There is a striking similarity between the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the miracle of the deaf-mute man we heard last week. As we observe that the friends of the man possessed saving faith in Jesus Christ, which led them to bring the deaf-mute to be restored, it is not without love for the neighbor. For the sake of clarity, we are saved by faith alone, as St. Paul says in Galatians chapter 2: “we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
And still, saving faith in Jesus Christ is not alone, as good works proceed from that faith in Him. This is one of the mysteries of our faith: that it is faith in Christ that saves us, yet that saving faith is not without works. For if the Christian does not understand this distinction and the reliance on faith alone for salvation in the Lord Jesus, we will find ourselves in the company of this lawyer who seeks to justify himself apart from faith and only by works.
Take note of how the scholar of the law asked this very question to Christ: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The man supposed something that is not supported in Scripture: that we can do something to earn God’s approval. And so, with compassion towards the man, Christ Jesus responds with a question to bring the man’s claim to its logical conclusion. ‘What is written in the law, and how do you read it?’ our Lord says.
The lawyer knows the answer: “‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself’” He says it while he believes that he is not guilty of any sin against these two words of the Lord.
Christ Jesus, as well as we ourselves, know that if we attempt to measure ourselves according to the law of God alone, we have not kept either word. Let us first examine the second statement made by the man: that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. If we truly kept our Lord’s Word, we would not spread a single rumor; we would not seek revenge; we would honor all those in authority over us without exception; we would be successful in curbing the desires of the flesh, and our wants would be solely for what God has given and has promised to bestow. This is how God desires us to love our neighbor; by faith we have come to the knowledge of our sins. We realize that none of these Commandments by God have we kept by ourselves.
What about to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength? Have we been able to do that much? The answer is a resounding no. Since the perfect love of God produces the perfect love of neighbor, and if we’ve already seen that we have not loved our neighbor to the fullest extent of the Commandments, we have been unsuccessful in this, as well as we have not loved God perfectly. While the law was meant to give life, we have found that it brings death.
The law is meant to kill self-righteousness and to steal away pride in oneself, as if it is we ourselves that are merchants going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. For it is the job of the Commandments to leave no sense of goodness in us. To take it away, for the Law is always good. So it is we who are dead along the road, seeking that someone would come to save us. For if we lie there too long, the heat of the sun will kill us by day or some wild beast by night.
Certainly, our good intentions will come to rescue us! Yes, we haven’t done everything we ought to do, but we always intended to do good. We did not mean to hurt anyone despite the outcome. Can these bring us out of the ditch of despair and back to the road of righteousness? Our good intentions are like the priest in the parable. They only want what is right, but the priest rarely brings it into fruition.
And so we’re still stuck; if they couldn’t save us, who can? What about our good deeds, the times we did do what God commanded of us? Certainly, they would stop to lift us out of the pit along the road! Our good deeds may stop and gaze upon our misery, but they can’t help us either. The Levite cannot bother to touch us because if so, he would be unclean in the service of God’s temple. And they cannot bring us any comfort. So who is left to save us from our sins?
Here comes the Son of Man, our unexpected good Samaritan, Jesus Christ. A man who was despised among the people of Jerusalem. He sees us in our misery and does not just say ‘Oh pity.’ Christ Jesus comes to fulfill His Father’s will to live a life of perfect obedience in the place of sinners. The Lord Jesus takes on human flesh and blood, the same as you and I, and is truly a man who knows our condition perfectly, as He was tempted in our place and still remains without sin. The Lord Jesus suffers and dies on account of our transgressions, that his righteousness and the Father’s mercy may be granted to us.
This is how our Lord looks upon our pain and misery. He binds up our wounds with the ointment of the preaching of the Lord’s Word made up by His commands and His promises. His word calls us to repentance and to believe in the Son who has died for us for our eternal reward
The Lord does not leave us on the side of the road, hoping that we would find some shelter afterward. He brings us with Him. He puts those who have been crushed by the weight of the law on His own back. He brings us to a little inn, the holy Christian Church. Upon our entrance into the church, we are washed thoroughly of sins and given regeneration in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Even though we died in the water, a new man rises. Our broken bones by the thief of the law are set aligned by means of Holy Absolution. Then the Lord gives our weary bodies something to eat, His true body and blood. This is true medicine that removes sins and grants peace with God; through this heavenly food, we are strengthened in our saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord must go back to his Father in heaven; He charges the innkeeper with the care of sinners, the called and ordained Pastor, to do as the Lord has commanded: to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments.
There is still more, as the Lord Jesus promises to His higher servant and to you, that He will return to bring you to the heavenly Jerusalem. When the Lord brings forth the new Heavens and new Earth, we will dwell with Christ without any sorrow, misery, pain, or sin. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan, who has saved us purely by grace with no such merit or deeds of our own.
Finally, when the Lord Christ says “go and do likewise,” we do not remain in any doubt of our salvation. For we are saved by faith alone in the Son of God, who saved us by His death and rising again. As washed in baptism, Christ goes with us so that we may see our neighbor in need and, as we help them, glorify God the Father in love, as He has done for us. For it is not love shaped by a want or pride. The love we bring to our neighbor is the love given at the cross for us and for those we serve for Christ’s sake.
May God grant us such love for our neighbor and especially our enemies. Amen.
St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish 