What Does It Take to Love? – Part 2
David W Palmer
One day, a lawyer asked Jesus about what it takes to receive eternal life. After discussion, both agreed that you would need to love God wholeheartedly and to love your neighbour as yourself. But because the lawyer wanted to justify his current lifestyle, he was looking for some “wiggle room” in this straightforward instruction. And because the instruction to love your neighbour sounded very challenging—unless it was limited to those he could love easily—his only hope was to find a loophole in Jesus’s definition of “neighbour.” So he asked Jesus to clarify who our neighbour is. In response, Jesus gave him the parable of the Good Samaritan.
This parable is very instructional for us too. Not only does it show whom we need to love as ourselves, it subtly points out what it takes to show the love Jesus is looking for. Yesterday from Luke 10:33–34, we saw that beyond diverting from his own plans so he could help the injured man, the Samaritan was compassionate, trained, and resourced. As we read on today, we see some more of what it takes to love your neighbour … and thus to receive eternal life:
(Luke 10:35 NKJV) “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’”
Here we see that the Samaritan was willing to pay for the injured man’s ongoing care. What’s more, he must have had a very good reputation with the innkeeper; he asked him to keep up the care, and promised to pay the bill later. So …
4. Good reputation where money is concerned—and good credit. In addition, he had high credibility: he said he would pay when he returned; the innkeeper believed that he would.
5. Organized. Because the Samaritan was so well resourced, it is obvious that he wasn’t unemployed, lazy, or idle. So he may have been a businessman or business owner. Otherwise, how would he have been able to take discretionary time out of his schedule to care for the “neighbour”? After all, if he were working for a boss, his time would not have been his own, and if he were unemployed, he wouldn’t have had surplus wealth to release without notice.
If we assume he was a business owner, he must have been a good delegator / manager; because, again, he took time out without it being a problem back at the office—everyone must have known what to do in his absence.
I’m starting to see the picture of a very well organized, generous, and skilled man. This Good Samaritan is someone I find to be very challenging. He is a fine example of how Jesus expects us to prepare ourselves to fill the great commandments: Love God with everything; Love neighbour as self.
As we finish this series on love, Jesus leaves us with:
Some great vision for our personal development
Some very clear-cut commandments (love God, love neighbour, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, etc.)
Some wonderful promises where love is concerned. For example:
(Romans 5:5 NKJV) “… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Can I encourage you to make growing in love a personal growth goal: grow in love for God and others. Ask yourself if you are in the position—resourced, trained, well managed, with a good enough reputation, and compassionate enough—to “do” what love requires like the Good Samaritan did. Remember, to enable you, you have: God’s love poured into your heart, Jesus as your Lord, and the Holy Spirit as your guide, comforter, strengthener, standby, and helper. By God’s grace, you can be and do as he expects.
(Luke 10:36–37 NKJV) “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” {37} And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Philippians 4:13 NKJV) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”