Gospel of Luke Study – Chapter 10 - part 2

Vicar Peter M. Horn, Seminary Intern

Last class, we finished with Jesus praising his disciples. The kingdom of God is present wherever Jesus does his ministry and wherever others do ministry in his names as the 70 disciples just did. They have succeeded in fulfilling the mission that Jesus has sent them out to do. Just as Simeon was shown the messiah, to see the kingdom of God come to earth, before he was able to die, so to the disciples now see it and hear it! We enter our story at this high point in the relationship of Jesus and his disciples.

25-37 – The Parable of the Good Samaritan
“Just then:” There is no transition here; we are in the same conversation, the same gathering. Read in continuous form, we may think the lawyer is interrupting the reunion of Jesus and the 70 by asking this question about himself. The lawyer, however, is not interrupting. Jesus has been focusing on the ministry of doing. He sent out the 12 apostles and now the 70 disciples have returned. Let us not forget all the acts of healing and casting out of demons Jesus has already done either. This is all the ministry of doing. This is obvious to us in the verbs that are used. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Do this, and you will live.” “Go and do likewise.”

Next is the difference in the social status of the two in the conversation. First, we have the lawyer. Recall that legal experts have been present to monitor Jesus and that legal experts are among those identified as persons responsible for Jesus eventual suffering. Even more so, priests of the temple served as experts on the law when not performing duties. This bring more tension to this parable. Second, we have Jesus, who is referred to by the lawyer as “teacher.” This is a term of respect used while the lawyer is standing, showing esteem for Jesus.

The questions follow. Jesus is questioned about inheriting eternal life and he responds with a question. The answer the lawyer gives is in harmony with Jesus’ teachings. Perfectly said and simply stated, we now have a cornerstone to go on for our faith lives. However, interpreting the law and the scriptures is one thing, doing and internalizing is another. Jesus calls us to action!

The lawyer then seeks clarification. For Israelites, the neighbor was defined as all those who believed in and embraced the covenant of the God of Abraham and David. Jesus expands this notion by bringing in a foreigner to be the helper rather than an Israelite helping presumably one of their own. This pushed the thought of loving the neighbor from more than just proximity and blood relation. We now see the question, how far should love reach?

The parable then commences. This man going from Jerusalem to Jericho has no name or no identifying features. This leads us to see the man, quite simply, as a fellow human being in need.

Danger in the areas outside of town was more frequent in these times. No identifying marks for the robbers either. They only beat the man and left. Like the man who our story is about, the robbers could be anyone.
Who will help this man? What is going to happen to him? We get our answer quickly. A priest and Levite appear but they do the same thing: came à saw à passed by on the other side. We see these two, sometimes, with some resentment. Why didn’t they help, they should know better! But this is more about class than it is about blame. The priest and Levite, being of leadership levels in the temple, would be obligated to bury a neglected corpse, if the man were to die, and the issue of clean and unclean would have come to their minds. They are accustomed to being evaluated by their bloodline, not their actions. This is what Jesus is getting to.

The third time is the charm. Here comes…a Samaritan?!? We can only guess at the emotions of the crowd as Jesus is saying this, that an unclean, gentile is going to help this man. Also, this Samaritan is a traveling merchant and his actions are different from the other two: came à saw à was moved with compassion à went to the wounded man + cared for him. Notice how many more steps were taken. Action is not simple but in depth, expensive, and time consuming.

The Samaritan’s emotions are not foreign to us in Luke. This shows us an example of God’s covenant faithfulness from 1:78 and of Jesus in the face of a widow’s loss of her only son in 7:13. We are shown how to love and care for another in need. Not only that but how far we are to go in helping, just as the Samaritan did entering into a monetary agreement with the inn keeper for an unknown amount of money.

Our story ends with another redirected question. Jesus asks whom the lawyer thinks is the neighbor in the story. Again, he answers correctly, “the one who showed him mercy.” We see the parallel in the exchange in verses 25-28 and 29-37. Jesus is telling us the same story twice. If we don’t get it the first time, then the second will do. As we all know, we are to be as the Samaritan, going and doing likewise.

38-42 Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
How many of us have heard this passage as a “who is better” depiction? Is action better than listening? Jesus redirects our thoughts on this to hospitality. Even the opening sentence says it all. Martha welcomed Jesus in to her home. Welcome is what the apostles and the disciples were seeking when they went out on their missions. Welcome is where our ministry starts.

The verses then turn towards the importance of hearing the word of God. The lawyer heard in our last passage but action was only encouraged, we don’t know what came next for him. The Samaritan had done mercy towards the injured man. He heard AND acted. Mary is on the right start. She is sitting, submitting to Jesus and hearing him speak. Martha is busy working and serving. So why do we criticize Martha and not Mary? Jesus is looking for a different kind of service than what Martha is providing. He desires for us to be like the Samaritan, hearing the word and acting accordingly. We can work the day away but Jesus wants our concern to be the word of God and to enter into relationship with Jesus.

What kind of hospitality is Jesus looking for then? “The nature of hospitality for which Jesus seeks is realized in attending to one’s guest, yet Martha’s speech is centered on “me” –talk. Though he refers to Jesus as “Lord,” she is concerned to engage his assistance in her plans, not to learn from him his.” Joel B. Green

What do we take form Jesus’ last few lines? What is the one thing that Mary is doing? This could be many things. She is focusing on Jesus and his word. She is focused on the coming kingdom of God as Jesus has preached about and could be here. She is focused on the hospitality of welcome and of hearing the word of God. In one of the commentaries, the title for this section is not “Jesus Visits Martha and Mary” but is “How to Welcome Jesus.”