Tag Archives: Good Samaritan

The Move – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Aimé Morot (1850-1913). “Le bon Samaritain”, 1880. Huile sur toile. Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais.

Luke 10:23-37

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

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. 32So 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. 35And 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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus didn’t say that the priest and Levite only passed by the half-dead man in the ditch. Christ added the fact that they passed by, “on the other side,” to even further distance them from him. They moved away. Both intentionally and deliberately ‘un-neighbored’ the guy. You’ve heard me say this before, but it’s worth repeating. The reason our English word ‘neighbor’ is spelled so weird is that it comes from the word ‘nigh’ as in ‘near’ and the word for ‘dweller.’ The same thing is true for the Greek word that gets translated ‘neighbor.’ The word means near, but it refers to an individual, so it means ‘close by person.’

In the parable, the priest and Levite aren’t dealing with a gray area. “I wonder if he really needs help?” There are times you might see a person begging for money on the street, and you don’t know that person. You don’t know if giving them money is just going to aid an addiction or be a type of soft theft where they take your money and use it for something different than you intended when you gave it. In this parable, there’s no ambiguity. The situation is black and white. It’s simple. He’s been robbed, stripped, beaten, and left dying in the ditch. If he doesn’t get help, he’s going to die. So, why do the priest and Levite not only pass by, but pass by “on the other side”?

They are trying to quiet their conscience. The more distance they can put between them and this guy in the ditch, the easier it is for them to not think about him. They make a move. They move away from the guy’s need toward their own comfort. Now, this is a parable, so we can’t ask them what they thought was more important than the guy’s need. Maybe it was their schedule. Maybe it was the fact that they knew it would cost them time and money to help the guy. Maybe they just wanted to be left alone so they could have some ‘me time.’ It doesn’t matter. They move away from need of their neighbor toward their own comfort and pass by on the other side.

Then comes the Samaritan. He sees the guy, and he also makes a move. But his move is in the complete opposite direction. He moves away from his comfort toward the guy’s need. And I’m sure he would have preferred comfort. The Samaritan has things going on. He’s got a schedule to keep and a family to feed. His time is limited and valuable. He has all the same reasons and excuses the priest and Levite have. But the Samaritan sees the man, and he moves toward the need.

Jesus makes it clear that the Samaritan has compassion. The way Jesus says it is that his guts were wrenched. The Samaritan went to the man; bound up his wounds; poured on the medicine of oil and wine that he had with him; he set the guy on his own animal; brought the man to the inn; cared for him through the night; gives the innkeeper two denarii (imagine a few hundred bucks); asks the innkeeper to take care of him; and promises to return and pay off any additional expenses. That’s nine things the Samaritan does. Nine ways he moves away from his own comfort toward the guy’s need. It’s absolutely beautiful and noble. Who doesn’t want to be as generous and loving as the Samaritan?

Primarily, this parable shows us a tiny fraction of what Christ has done for you. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, made the ultimate move away from comfort and toward you in your need. Though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant by being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross (Php. 2:6-8).

He did all that because you needed it. The eternal Son of God made the move from His comfort toward your need. And for that, God be praised! That’s the main point of the parable. But I want to spend the rest of this sermon focusing on what Jesus says before the parable.

After the lawyer correctly summarizes the whole Law with “Love the Lord your God with your soul, strength, and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says, “Do this and you will live.”

Now, when Jesus said that, I do think it was partly to show the lawyer that he was the guy left for dead in the ditch because the Law robbed and stripped him of any self-righteousness (Gal. 3:19). But, at the same time, when Jesus says, “Do this and you will live,” He is being completely straightforward. Christian, do the Law. Do God’s will. The Law is how God created you to live. The Law is how Jesus wants you to live. It isn’t how you’re saved, but it is how Jesus wants you, believer, to live (Gal. 3:21-22). Jesus wants to motivate you to also be one who moves away from comfort and toward need.

This world is full of needs, but I’m going to focus on one very specific need today because it’s a need that everyone can meet, everyone can fulfill. And that is the need of speaking the truth in a broken and fallen world and that loves lies. The martyrdom and assassination of Charlie Kirk this week is a reminder of the lengths that the demonic forces will go to silence the truth.

