When you come to Scripture, why do you come? When you come to Jesus, why do you come? There are good motives and bad motives. There are good questions and poor questions. The good Samaritan story is one that Jesus told to help a man sift and sort his motives and his questions as the man came to Jesus. Luke 10:25-37.
Key words (NIV):
1) v. 25--"stood up to test Jesus."
2) v. 29--"wanted to justify himself."
Why did this expert in the law come to Jesus? He came to test Jesus. He came to try to get Jesus to make a mistake, to say the wrong things, to prove that Jesus was not really a man from God or learned in the Scriptures (Old Testament). If Jesus was tripped up, then it would be easy to discredit Him with the everyday people--the people Jesus was healing, casting demons from, preaching and teaching the gospel to. And that would be good--discrediting Jesus--for the religious establishment and its leaders.
But what happened? In answer to the man's question, Jesus asked him a question, "How do you read the Law--how do you interpret it--what would you say the Scripture says about how to have eternal life"?
When the man gave Jesus his answer, Jesus then agreed with him. The man summarized the Ten Commandments (Ten Words) by stating, "Love God and love others as yourself." Jesus said, "Right, that is the way to live and to know and experience God."
Then to justify himself, the expert asked another question, "Who is my neighbor"? In other words, "who should I love and show respect, minister to, care about like I care for myself"? The man asked this to justify himself.
Oops! Wrong motive--to justify himself, to make himself feel better, to prove that he had it all together and didn't just know the right things to "say" but also was "doing" the right things.
So what happened? Jesus told a story of right belief leading to right living. Samaritans--people who were looked down on by the religious people of the time because they were not pure blood. They were products of intermarriage among heathen peoples and some of God's peoples. AND furthermore, the Samaritans had set up their own place of worship. But for the Jew at the time, there was only one place to worship God with sacrifices--the Temple in Jerusalem. So these Samaritans, despite saying they worshiped the same God as the Jews, must be idol worshipers. They didn't do it the way the religious establishment thought they should to be "real" worshipers of God.
Jesus sets up the Samaritan as the hero of the story. The religious leaders in the story--the religious establishment--said they believed "love God and love neighbor as oneself"--but when it came time to demonstrate it, they failed and fell short. But who came to the rescue? The hated Samaritan--the half breed--the idol worshiper--the heathen person. JESUS told the story. JESUS set up the Samaritan as the hero--the one who showed he loved God by loving a man needing ministry/service. Radical!
The expert came to Jesus wanting to test Jesus and to justify himself. But instead, he came away from the story having to agree with Jesus that he stood convicted--that his thinking/action was wrong.
So often I come to the Scripture for the wrong reasons/purposes. I come to test Jesus--to make Him prove Himself to me--that He really loves me--really knows what I am going through--that He will provide for me (when actually He already is). Our nation does that. What is the difference between the prayer, "God bless America," and the prayer, "America, bless God"? God has already, continously blessed America. But has America continued to bless God?
I also come to the Scripture to justify myself--to make myself feel better--to make myself look good to myself and others around me. "Now they know I've got it together--I know what I'm talking about--I am living exactly God's way."
And then as I read, "Oops!" Jesus asks hard questions.
The man asked the wrong question. He asked, "Who is my neighbor"? But Jesus said that was the wrong question. The right question was, "Am I really a neighbor--am I really loving others as I love myself"?
Do you come to the Scripture and Jesus to test Jesus and justify yourself? Or do you come to the Scripture and Jesus to be read and tested by it/Him? The first way says, "I am the standard by which Scripture/Jesus is to be tested." The other way says that the Scripture and Jesus is the standard by which my life is to be judged/tested.
I am to be a neighbor to all--everyone is my neighbor, but am I a neighbor to those in need?
"How do YOU read it?" Or better yet, "how does Scripture/Jesus read you"?
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