Love is the Thing

LOVE IS THE THING

Unpacking and Applying Luke 10:25-37

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: July 6, 2025

Series: Pursuing Relational Health on Communion Sundays

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Well, I invite you to turn to Luke 10. This wasn't planned, but Tom McGarvey recently preached Luke 10:1-24, and I'm doing 25 to 37. It's a coincidence, but it's a good coincidence. So, Luke chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. This is part of our first Sunday of the month – Communion Sunday – sermon series, where we look at the significance of relationships and how our relationship with the Lord and our relationship with others are interrelated.

So let me begin to read in verse 25 of Luke chapter 10. Holy Scripture says:

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

This is the word of the Lord, and it is for our good. Let's pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your perfect and holy word. And Father, we pray that that this word, as with all of your words, would dwell richly in our hearts, transform our lives. Bring instruction, bring correction, bring transformation into our lives this morning. In Jesus’ name, amen.

THE BIG IDEA

Those who walk in wholehearted love for the Lord and who demonstrate an expansive, sacrificial love for other people are the ones who will inherit eternal life. That is the clear and straightforward teaching of the passage.

The passage is driven by two leading questions from a lawyer – from an expert in the law, an expert in the Old Testament. And although both of the questions that the man asks are asked with less than stellar motives, they are good questions nonetheless and give Jesus an opportunity to teach some very important truth.

THE FIRST QUESTION: WALKING IN LOVE (v. 25-28)

The first question is teed up there in verse 25. It says:

“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”” (v. 25)

The motivation behind the first question

Notice the motivation behind the question: to put Jesus to the test. That is not the best way to approach the Lord. We human beings, made in God's image, ought to come before the Lord with humble hearts, eager to learn from the Master. That's not why this particular lawyer has stood up on this occasion. He has come rather to examine Jesus, to question Jesus, to be the one who will render an evaluation upon the Lord.

So think about how someone else might ask this question, because it's a very good question. If you were in anguish of heart, or you were deeply troubled over the state of your soul or the state of your relationship with God, or whether or not you were going to be one of the ones who would be in heaven with the Lord on the last day, and your soul is troubled by that question – and you're having an existential crisis – and then you might ask, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ This would be similar to the occasion when the Philippian jailer asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) That is not the same question as the one in Luke 10, but it is a similar kind of question.

But you see, this man, this expert in the law, is not asking this question out of some spiritual crisis. He has come to evaluate and render a verdict on Jesus.

Now I have to tell you, if that's where you're at, it's not the best place to be. But if that's where you're at, then go ahead – go ahead and evaluate Jesus. See if he measures up to your ideals. Read the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), study his life, study his words, study his character. You will never encounter a more praiseworthy person. And if you do that, it will not be long before the tables turn and Jesus is putting you to the test. That's exactly what happens in this passage, because by the time you get to verse 29, the lawyer is on his heels, feeling very defensive. That wasn't why he stood up!

The Master Teacher replies

But anyway, the question hangs in the air: “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And I'm going to come back to that momentarily. But how does Jesus reply?

Jesus replies like the Master Teacher that he is. And one characteristic of master teachers is that they often don't just jump to give you the right answer, but they want to know what you think. So Jesus says to the man, “What is written in the Law?” (v. 26) I mean, the questioner is supposed to be an expert in the law. So, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” (v. 26) What do you think?

The heart of the Torah

And the man shows that he really does understand the law, at least to some degree. And he answers in verse 27 by quoting, more or less, from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The man answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (v. 27)

Think about this. The law, the Torah, the instruction, the five books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible – there are about 80,000 English words in the five books of Moses. What's at the heart of it all? Here in verse 27 are about 29 English words that get to the heart of 80,000 words. According to Jewish tradition, there are 613 divine commandments in the five books of Moses. Well, in verse 27 there are two commandments that get to the heart of what is in the Torah, the five books of Moses.

These are the most basic duties that God has assigned to humankind. The first duty is to love him – to love the Lord our God with our whole being. We don't have to come up with a super tight definition of these four terms – heart, soul, strength, and mind. The meaning and the intent is clear, in that we are called to engage with the Lord and be devoted to the Lord with our whole person – with our thinking, with our feeling and affections, with our will, with the whole movement and trajectory of our lives being unto the Lord and to be his faithful and loyal followers demonstrating love to him in all of life.

