Luke 10:21-42
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. – Luke 10:21
Why is this one of my favorite passages? Because it says that Jesus is filled with joy at the thought of how simple, regular people come to faith. Although some people might conclude from the fact that I am a university professor that I might be wise and learned, when it comes to faith, I am a simple, regular person. I came to faith because simple, regular people prayed for me and shared Jesus’ love with me. To come to faith in Christ I had to renounce my own wisdom and wisdom of this world and admit that I didn’t have it all together. I had to admit that I was a pathetic sinner, addicted to sin. I had to admit my total need for and dependence on Jesus to save me. And even these truths were not things I came up with on my own – they were revealed by God to me. And Jesus is full of joy because He has seen the Father do this for me. Jesus is full of joy – overflowing with joy – because He has seen the Father do this for you! Doesn’t that make you feel good?
Knowledge of God’s joy in us should give us joy. If you want to be encouraged sometime, do a word search in the Bible on the word “joy.” In the NIV, “joy” appears 242 times! Throughout history, God’s people have had a lot of reason for joy, and they have experienced a lot of joy. I love the descriptions of these celebrations – one (in Nehemiah) says that the sound of rejoicing could be heard far away. I love that!
How do parents feel when they see their babies say their first words or take their first steps? They are filled with joy because they love their children. Jesus was filled with joy because He saw what God was doing in His disciples. In the same way, we should be each other’s glory and joy. Are you sharing what God is doing in your lives with those around you? Are you asking others around you what God is doing in their lives so you can rejoice in what God is doing? We should be doing these things.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. – I Thess. 2:19-20
We should be echoing the words of Paul here. We should be each other’s glory and joy.
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." – Luke 10:22-24
Do you understand that we have “blessed eyes” because He has made us see? We know Jesus! We, even more than those disciples, have been privileged to see and hear God’s revelation. We know who Jesus is, why He came, and what He did for us. But more than that, if you have handed Jesus the reigns of your life, you have entered into a real relationship with Him, and over time will come to know and love Him far more deeply than even His disciples did at the time that Jesus said these things to them!
These mysteries, these revelations, this relationship – all has been made known and has been given to plain, simple us! When you think about it this way, don’t you find this incredible? Do you feel more privileged than kings? This is the reality!
Let’s continue on with Luke 10. Verses 25-37 are some of the most quoted, most often sermonized verses in the Bible. You may have heard them and read them many times. But I encourage you to read them freshly today. Pay attention to every word. Place yourself in the situation. Imagine you are a disciple in the crowd, hearing the following exchange first-hand, for the first time. You won’t know how it is going to turn out.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" He replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " '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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" – Luke 10:25-27
What do you think about this “expert”? I think of verse 21, where Jesus says "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Is this one of the little children, or one of the so-called wise and learned? The “wise and learned”! It says that this “expert” spoke up for one purpose: to test Jesus. Big mistake! This is like testing Michael Jordon with a quick little game of basketball. It will be a quick game, all right!
How does Jesus respond? You could say he “gets the rebound.” He turns the question right back on his questioner. “What do you think?” I suppose the expert could have said, “No fair! I asked you first!” But he would have looked rather foolish, so he answers the question, quoting from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18.
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" – Luke 10:28-29
Some people are bothered by this answer, because it seems to say that good works can get you into heaven. Well, some of you have heard me say this before, but I’ll say it again. There are actually two ways to get into heaven. One is by faith in Jesus, believing that He died for your sins and was raised from the dead. But the other is in fact by works! All you have to do is perfectly love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind as well as perfectly love your neighbor as yourself. The standard for perfection here is God’s standard. As for me personally, I know that I fall way, way short of God’s standard of perfection, so I’m trusting in Christ. But hey, if you want to trust in the perfection of your works, I’ll agree that that is an option.
This is basically what the expert in the law had decided. “No problem,” he thought. And just to prove it, he tossed the ball to Jesus and said “take your best shot.” “And just who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. – Luke 10:30-32
In the background you can see a picture of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was quite remote, and all the hills gave plenty of opportunities for robbers to hide and ambush unsuspecting travelers. And in Jesus’ parable, that is exactly what happened.
