The Gospels Luke

A Place at the Table

Discover Jesus as: Son of Man Luke 10 Read on Bible Gateway (HCSB)

Day 164 of 730
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INTRO

Mindi’s painting for Luke may have become my favorite. It’s all about coming to the table and how everyone is invited. I love sharing the gospel, so as I prayed through Luke 10, I naturally leaned toward the account of sending out the 70 (vv. 1-12) and sharing with the unrepentant towns (vv. 13-16). But when I consider the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I think about who is drawn to the table. That’s our study for today.

TEACHING

Luke 10:25-29: A lawyer wanted to test Jesus. The lawyer was an expert in the Mosaic Law, he knew the Pentateuch and the Torah. He knew Jesus’ background and couldn’t believe Jesus actually knew the law. The lawyer presented a common question (Matthew 19:16; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18). King Solomon said that everybody searches for the answer to this question in their hearts. The lawyer asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 25).

As a good teacher, Jesus asked the lawyer, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” (v. 26). Jesus was making the lawyer go back to his own readings and explain his understanding of it to Him. Jesus was setting the lawyer up (Galatians 2:16) because there was no way the lawyer could answer Jesus’ question from his understanding of the law (Galatians 3:21). The expert responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5 - the Shema). He quoted Scripture, but it wasn’t on topic. Jesus told the lawyer that if he could do all this 100 percent correctly, he would live (Leviticus 18:5; Ezekiel 20:11). Jesus quoted Scripture in return. The lawyer had to know what he had shared was impossible to do, so he asked another question to justify himself: “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29; Galatians 3:10-13). The reality is the lawyer wanted to know who his select group would be - those who look the same, smell the same, believe the same. It can be easy for us in the church to play this game about who our neighbors are. Psalm 139:21-22 explains this position, “LORD, don’t I hate those who hate You, and detest those who rebel against You? I hate them with extreme hatred; I consider them my enemies.”

Luke 10:30-35: In response, Jesus began to tell a story that could have been true or a parable. Jesus doesn’t identify it as either. Jesus told of a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, descending down about 3,300 feet and 17 miles. The man came across robbers who took his clothes, beat him up, and ran, leaving him half dead (v. 30). The man was naked and injured. A priest just happened down the road, saw the half-dead man, and moved to the other side of the road to remain ceremonially clean (Leviticus 21:1). The priest would never have been able or willing to invite the half-dead man to the table.

Then a Levite arrived at the place, saw the man, and passed by on the other side of the road (v. 32). The Levite’s role was to collect the sacrifices to give to the priests. He should have been able to help this man. Nelson’s Commentary says, “How easy is it for those who handle the rituals of religion to become calloused and treat the opportunities to minister as trivial and commonplace.”1I think the reason the Lord brought me to this passage today is that, if the church is not careful, we’ll continue become more and more like this priest and this Levite.

Then a Samaritan, coming along on his journey, saw the half-dead man and had compassion. He went out of his way (came over to him), soothed the wounds with oil and bandaged them, and took the man, naked and covered with blood, on his own animal to a nearby inn. He took care of the man (vv. 33-34). Bible.org (https://bible.org/) says the Samaritan showed: (1) compassion, (2) care, and (3) paid the cost of the man’s care (v. 35). 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each person should do as he has decided in his own heart - not reluctantly or out of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver.” The two denarii the Samaritan left for the man’s care would have covered his stay for 24 days, and he told the innkeeper he’d come back to pay any additional expenses.2(James 2:15-16.) The Samaritan gave as much as he could to take care of a person he didn’t even know.

Jesus could have played the card as the High Priest in Heaven and not come down as the Son of Man to interact with people. When He saw we were half-dead, Jesus came down with compassion and took care of us. Jesus literally gave up His life to do this. We tend to want to live like the priest and the Levite, all to ourselves, but Jesus reminds us He came for everybody to have the opportunity to sit at the table.

Luke 10:36-37: Jesus asked the lawyer to decide which of these three (the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan) was a neighbor to the injured man. Jesus asked the expert who knew everything about the Law but wasn’t ready to act upon it. We in the church may know everything, but that’s utterly pointless if we refuse to go to people on the side of the road. It’s almost like we’ve become so callous to the lost and the hurting that we never invite them to the table.

In verse 37, the lawyer, the religious guy, responded, “the one who showed mercy to him.” The lawyer was so caught up in his hatred of the Samaritan that he couldn’t even acknowledge what the Samaritan had done. And Jesus told him to go do the same. Go show compassion for the ones that appall you; go live like the Samaritan.

CLOSING

According to Bible.org, the robbers would say, “What’s yours is mine, and I’m going to take it.” A religious people would say, “What’s mine is mine, and I’m going to keep it.” But what I see with the Good Samaritan and with Jesus is, “What’s mine is yours, and I’m going to share it. I’m not going to take it or keep it but share it.”

When I think of the Son of Man, that’s what He did––He gave it all up for those who needed His compassion, His care, and a place at His table.

  1. Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p.1273.

  2. Nelson’s Commentary, p. 1273.

Questions

  1. In verse 2, we are told to pray for laborers. Do you see yourself as a laborer? Why or why not?
  2. In verse 19, put your name in the place of the word “you.” Does that change the meaning and power of this verse for you? Why or why not?
  3. In verse 25b, what does it mean to “inherit” eternal life? Is this earned? Why or why not?
  4. In verse 27, an expert of law quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Did this have the same meaning in Jesus’ time? Why do you think that?
  5. Verses 38-42 tell of two sisters who loved the Lord but came from different angles. What was the difference between them? Who do you think you most resemble: Mary or Martha? Why?
  6. What did the Holy Spirit highlight to you in Luke 10 through the reading or the teaching?

Next: the Daily Word →

Daily Word

Laura Martin Luke 10:41-42

“The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

While Jesus was traveling, he came to Bethany, and Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, welcomed Him inside their home. As Jesus sat in their home and talked, Martha was distracted by many things while Mary sat at His feet and listened to what He said. Martha was bothered by Mary’s act of sitting and listening to Jesus as His disciple. Martha wanted Mary to give her a hand. However, Jesus confirmed Mary’s choice to sit and listen by telling Martha that Mary had made the right choice.

You live in a busy world. Like Martha, there are many, many tasks at hand. Your day could be filled for twenty-four hours doing tasks and staying busy. And if it’s not your tasks you need to do, it’s friends and family and coworkers in need of your help. And yet the right choice in all the busyness is sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what He says. No matter what your day holds, take time to sit and listen to Jesus. This may look like opening the Bible and reading Scripture. This may mean sitting still and praying and pausing long enough for the busyness of the world to calm down around you. So today, stop doing so much. Even if your checklist is not checked off. Sit even before you begin the checklist. Listen to Jesus and all He has to speak to your heart. He says, “That is the right choice.” Make the right choice today.

“The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

—Luke 10:41-42

FURTHER SCRIPTURE

  • Luke 10:39 – “She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said.”
  • John 15:4 – “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.”
  • James 4:8a – “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”