Christian, do not be afraid to stand on the truth. Yes, speaking the truth can come with a cost. You might offend others. You might be ridiculed and called all sorts of names. You might lose your job or friends. But, dear saints, do not let that silence you. Silence in the face of lies is nothing other than bowing at the pagan altar of comfort.

Charlie was an amazing example of someone who loved others in a way that led him to move away from comfort toward need. He intentionally went to places to talk with people who suppress truth. He would shine the light of the truth in that darkness with logic and rhetoric that few have. But his example should teach us one simple lesson: the Truth always wins.

Jesus taught us that the devil is a liar and the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). That means wherever there is falsehood, the devil and his demonic forces are at work. Dear saints, don’t give an inch to what is false. Stand on the truth. Speak the truth and know that you are not alone. God doesn’t give many people a sphere of influence as large as Charlie had, but the numbers of people you can reach don’t matter.

Even though most of us (myself included) don’t have the rhetorical and debating skills that Charlie had, those are skills that can be nurtured and strengthened. So, strengthen yours. We’ve seen how one person can influence millions of people. That’s great; for that, God be praised. But imagine what God will do through thousands of people with smaller spheres of influence use that influence to speak the truth to the people around them. You don’t need a larger audience or bigger microphone. You can simply speak to the precious lives that God has placed around you.

And as you shine the light of truth, know that, ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you win people over. That might not happen. But it’s also not your job. That task solely belongs to the Holy Spirit who alone can – and does – change hearts. Leave the results to Him. The only thing that matters that you are faithful (1 Co. 4:2-5).

Our Christian faith requires us to love our enemies and pray for those who curse and persecute us. It does not require us to stand silently in the midst of chaos, evil, savagery, and violence. That would only be a move toward comfort. Dear saints, move toward need. This world needs to hear that sin is bad, and there is forgiveness for sin because of the death and resurrection of Christ. They need to hear that life is precious from womb to tomb; that a man and a woman should get married before they do things that create children; that God created people in His image with gifts and talents that should be nurtured, strengthened, and used for the benefit of others; that criminals should be justly punished; that men are men and women are women; and all sorts of other things. Saying those things in a loving way can be difficult, but it is the loving thing to do.

So, spread the name and light of Jesus every opportunity you have and everywhere you go. With your words and actions, point others to the beautiful, the good, the orderly, the unchanging, and the unending. Because, ultimately, all of that points people to the love of God that comes only through Christ.

As you do that, remember that light has no fellowship with darkness (2 Co. 6:14). Yes, absolutely, strive to rescue others from the darkness. But, if they love the darkness rather than the light (Jn. 3:19-20), shake the dust from your feet (Lk. 9:5).

Dear saints, Jesus is your Good Samaritan who moved from comfort toward your need. You, go and do likewise (Lk. 10:37). Move away from comfort and toward the needs of your neighbor – especially toward those who have believed the devil’s lies. And as you make that move, live in the Light that will never know dusk. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Nigh-Liver – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 10:23–37

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

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. 32So 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. 35And 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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You need the right tool for the right job. If you need to fix your glasses, a hammer isn’t going to help you. Sure, you might need to insert a pointy piece of metal hardware into the frame of your glasses, but it’s going to be a screw and not a nail. In fact, when you’re trying to fix a pair of glasses, it isn’t even enough to have a screwdriver. You need the right kind of screwdriver – one that is tiny and difficult for my not-so-dexterous hands to manipulate. That’s why, for me, the right tool for fixing my glasses isn’t a tiny screwdriver; it’s an optician.

The lawyer who comes to Jesus is undertaking a worthy task – desiring to have eternal life, but he is using the wrong tool. Not only does he not have the right tool in his tool chest, he doesn’t even understand of what kind of tool he needs. He thinks salvation is something he can do and achieve for himself. That’s why his question is, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus gives him perfect, correct instructions for earning eternal life by pointing him only to the Law. Love God perfectly and love your neighbor perfectly. Do this, and you will live (Lk. 10:26-28; see also Ps. 15).

