Luke 10:25-28. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Do any of you want to live by the law? There is the law. Does any man here pretend that he has kept it? Let me ask any man here who would justify himself by his own works, have you thought of God today? How much time have you spent with God? or yesterday, how much of your time did you give him Вѕhow many minutes? Would you venture to say that you spent a quarter of an hour in prayer? No, perhaps, if it comes to the truth, you did not spend five minutes. Now, if you loved God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength, and all your mind, do you think that five minutes would satisfy such a love as that? Oh, no, sirs, you that are unconverted give God no love at all, and how can you think therefore, that you are keeping his law which puts it so strongly, «Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart? and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself»? Have you ever done that? Neither the first nor the second table have you kept intact.
Luke 10:29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
The Saviour then related this incident, which I have no doubt was really a fact.
Luke 10:30. 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.
It was a very dangerous road, a very lonely part, and robberies were very frequent there.
Luke 10:31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
He did not like the look of wounds and blood. It is a very convenient thing not to recollect the miseries of your fellow-men. Do not think about their poverty: it might spoil your digestion. Do not think about their drunkenness: you might have to become a teetotaler. Do not think about their sin: you might have to go and preach in the street to them. You can live so easily and pleasantly, and even be a priest and be called «His Reverence,» if you are very careful which side of the road you take. «He passed by on the other side.»
Luke 10:32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.
There are some whose looks are evidently esteemed by themselves to be so very precious, that, when they have given them, they give nothing more. He may have meant, «I will see into it.» There are a great many who are very diligent in their promises to see into a case, but we do not see much come of what they say. They also pass by on the other side. Neither the priest nor the Levite acted as a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves.
Luke 10:33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was:
He looked, approached, drew near, «came where he was.»
Luke 10:33. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
He did not ask him how he got there, or say to him, ‘Why, man, you must have been very foolish to travel alone. My dear friend, next time you come this way, you must come armed. Did you not know this was a very ugly part of the road? And I think you are ill-advised to have been traveling quite so late.» Oh, we have many dear friends who always favor us with their rebukes when our wounds are bleeding! «He had compassion on him.»
Luke 10:34. 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.
Oil and wine-two very good things for external application, and he used them for that. Wondrous healers these were known to be. They were expensive things too. He had brought them for his own comfort, and he freely used them for this poor man. Then he set him on his own beast; so he had to walk himself. He took the inconvenience. He relinquished his own comfort for the sake of doing good. «And he brought him to an inn and took care of him,» perhaps sat up at night with him, he took care of him after he had got him into the inn. He did not immediately commend him to the care of some paid person, but at first he took care of him. But this good Samaritan had urgent business, and was obliged to go about it.
Luke 10:35. 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.
«This is my piece of work. I want to finish it, and as I cannot stop will you kindly supply the ready money, and when I come again, I will repay you?»
Luke 10:36-37. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Oh, you lawyer, why did you not say «The Samaritan»? Of course, he did not like to use that word. Oh, no, we never mention them-the «Samaritans.» «The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans;» so he would not honestly say «The Samaritan»; but he made a roundabout of it and said, «He that shewed mercy on him.»
Luke 10:37. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
May we all be enabled to do so by exercising constant love to those who are in need!
Luke 10:38. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
There were not so very many that kept open house for Christ. But Martha did. It was her house.
Luke 10:39. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
She was free to do so. It was not her house. She need not attend to the hospitalities of it. Her sister was quite equal to it, and so Mary did well to avail herself of the opportunity of sitting at Jesus' feet, and hearing his word.
Luke 10:40. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
She wanted to get so much ready Вѕto have everything nice. So she came almost scolding the Master. She was out of temper, surely, that day. She had got to be troubled. Dear friends, it is not wrong to labour and to work and do all we can, but it is wrong to grow cumbered with it, Вѕto get fretful, anxious, worried about this thing and that. You will not do it any better. You will probably do less, and you will do it worse. She was «cumbered about much serving.»
Luke 10:41-42. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful:
«Thou hast forgotten much. Looking after many things, thou hast failed to remember the chief, the only needful thing.»
Luke 10:42. And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
And so he let her still sit there, and hear his blessed words. «Oh, that I could for ever sit With Mary at the Master's feet. Be this my happy choice!»