March 7, 2025 Morning Devotional
Morning Devotion: Read Luke - The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
A lawyer came to Jesus asking how to obtain eternal life. Jesus answered the lawyers question with a question. “What is written in the law? how readest thou?”
He gave the lawful and right answer, for to love God with all your being is engulfing the whole law. The Lord said in Matthew 22:40 “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
1Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
However, the lawyer was willing to justify himself and asked who was his neighbour.
Our Lord gives him the greatest answer. It was answer of test and of demonstration for the lawyer was obviously not interested in the truth. When one is willing to justify oneself the truth becomes irrelevant because it is all about self rather than loving the Lord.
Notice, in our text a priest and a Levite both saw the man and passed by leaving him to his own demise.
The one who cared was a Samaritan who by all standards of that time was looked down upon by the world. A prejudice was levied on all Samaritans because of their historical heritage. Yet, it was this man who reached out to help and literally saved the mans life.
When the Lord asked “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?”
The answer from the lawyer was absolutely profound. “And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.”
Jesus makes a very important response: “Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
With Jesus’ response we find that the lawyer had not being loving his neighbour and probably not loving God. If he was already loving his neighbour, our Lord Jesus would never have said, “Go, thou and do likewise.”
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
When you are willing to justify yourself, loving God and your neighbour is secondary. If the lawyer could not accomplish the second commandment how could he expect to accomplish the first.
To love God is paramount, to love your neighbour is the demonstration of loving God.
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
The priest, the Levite and the lawyer all failed in their demonstration of loving God, the Samaritan did not.
The choice is still yours,
Pastor Cook