The lawyer’s response to this is interesting. He doesn’t ask, “Who is God?” That would be ridiculous. He also doesn’t ask, “How do I love God?” Instead, he asks, “Why is my neighbor?” That question reveals something. Apparently, the lawyer thinks that already loves God perfectly. It’s only the second part of the equation that befuddles him. He is looking for an ‘out.’ He wants a limit on the extent of the command to love others. But there is no limit on this command. You cannot love God whom you have not seen if you don’t love your neighbor whom you have seen (1 Jn. 4:20).

In the context of this conversation between Jesus and the lawyer, that question is absurd. The word ‘neighbor’ defines itself. In at least Greek, Hebrew, Latin, German, and English, the word for ‘neighbor’ has more to do with location than anything else. In each of those languages (probably in others too), ‘neighbor’ means the person close to you. The English word neighbor is spelled so weird because it comes from two middle-English words smooshed together: nigh – as in ‘near,’ and gebur which means ‘dweller.’ Your neighbor is anyone who dwells near you. Or, to explain the title of the sermon, your neighbor is the one who lives nigh unto you – a nigh-liver.

Now, the lawyer asks the question because he’s trying to get out from under the command to love his neighbor as himself. He wants a limit to the love that is required of him because, presumably, he wants to keep lying to himself about being worthy of inheriting eternal life. But in general, the question, “Who is my neighbor?” is something we Christians should have in our minds constantly – not because we’re looking for information or identification of our neighbor. Rather, we should be asking that question so we recognize all of the targets of love that God places in front of us. Because we don’t get to pick and choose our neighbors. God gives them to us.

In the parable, God ‘neighbors’ the robbed, stripped, beaten, left-half-dead man to three people. God plops this needy guy in the path of the priest and the Levite. However, both of them intentionally and deliberately try to un-neighbor him. They move to the other side of the road to create distance between them and the wretch in the ditch.

Of course, if the situation had been reversed and either the priest or the Levite had been robbed, beaten, and left for dead, they would have desired help from anyone who passed by. Everyone who gets into trouble or danger is glad to receive help from anyone. That’s the most basic meaning of the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But the third guy, the Samaritan, is an outsider. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But this Samaritan recognizes that God has neighbored this man to him, and he uses, what appears to be, unlimited resources to care for him. He binds up the man’s wounds and pours on oil and wine. He bears the burden of lifting the man onto his own animal and walking to town and cares for the man overnight. He pays for two more nights so the man can stay in the inn. And on top of that, he sets up an all-expenses paid account for any charges or costs the man would rack up between the time the Samaritan leaves and comes back. 

We misunderstand this parable if we think it is teaching us who our neighbor is. Sure, the lawyer had asked who his neighbor is, but Jesus uses the parable to show what it is to be a neighbor, a nigh-liver. To be a neighbor is to show mercy. The mercy of the Samaritan had no limits. And that is why the Samaritan is such a clear picture of Christ. Jesus proves to be a neighbor. The eternal Son of God descended from His heavenly throne, took on flesh, and dwelt among us in order to neighbor us and shower His mercy upon us.

Everyone gives you an opportunity to show love. But you aren’t called to love everyone the same way. If you try to feed every single person you come across (whether they need it or not) but that comes at the cost of feeding your own children, that’s a problem. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Other portions of Scripture are helpful in this as well. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Yes, you are to love everyone whom God puts along your path, but even in that there is a hierarchy. You are to care for those God puts closest to you first. And your closest neighbors are those in your immediate family – your spouse, your parents, your children. After that is the people in this congregation who have been made your brothers and sisters in Christ. Next come the people who live next to you on your block and your coworkers, boss, and friends. Finally, anyone else that God puts along your path and causes to live nigh to you.

When you think of those two great commands, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself,” think of a dart board. What is the bullseye? You might think that God should be there, so you aim all your good works toward God. But that is wrong. God doesn’t need to be the center of your target. He doesn’t need anything from you, and you can’t give Him anything (Job 35:7, 41:11). Instead, it’s the people God places closest to you who are the center of your target. Think of God as being underneath the entire target. Christian, you love God by loving the neighbors that He has given you (1 Jn. 4:20).

