Our Lord Jesus in His third year ministry wanted to teach the
disciples who He really was. He sent out seventy-two disciples two by two all
the villages and towns, preaching the good news of the kingdom of heaven and
healing the sick. They were like lambs among wolves. The following account
tells us whose neighbor we should be.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written
in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have
answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted
to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke
10:25-29)
An expert in the law came to test Jesus, asking a question
what he must do to inherit eternal life. That’s a huge question for humanity.
Who doesn’t want to have eternal life? According to what he answered to Jesus,
he understood correctly what the Law said to inherit eternal life. However, he
felt empty and void without having life because he did not do what he knew.
So, Jesus asked him back what the Law said to inherit
eternal life. The man answered quite accurately that he should love God and
love his neighbor as himself. Then Jesus replied, “Do this and you will live.” To
live eternal life requires to love God and neighbor as himself.
What is love? Here it means agape which is different eros
and fileo. Eros is love between man and woman and fileo means friendship. Agape
is to give without any strings attached. God is love, so He gives always. The
Scripture confirms that God so loved the world that He gave His begotten Son
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John
2:16). God is forever giving and man is forever taking from Him. He did not
even withhold the beloved Son but gave us as the ransom sacrifice for our sins.
What then is to love God? Can man give anything to God? In
fact, there is nothing for man to give to God. Nevertheless, the Law says, “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 “Love your neighbor as yourself.” How can
it be possible when we are absolutely broke in giving anything to God? It
troubles many including this scribe who asked the question to Jesus.
What the scribe summarized was the Ten Commandments given by
the angel of the Lord to Moses at Mt. Horeb where Moses stayed there forty days
and forty nights. In the Ten Commandments, we don’t find the language of love
as it is written in the Book of Exodus.
And God
spoke all these words:
“I am the
Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall
have no other gods before me.
“You shall
not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on
the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those
who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me
and keep my commandments.
“You shall
not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name.
“Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall
not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female
servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six
days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
and made it holy.
“Honor your
father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God
is giving you.
“You shall
not murder.
“You shall
not commit adultery.
“You shall
not steal.
“You shall
not give false testimony against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not
covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:1-17)
What the Law really spells out is to love God in the
negative languages. So, keeping the Law is to love God. The question is then
how to keep the Law in perfection as our Lord Jesus says, “Be perfect,
therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
The purpose of giving the Law is clear and plain. It’s not
to try our best to keep it, mustering all might and strength with the passion
of dedication and commitment. By no means! No one is righteous, not even one to
keep the Law perfectly and blamelessly, says the Scripture. It is impossible
with man, but nothing is impossible with God. What man cannot do is provided by
God who gives power to keep the Law. Thus, God not only demands us to keep the
Law in holiness and blamelessness but also provides the power to keep it.
Jesus Christ is the power. As the Scripture says, whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus is the life and
the resurrection. He gives the life to anyone who believes in Him and the
Father who sent Him because He died for the sin of the world, was buried, and
was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures. The death of Jesus Christ
is the ransom price in full to revoke the death penalty imposed in Adam because
it has fulfilled the righteousness of God.
There is one and only Person who can keep the Law of God in
perfection. He is Jesus Christ. He indwells in the heart and mind of the
believer of Christ who has received Jesus as Lord and Master. He is the living
water flowing from within. He generously and patiently offers the invitation for
anyone to take it without cost.
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood
and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from
within them.’” (John 7:37-38)
Prophet Isiah cried out to his people to come and drink some
seven hundred years before the Lord Jesus came.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you
who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and
without cost.” (Isaiah 55:1)
This is how we keep the Law through full submission to the
indwelling Spirit of God within us. No flesh and blood can do it but the Spirit
can fulfill it when we fully submit ourselves to Him. That’s what God intended
man to function even before the time began.
But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he
asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him in a parable, the
parable of the good Samaritan.
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was
attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away,
leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and
when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he
came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as
he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the
man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day
he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he
said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may
have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had
mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37)
In answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus asked
him, “Which of these three was a neighbor to the man who was robbed?”
Obviously, he replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Then Jesus told him, “Go
and do likewise.” The man considered himself as one who kept the law by praying
and fasting in regular basis. He thought of himself as one who dedicated in
studying the law for long hours. So, he boastfully asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
What he was asking is to justify himself that he loved God and his neighbor by
doing all the religious duties and activities for God.
But our Lord knew what was in his heart and said, “You be
that kind of neighbor to the poor and the needy.” What Jesus is saying is this,
“Do not think that you keep the law by what you are doing in terms of the
traditions of elders, but be available to listen to the voice of the living God
who is compassionate and merciful to the poor.”
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus reveals a surprising truth
that giving something to drink to the thirsty is to do for Him. Loving one
another as Jesus has loved us is the new commandment and the fulfillment of the
Law. Loving God is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
(Matthew 25:40)
No comments:
Post a Comment