And then the second duty – what Jesus elsewhere calls the second greatest commandment – is to “[love] your neighbor as yourself”. This means to treat other people with the same kind of care and energy and eagerness with which you care for yourself. You are very responsive to your own needs, and that is exactly how you should be responsive to other people's needs.

Jesus assesses and advises the lawyer

So the man has answered his own question, as it were, and then Jesus renders an evaluation on his answer. You see, Jesus ultimately will not be tested. He will be the one who is testing you. He tells the man in verse 28: “You have answered correctly”.

So the man got the answer right. But notice what Jesus says next: “do this, and you will live.” (v. 28) Do this! It is so easy for human beings, especially for human beings with an intellectual bent, to satisfy themselves that they know the right answer, that they're able to get an A-plus on the written test. But Jesus didn't say, ‘You have answered correctly; think this, and you will live.” He didn't say that. He said, “do this”. There's a world of difference between being correct or merely being correct and actually becoming a practitioner of the truth.

You know, what is the chief end of man? Anyone know? Yeah – the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q & A #1). Do this and you will live! What is the will of God for your life in 1 Thessalonians 4:3? Tom McGarvey mentioned it in the weekly newsletter. God's will for you is your sanctification, your holiness. Do this and you will live! Pursue “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

An important clarification

Now I need to give a clarification here so that we are rightly understanding what Jesus is teaching us here. It goes back to the “faith without works is dead” teaching from James 2:14-26. Faith without love is dead. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:6 that the only thing that counts is faith working through love.

Now some particular passages will emphasize faith, the foundation of faith. And other passages, like this one in Luke 10:25-37, will emphasize love, which is the necessary accompaniment and outgrowth of faith.

But it's really interesting when you study the word inherit in the New Testament, which goes back to that question in verse 25, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Inherit – the word inherit – is a future-oriented term, okay. In other words, the question here is not about how to enter into a right relationship with God now. That's not the question. The question here is: how will I inherit eternal life in the future? How will I be included among those who are welcomed into the eternal kingdom of God, into the new heaven and the new earth? And when the New Testament talks about inheriting or not inheriting eternal life or the kingdom of God in the future, it consistently connects inheriting it or not inheriting it to the character and quality of your life. Let me give you some examples.

Matthew 5:5 says that the meek will inherit the earth.

In Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 – all passages that deal with the rich young man – Jesus gave instructions on discipleship. And Jesus is very clear in those passages that actually following Jesus is the essential prerequisite for inheriting or entering into eternal life in the future.

In Matthew 25:31-46, when the sheep and the goat are gathered before Jesus at the great judgment, the sheep are those who have demonstrated practical righteousness by showing love to Jesus’s people, and they are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God.

In Revelation 21:1-7, it is those who overcome who inherit the new heaven and the new earth. To overcome is to have a faith that perseveres and endures until the end. It is faithfulness. And it is the faithful ones who will inherit the new heaven and the new earth.

And on the other side of the coin, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21, those who continue to indulge in sinful living will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So do you see how the word and concept of inherit is connected to the future inheritance and it is tied to the actual character and quality of your life?

So let's go back to that “faith without works is dead” discussion. You can enter into a right relationship with God now, you can be justified in God's sight now, you can be reconciled to God now you can be adopted into God's family now, by receiving Christ by faith alone, right? But the faith that receives Christ is a lively faith that necessarily then begins to walk with Christ. And what is characteristic of walking with Christ? It is demonstrating – increasingly demonstrating – wholehearted love for the Lord and an expansive, sacrificial love for other people. And those people whose lives are not characterized by love and growing in love should have no confidence that they have actually received Christ by faith. The only thing that counts, Paul says, is faith working through love (see Galatians 5:6).

Let me say it again: Those who walk in wholehearted love for the Lord and who demonstrate an expansive, sacrificial love for other people are the ones who will inherit eternal life.