Dear Banks, that brings me to you. Banks, in Jesus, God has neighbored you. Today, you are Baptized. Today, Jesus has joined you to Himself by placing His name upon you (Mt. 28:19) and clothed you in His righteousness (Gal. 3:27). Banks, you have been born of God; remain in the faith which overcomes the world (1 Jn. 5:4). Banks, God has neighbored you to us and us to you. As your brothers and sisters in Christ, we will share with you the mercy God has given us so that you can be filled with His mercy and share it with others as well.

Banks and all you saints, receive the mercy of Jesus who has neighbored you. He comes to your rescue. He binds up your wounds. He pours on the medicine of immortality. He sets up an all-expenses paid account for you in the inn of the Church. Everything you need is covered and paid for. So, let the mercy He has given you spill over to other nigh-livers that God places in your life. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

God-Shaped Love – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 10:23-37

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to teach the lawyer that he will never be saved by the Law and that he needs a Savior to have compassion on him and give him eternal life. The lawyer is the one who has been robbed, stripped, beaten, and left dead in the ditch. The Law, represented by the priest and Levite, passes by and can not and does not help him. With the parable Jesus is teaching that to be one who inherits eternal life, we must be rescued by an outsider whom we despised (Is. 53:3-4) and who owes us nothing. We sinners need a love and compassion that we could never repay from One who doesn’t even want to be repaid. This is the only way for this lawyer to be saved and the only way for any of us to inherit eternal life.

So, the parable of the Good Samaritan is about Jesus and what He does for sinners. Christ is the Good Samaritan who finds us dead in sin. He has compassion on us, comes to us, binds up our wounds, pours on oil and wine, lays us on His animal to bring us to the inn, and sets us up in an all-expenses paid room. That is the point of the parable. The parable is not telling sinners that they need to do good to everyone. The lawyer already knew that he needed to love everyone (Lk. 10:27). He knew the Law requires that he love God and neighbor perfectly. So, if you ever hear someone preaching or teaching that the purpose of this parable is to tell us to love everyone, know that you are hearing only a half-truth, and, often, half-truths are more dangerous than full lies.

Jesus is not calling us to be the Samaritan in order to be saved. Jesus is the Good Samaritan who saves us. Then, it is true that Jesus calls us to go and do likewise (Lk. 10:37). We are to be like Jesus. Christians are to be little Christs who have compassion on their neighbor because Jesus has had mercy upon us. Because we have been rescued by Christ, we have become inheritors of eternal life and children of God. This means Jesus’ call to, “Go and do likewise,” is an invitation for us to imitate Him because children are like their father.

So now, please know, I’m not going to be preaching on the main point of the parable for a bit here, but I am going to use the parable to show how we Christians, who have been saved and rescued from the ditch, are to love God by loving our neighbor.

Dear saints, we need God to shape our love, and He shapes our love by two things: First, by the Ten Commandments, and second, by our relationship to the neighbor that God puts in our life in at any given moment. Let’s flesh this out with an example:

God has called me here to be your pastor, so I have a love for you, my neighbors and members of my flock, that is shaped by the 3rd Commandment. I am here to faithfully preach and teach God’s Word to you, and you have a love for me, your neighbor, that is shaped by the 3rd Commandment to faithfully hear God’s Word as it is preached and taught. As a parent, I have a different love for my children that is shaped by 4thCommandment, so I buy them socks. Well, how it actually works in our house is I work to earn the funds so my wife can purchase our kids’ socks because she’s a lot better at finding good deals on the socks my kids like. I have no idea which socks they like. Sometimes, my 4th Commandment shaped love is to take those socks from the clothes drier and help my kids fold and organize them in their dresser. So, I have different vocations, different callings, and different kinds of love that are  shaped by the Commandments and my relationship to my neighbor. And these vocations are what any reasonable person would expect. My love as a pastor is to preach and teach the Word of God to His flock, and as a parent, I provide and care for my kids.

Now, stick with me here while I get a little absurd. It would be wrong for me, as your pastor, to come here on a Sunday morning, stand in this pulpit, and say, “No sermon today, but here are some new socks. I’ll come to your house later and help you organize your dresser.” That would be weird, right? At least, I hope you think it would be weird because it is. You still are my neighbor, and I am still commanded to love you as I love myself. But my 4th Commandment love for you is shaped differently than my 4th Commandment love for my own kids. My 4th Commandment love for you is shaped by my relationship to you. So, I am to encourage you to honor, serve, love, obey, and respect your parents and the authorities that God has placed over you. Now, this doesn’t mean that will never buy socks for you. God might change your needs so it would be good and right for me to buy you socks. But, hopefully, God won’t put you in a position like that. But if He does, let me know, and I’d be happy to buy you socks.