Jesus, who made up the parable to serve His purposes, put in a priest who sees the man, stripped of clothes and beaten into a bloody mess, and does nothing. And to further make His point, He adds a Levite who does the same thing. Priests and Levites were similar in that for periods of time they were like modern “professional clergy.” Levites were the caretakers of the day to day requirements of the temple.
Why do you think Jesus put the priest and the Levite into this story in such an unfavorable light? What kind of point was he trying to make? I think it is pretty clear: He is saying that just because you are a priest or Levite (or an expert in the law), doesn’t mean that you necessarily live by the Law. I can imagine Jesus looking right at (or right through) our law expert as He was saying this.
Would you want to help? It is easy to be critical of the priest and the Levite. But the reality is that we all do this to one degree or another. If we have friends or acquaintances, believers or unbelievers, who have a “messy life” and we don’t pray for them or deepen our friendship with them so that we can speak into their lives, aren’t we doing the same thing? When we have an unbelieving friend for a long time that we never share the good news of Jesus Christ with, aren’t we doing the same thing? When a Christian friend confides an area of struggle or pain to us, and we don’t do anything, perhaps because we feel uncomfortable or inadequate, aren’t we doing the same thing? And because of what we know, because of what our “blessed eyes” have seen, aren’t we even more accountable to God than a Levite or priest?
I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable. This passage makes me feel uncomfortable. I am a pastor who at times “walks on the other side of the road.” Isn’t that an awful image? I can see it so clearly! The Levite and priest are not able to pretend that they don’t see anything, like we often can. To get as far away – hopefully away from earshot – they walk as far away from the man as they possibly can. Our avoidance tactics may be less visually obvious, but they are equally pathetic.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' – Luke 10:33-35
We talked about Samaritans last week. There was a deep, generations old hatred between Samaritans and Jews. I had mentioned how the Jews had had a part in destroying the Samaritan’s temple at Mount Gerazim. Well, some time between 6AD and 9AD, at midnight on a Passover, some Samaritans had purposely scattered bones in the temple in Jerusalem to desecrate it. So you can see that this long running feud was still burning hotly.
And yet, Jesus puts into this story a Samaritan who shows incredible compassion and care to this Jewish man. The oil and wine were used as medicine in these days – the oil to sooth lacerations, and the wine as a kind of antiseptic. What did the man use for bandages? Perhaps his own clothing! If he put the man on his own donkey, what does this mean the man had to do? Walk! How much money did he give the innkeeper? Probably two days wages! That is a fair amount of money. It is a bit more than 1% of your yearly income. If you make $30,000 a year, that’s $300. And that may not be all. It’s just a down payment. The innkeeper is told to do what it takes to take good care of this man, regardless of cost.
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." – Luke 10:36-37
I might be reading something in to the passage here that is not there, but I find it curious that the expert in the law uses such a long, awkward phrase to describe the Samaritan. Couldn’t he have just said “The Samaritan”? Or perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to say it, because he hated these people so much. If anyone hated Samaritans, it would probably be an expert in the Law, because they were acutely aware of how completely Samaritans were not following the Law. And Samaritans didn’t just do this; they argued that they were in the right to do so! To make a modern day analogy, this is like homosexual activists who call themselves Christian and not only live a lifestyle that God clearly defines as sin, but argue that they aren’t in sin.
How do we apply this? First of all, I would say that loving your neighbor includes sharing your faith with hurting people you meet. This isn’t easy! It can be scary, and often we would prefer “walking on the other side of the road.” But clearly this is part of our calling as Christians. We are Christ’s ambassadors here on earth.
Second, I would say that loving your neighbor includes being an available friend and speaking the truth in love. Again, this isn’t easy! But God desires to use us in this. He equips us to bind up people’s wounds and even to “carry them” for a time. He desires to use us as agents of healing. Our role really is to simply be willing to walk to them. God can and will show us what to do.
Let’s continue on with this passage. Most of you have also heard the following account of Mary and Martha many times. But again, I ask you to listen to it freshly. Pay attention to the details. Imagine that you were Martha.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" – Luke 10:38-40
The first thing I notice about this passage is that Jesus was with his disciples. Was this the twelve, or the seventy-two? I suspect it may have been the latter. Regardless, it was a significant number of people. Presumably, it was a significant number of hungry people.