THE SECOND QUESTION: BEING A LOVING NEIGHBOR (v. 29-37)

Now our lawyer wants to cheat, right? He put Jesus to the test (v. 25), but now Jesus is putting him to the test (v. 26-28). Are you going to do this? “[Do] this, and will you live.” Which raises the question, are you doing this? Are you walking in this manner? Is your life oriented to the Lord in loving devotion? Is it or isn't it? And how are you doing with that neighbor-love thing?

The motivation behind the second question

The lawyer man begins to think. I’m not sure he thought all this out. A lot of this can just be his own instinctual response. But you can think in terms of, ‘Well, some people I love, there’s a few people I love. So if I can define neighbor in a very narrow and limited manner, then I can feel pretty good about how well I love my neighbor. But if neighbor has an expansive meaning that includes many, many people, then I might be in real trouble.’

So it says in verse 29 – again, his motive is less than stellar: “But he, desiring to justify himself”. He wants to assure himself, he wants to think that he's okay, so you have to tinker with the definitions, you have to tinker with the standards, lower the standards, make easier the definitions, decrease the burdens, and then I can feel good about myself. So he asked this question: “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29) Again, very good question. Who is my neighbor? Who are these people that I'm supposed to love even as I love myself?

The parable of the Good Samaritan

And Jesus takes up the question and tells a story, one of his most well-known stories. The concept of the Good Samaritan is one of those concepts that's widely known in the western world and probably throughout the entire globe. So Jesus tells a story.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” (v. 30). Even though this is presumed to be a parable, a true to life story, but not an actual historical account of something, there was actually a road, as it were, from Jerusalem to Jericho. And it was known to be a difficult and dangerous road. It was a difficult road to travel. And it was dangerous because there were likely to be bandits or thieves who would catch you unawares. So this parable is clearly situated in the actual historical and social context of Israel. And so this “man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” (v. 30) This man is clearly in rough shape: stripped, beaten, robbed, nearly dead. And it's at this point where we meet three travelers.

The priest and Levite

First, in verse 31: “a priest was going down that road”. A priest, someone who knows the law, someone who has an official role in service to God, someone well-acquainted with temple service. And you might hope that a priest, a servant of God, would be helpful to the poor man who has fallen among thieves. But when he sees the battered victim, “he passed by on the other side” (v. 31).

Well, next a Levite shows up. A Levite, kind of like an assistant to the priests, also acquainted with temple service, probably also acquainted with the law. Again, you would hope that such a man would be helpful.

If it's like a priest or Levite, let’s contemporize (or make contemporary) the characters. A priest and Levite would be like a pastor and deacon, okay. You would hope that if a pastor or a deacon passes by, they are going to be helpful. But it's not always the case, is it? The Levite also “passed by on the other side” (v. 32).

Now you might want to know why – why did they pass by on the other side? Guess what? Jesus didn't tell us. And it doesn't really matter, because here's the deal: when you don't have compassion, you'll find any of a hundred reasons to pass by on the other side. It’s not difficult to find excuses if that’s what you’re looking for. It's not their reasons or excuses for not attending to the victim that is the real problem. The real problem is that they didn't care. They were the sort of people who didn't care. They were the religious insiders. They were the people who were stewards of the law and stewards of the temple. They were supposed to be close to God, but their hearts were far from God.

The Samaritan

Then a third traveler occurs. A Samaritan. He's the outsider. Samaritans were looked down upon. They were viewed with contempt by religious Jews. Samaritans were those half-breeds, those improper worshipers up to the north. And they're not part of ‘our precious Judaism’. And yet it's the Samaritan – it's the outsider, it’s the one who is typically viewed with contempt by the insiders – who actually shows up having a heart for God, and specifically having a heart for his neighbor. So it says: “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” (v. 33)

Compassion – that's the thing that makes all the difference. Some people see someone in need and they see a problem to avoid – not interested, don't have time for this, I have other things to do, I have a schedule to keep, I don't want to risk my own life or my own safety or my own resources. And on they go, passing by on the other side. But then there are those who open their eyes and they see one in need, and they feel something – their heart goes out to the person with compassion, and that compassion drives their action.

Loving your neighbor is not about checking the right action boxes. It's about having a heart of compassion for your neighbor, especially one who is in need. And if you actually have a heart of compassion for the one who is in need, the actions will largely take care of themselves, okay? Because you act on the compassionate stirrings of your heart.