So, God shapes your love by the Ten Commandments, and God shapes your love based on the needs of your neighbor whom He places along your path. The English word ‘neighbor’ comes from the old word ‘nigh’ or modernized, ‘near.’ And it’s the same for Greek word used here. A neighbor one who is near to you. So, when God puts someone near to you, that is your neighbor. The priest and Levite in the parable come across the guy in the ditch and they both un-neighbor him by crossing by on the other side of the road. They refuse and reject the neighbor God has put in their life and refuse to care for his needs. They probably thought, “Everybody is my neighbor, so I’m going to go serve them.” That’s sinful. Your neighbor is the person that God puts in your life – whether you like it or not.

In our text the lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” and Luke tells us that the lawyer was asking this because he desired to justify himself. So, in the context, this was a bad question with wrong motives. But that question, “Who is my neighbor?” is typically a good question for us Christians to ask. It helps us identify our neighbor and see our neighbor’s needs so our love can be shaped by the Commandments. So, think back to the parable. The Samaritan would have passed by many different people on the road that day. He probably even met the Levite and the priest at some point in his journey, but the Samaritan didn’t put them up in an all-inclusive room because their needs didn’t dictate that he needed to.

In the parable, the Samaritan had his plans for the day. He was going somewhere with some purpose, but God put this robbed, stripped, beaten, half dead dude in his path and upended whatever those plans were. And the Samaritan stepped up in compassion and mercy to meet those needs realizing, “This is the guy that God has put in my path, so I am going to help and love him.”

So, please recognize that God shapes your love and gives you callings based on nearness. This is why God calls you to have more love for your family than for friends or for strangers. The closer people are to you, the more responsibility you have to them, the more opportunity you have to do good to them, the more opportunity you have to serve them. But we often turn aside and try to find excuses to not serve the one God has put near us. Instead, we prefer to choose our neighbor. In our technological society, the devil has ample tools to keep us from showing love to the neighbor that God puts in front of us to love and serve.

Dear saints, whomever God puts near you is the one that God has put in your life for you to serve. So, serve the one God has drawn nigh to you. Let God’s Commands and God’s placing of people in your life shape your love. As a spouse, parent, child, boss, employee, teacher, student, or friend, remember that God is the one who has given you those relationships and has brought that person near you. Love that one, and let that love be shaped by the Commandments and your relationship to that neighbor.

And quickly, this is an aside, but it’s something I thought about months ago and marked this text to preach on this: Many of you have experienced the loss of spouses, siblings, parents, and friends recently. When those who are near to you have died, you still have a God-shaped love for them. Even though they have passed from this world, they are still near to you. So, when they die, your God-shaped love takes a different form or shape, and that shape is grief. Jesus Himself wept when His friend, Lazarus, died (Jn. 11:35). Grief is the shape love takes when those God has brought close to you are gone. So, grieve, but grieve as those who have hope in the resurrection (1 Th. 4:13).

Now, all of that was secondary to the parable. I want to close by returning to the main point of the parable. Again, Jesus is the Good Samaritan who proved to be a neighbor to you. And, hopefully, this idea of loving the one who is near to you gives you a deeper understanding and appreciation of Christ’s compassion for you.

Jesus is God. And because He is God, you weren’t His neighbor, but He chose to become your neighbor. The eternal, infinite Son of God took on your flesh in order to be ‘nigh’ to you. Out of pure compassion, He saw you in the ditch, dead in sin (Eph. 2:1). He chose to become your neighbor and raise you from your deadness in sin.

His love for you took the shape of Him going to the cross. He was stripped, beaten, standing under the wrath of God that you deserved because of your sin, and dead. Dead and buried in a grave. Now, He is risen. And because He has done all of that, you are His child. And He will bring you to your inheritance which is eternal life with Him. He has promised. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.