ command to go and do what the law says?
Going beyond the law
To the lawyer’s question (Luke 10:25), Jesus asked, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” (Luke 10:26). To love the Lord your God involves having faith in God and delighting in God above every other thing and every other person. Both Matthew, Mark, and Luke include the words heart (emotions, will, and deepest convictions), soul (the immaterial part of a person’s being), and mind (reason).[1] Matthew (cf. 22:37) alone lacks the term strength[2], an indication of the total devotion of one’s entire being. Jesus acknowledged the lawyer’s accurate and abstract knowledge of the law and, informed him that he has answered correctly. This means there is nothing wrong with the lawyer’s answer. However, there is everything wrong with his understanding and application of the law.
Now, follows the great challenge. From the abstract and theoretical knowledge of the law, the lawyer is invited to embrace the practical aspect of the law. This is the meaning of do this and you will live. Abstract knowledge of “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” is insufficient. One must go beyond the utopian mastery of the law. That is, one must practice this law. With the story that follows, Jesus will prove to the lawyer that he falls far short of following the commands he recited. Many Christians (especially their leaders) are like this Jewish lawyer. They have a perfect but abstract knowledge of all the canon laws, the various doctrines, written and conventional laws of their various churches, but they lack the practical knowledge. They are incapable of doing that which these laws command. What a disappointment! And what a great lesson by Jesus!
Reflecting on neighbour
“But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29). This question is due to the lawyer’s desire to justify himself, an attitude that reveals his insincerity and superficiality in terms of the law and what God wants. The Greek verb used by Luke (dikaioō) shows the man saw himself as a just and righteous person simply because he studied and interpreted the law. Desiring to justify himself means he wanted to prove he has known the commandment from his youth (cf. Luke 18:21).