The second thing I notice about this passage is that Martha opened up her home to Jesus (and His disciples). Was this a good thing? Yes! It was a wonderful, kind thing to do. Notice that it was her own home. Martha made a significant commitment here, to open her home up to and take care of so many people.
The next thing I see is Mary, Martha’s sister. The passage says that she sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him. I should point out that what Mary was doing – and what Jesus was allowing Mary to do – was a major violation of the cultural rules and values of that time! Women were actually discouraged from learning Biblical truth, and men teaching women was even more forbidden. But there was Mary, listening to Jesus and learning from Him, and there was Jesus, allowing this to go on.
What was it like for Mary? It was an awesome opportunity! To not only hear wonderful teaching about the truths of God, but to hear it from the most wonderful Teacher there ever was. She was no doubt entranced by the moment, seemingly too good to be true. And here was this Man, Jesus, treating her with respect and allowing, even encouraging her to listen to the conversation.
What was this like for Martha? She had a huge task at hand – taking care of her many, many guests. Imagine all the food to prepare! Imagine just getting the drinks! And imagine doing this yourself, running from task to task, trying to hold it all together, and then noticing the lack of help she is getting from Mary. “Where is she?! Oh, there she is, doing, well, nothing. Wait! What exactly is she doing? She is listening to Jesus’ teachings! She shouldn’t be doing this! And she needs to help me!”
Can you imagine the scene? I picture her trying to get Mary’s attention. She walks noisily past her, but that doesn’t work. Then she walks past her again, clearing her throat, but Mary doesn’t notice at all. Then she goes back to the kitchen area and starts banging pots – loudly – but that doesn’t help either. All this time, how do you think her feelings are progressing? She is getting more and more frustrated. She is getting angrier and angrier. I also think she may have thought, “Why doesn’t Jesus force her to go? She shouldn’t even be allowed to be there!”
Finally Martha can’t take it any longer and talks to… Mary? No. She doesn’t talk to Mary. Apparently as frustrated with Jesus as she is with Mary, she vents her emotions on Jesus. "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
Is this really an appropriate response? No. For one thing, she hasn’t been discrete. If her problem is with Mary, she should have gotten Mary’s attention and then spoken to her in private. Furthermore, she is rude to Jesus – and not only to Jesus, but to all her guests. I am sure the rest of the disciples felt very uncomfortable at that moment – perhaps wishing they could go outside, or that they had gone to someone else’s house.
Now our children are still pretty young, and we tell them that when they have a conflict they should “find a parent and tell it to the parent” instead of getting into a shouting match with each other. And for young children this is an appropriate approach to take – generally speaking, young children are simply not capable of sorting out their problems on their own. But as children become older, you really should start training them to figure out solutions to their problems on their own. You don’t want your grown, married children calling you in the middle of the night every time they and their spouse have an argument, do you? My sister is coming to visit us in a few weeks. Can you imagine what my father might think if I called him up during her visit and said, “Dad, Jean is hogging the bathroom! Do something about it!”
But again, I think Martha is not only frustrated with Mary, but she is frustrated with Jesus. Why won’t He tell her to help? Surely He knows that she needs the help! The word “distracted” in this passage is interesting. It means that Martha felt continually pulled away from being with Jesus herself, because she had so much to do. In other words, Martha may have felt that the situation was unfair. Here she was, being responsible, while Mary gets to have this incredible opportunity to listen to Jesus’ teachings. Mary should have pulled her own share of the weight, so that they could both listen to Jesus some.
Here is Jesus’ reply:
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." – Luke 10:41-42
Most of us have heard or read this story many times, so Jesus’ answer doesn’t seem remarkable or surprising to us. But hold on just a minute! What about Mary? In that culture, preparing the meals and taking care of the guests was the women’s role. Also, Mary’s listening to Jesus’ teachings was a violation of the accepted rules of that culture. And Mary was avoiding her responsibilities, making things quite difficult for her sister Martha. It seems like Mary was being selfish, not loving, right? The natural response – what the disciples expected, no doubt – and what we would have expected too, if we were there and a part of that culture – would have been for Jesus to say, “Mary, it would be good of you to help your sister. You can listen to Me more later.”