What did he do? “He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (v. 34) What a beautiful picture of compassionate love. The man – the Samaritan – has compassion. He administers first aid, he serves as medical transport, he serves as nurse, he serves as patient advocate, and he's going to foot the bill.

When you have compassion, you not only undertake helpful action, but you're also willing to pay the price. You're willing to foot the bill. You're willing for it to cost you something, and you bear the cost gladly because of the love that you have for the one who is in need.

He has forethought here, too. He knows that he can't take the man with him right away, so he gives out two denarii. One denarius would be one day's wage. So he gave the innkeeper two days’ wages so that the man could be provided for and cared for in his absence. And then he was going to return. And he promised, if it cost any more than that, ‘I'll take care of that bill when I return.’

Which traveler neighbored the battered victim?

And then Jesus asks the lawyer a question: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (v. 36)

Do you see how the language has shifted in verse 36? In verse 29, the question was, “who is my neighbor?” And I think by now we have a pretty good answer to that question, right? Your neighbor is anyone and everyone who is before you, especially those who have need. But now in verse 36 Jesus has shifted the focus from ‘who is your neighbor?’ to ‘are you a neighbor to the people around you?’

It's not that you should feel the weight of the world on your shoulders to minister to the needs of every person on the planet. That's not the point. We're all finite, limited people. We can only love a few people at a time. The point is: do you have that kind of neighborly disposition, such that as you're going through life and as you're encountering suffering people along the way, that you're in the habit – that you're the sort of person who feels something, who feels compassion, who stops, who helps and who serves.

Of course, the lawyer knows the right answer to the question. “The one who showed him mercy” (v. 37) is the one who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers.

Go forth and show mercy to others

And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Once again, it's not enough to know the right answer to the question. It's not enough to know the story of the Good Samaritan, but “go, and do likewise.” Demonstrate this kind of compassion and care to the needy people that God puts on around you.

LUKE 10:25-37 IN LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL

Now before we leave off this particular passage, I want to say one other thing. It's good to read the whole Bible, including passages like this one, in light of the larger Gospel story. And, you know, one question that we might ask is, where does this kind of compassion come from? And what I would like to say to you is that it is loved people who love people like this. It says in Jeremiah that, you know, those who boast should boast that they know the Lord and that he delights to show steadfast love (Jeremiah 9:24). We have to first of all know that we are loved by God, if we're going to then turn around and love extravagantly and sacrificially like this.

And so just think about taking this passage here and transposing it into the message of the gospel so you and me can see ourselves in the battered victim who fell among thieves. Not necessarily because we've necessarily experienced that physically or socially. Some have, but not all of us have experienced this physically or socially. But we understand the bigger reality of being completely lost and destitute and helpless in our sin, with a complete inability to help ourselves or lift ourselves out of the mess that we were in.

And one person after another may have come to us and offered some kind of salve or some kind of help. The religionists came with their rules, or the hedonists came with their anti-rules, or people coming and giving us counsel.

But then we realize that there is one person who came, one person who was an outsider to all the rest, one person who was unlike all the rest – the Lord Jesus Christ, who came from heaven to earth. And he came to bring us words of life. And he came to bestow the precious Holy Spirit upon our lives. And he came to bear the cost, dying for our sins on the cross and paying for our redemption with his own lifeblood.

And when we realize that Jesus has given everything for us, and he has brought us into his family, he has brought us into his Father's house, and he is the one who holds us together and sustains us and nourishes us, then as his life fills ours, then we can walk away from a passage like this with a resolve to demonstrate to others the same kind of love that we ourselves have received from Christ. Let's pray:

Father, we thank you for this word that you have given to us. Father, I pray that none of us would be content with simply knowing this parable or simply knowing intellectually the truth. You are searching our hearts. You are examining the quality of our lives. You are seeking to transform us by the power of your Holy Spirit. And I pray that you would produce in us this kind of character, this kind of compassion, this kind of sacrifice. I pray that we would, as a church and individually, I pray that we would be a tangible picture of the love and the sacrifice of our Lord. In his name we pray, amen.