Testing and Justifying
Luke 10:25-37
March 6, 2015
Today, let's jump to the "Parables for Lent" for today's devotional reading. (If you haven't received your copy of Dean Nadasdy's "Parables for Lent," additional copies are available in the Narthex).
Let's focus on the lawyer's question opening question to Jesus: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). Lawyers are in the business of asking questions as they seek to uncover the truth. This lawyer's question, if sincere, would be considered a good one. Jesus responds to the question, even though He is aware of the intent, by asking the lawyer to quote the law, and the lawyer quotes the laws of loving God and loving our neighbor from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The lawyer could not argue with the truth of scripture.
But the lawyer is not really interested in learning the truth. The lawyer was laying a trap for Jesus. The lawyer "stood up to test Jesus." (Luke 10:25a). His true motive does not become apparent, however, until he asks his second question: "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). His follow-up question was designed to justify his own conduct.
Who is my neighbor? It's as if the lawyer was acknowledging that he loves some people some of the time; but there are others that fall through the cracks. How can he avoid judgment? Maybe by defining them to be outside the circle of "neighbor."
How often do we play definitional games to avoid our own guilt and responsibility. But Jesus keeps bringing our focus back to who we really are. In this case, Jesus did not have to accuse the lawyer of anything; he simply asked the questions that caused the lawyer's definitional games to fall apart. The lawyer finally had to admit that the true neighbor in the story of the Good Samaritan was the person who showed love, without regard to nationality or race or religion.
It's as if Jesus held up a mirror to the lawyer so he could see who he really was. That's what confession is all about--acknowledging who we really are.
But Jesus doesn't leave the lawyer there. Jesus wants to see transformed lives. Instead, having heard the lawyer proclaim with his own lips the answer to his own question, Jesus instructs him to follow the truth that the lawyer already knew. "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:37).
In this season of Lent, are you testing Jesus? Are you justifying your own behavior? Or are you acknowledging who you really are?
Pray: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24).
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