So what in the world does Jesus’ response mean? How can being seemingly lazy or selfish or both be better than serving your guests? How can Jesus say that only one thing is needed, something other than taking care of all the needs of the guests? What does Jesus mean when He says it cannot be taken away from her?
The bottom line is that listening to Jesus is even more important than serving Jesus. Is this true for us? You bet! This is not to say that it is not important to serve Jesus. It is certainly not an excuse for laziness or selfishness! But spending time with Jesus – for us, this means time in worship, time in prayer, and time in His Word – produces “unstealable” fruit. Listening to Jesus produces eternal fruit in our lives. Making a habit of these things changes who we are. It helps us put to death what people used to call “the old man” and gives strength and life and power to “the new man,” the part of us that is being redeemed by Christ. Serving Jesus is good, because we are obeying Him when we do it, because it pleases Him, because it helps Him further the spread of the Kingdom, but there are no guarantees of fruit in our lives when we simply serve Him.
Look at what happened to Martha. She went from being a wonderfully generous person, a wonderful giver of hospitality, into an anger-filled, frustration-venting, making-a-big-scene emotional monster! This is the reality of life if you try to serve God without sitting at His feet. You will not be transformed! Sooner or later (usually sooner), your sinful nature will show itself, often in dramatic fashion, often at the worst of times and the worst of places. If you have children, you probably know that they tend to embarrass you at the worst possible moments in the worst possible ways. That is true, but what you probably tend to forget is that you embarrass you at the worst possible moments in the worst possible ways also, if you are not spending time at Jesus’ feet.
I am presenting this from the point of view that it is to our benefit to sit at Jesus’ feet, because we won’t embarrass ourselves. But the passage says something much stronger. It says that Jesus prefers that you do this. We show Jesus more honor by sitting at His feet than we do by serving Him! Does that statement shock you? Good! My goal is to try to find a way to say this that makes it sink in deeply.
Throughout the Bible, people have manufactured ways to serve God, and God has said that their manufactured ways are not what He desires. In Genesis 4, Cain offered the first fruits of the harvest, but God was not impressed. I think of Samuel, who repeatedly tried to do things his own way. For example, in I Samuel 13, Saul did not simply wait for the prophet Samuel, as he was told, but instead made a burnt offering on his own. God was not at all pleased with this. And in the letters of the later prophets, God says that He detests the sacrifices His people make, because “He desires mercy, not sacrifice.”
We can do the same thing, and we do the same thing, when we keep ourselves busy with church activities and neglect spending one-on-one time with God. In our minds we can say, “Look, God, at all the great things I am doing for you.” And like Martha, when we do this apart from spending time with God, we are at danger of burning out. The answer is not to quit doing all church activities, but to add in time with God. None of us is so busy that we cannot spend at least a few minutes with God every morning when we wake up or every evening before we go to sleep. Again, this is what Jesus desires of us!
When I think about the three passages in today’s message – Jesus’ expression of joy, the “who is my neighbor” parable, and the account of Mary and Martha – I think the thing that draws them together really is the two passages the expert in the law quoted to Jesus. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Putting them together, I think about how Jesus delights not only to reveal Himself to those who call on His name, but He delights to raise up those who really love Him to serve in powerful ways. I think of Paul’s comment in I Corinthians:
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." – I Cor. 1:26-31
A great example of this happened yesterday at the Republican state convention in Columbia. Regardless of your political leanings, I think you will appreciate this story. One of the main purposes of the convention was to elect someone to be the South Carolina committeeman on the Republican National Committee. The winner, with over 70% of the vote, was Glenn McCall. This was a historic moment for South Carolina because Glenn is African American. But far more importantly, Glenn is a strong Christian. In his acceptance speech, He praised Jesus Christ and thanked Him for taking from the depths of poverty, and from a completely broken home – I believe he said he was one of six children of his mother, each of whom had a different father – and yet Jesus brought him to this historic moment and position of importance. God delights to do this! He delights to use plain old folk like us. And He delights to use us to show the world what loving your neighbor, binding his wounds, bringing him healing, really means. And in all of this, He only insists that as He raises us up, that we continue to put Him first and sit at His feet.
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