What Does a Follower of Christ Do?

Luke 10:25–42

Practical lessons on following Jesus. A follower of Christ…

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Good morning church family! My name is Jordan, and I serve on the pastor team here at Harvest and primarily oversee the worship ministry. Over the past few years, it’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to preach just one Sunday per year. So, I can say with great confidence that this will be the BEST sermon you hear from me this year… consequently, it will also be the WORST sermon you hear from me this year All jokes aside, it is an honor and a privilege to minister the word of God. I am thankful for how our text today has already been challenging my own heart and I am eager to share with you what the Lord has been teaching me:

Last week, we left off with the beginning of Luke 10 where Jesus sends out the 72 to proclaim with their words and actions that the kingdom of God is at hand. Upon their return, they are excited to share that even the demons are subject to them in Jesus’ name. But Jesus tells them not to rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. And to consider themselves blessed for having eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of who Jesus is and what he has come to do.

In these lessons and those that will follow, Jesus clarifies what life in his kingdom is like. Our passage today addresses important kingdom matters like how one inherits eternal life. How one truly loves God and loves others. And how one should view good works and how they relate with a relationship with Jesus. These are all important matters for our faith, and so the title of our message today is What Does a Follower of Christ Do?

And throughout our time this morning, we will be answering that question with a few practical lessons on following Jesus.

As Jesus is teaching, in verse 25, it says that a lawyer stands up to ask him a question. A couple of things about this lawyer are worth mentioning. Firstly, he’s not the kind of lawyer you may be thinking about– A lawyer in this setting was an expert in OT law. These were men who were devoted to the study of the Law and knew it like the back of their hand. Secondly, this lawyer is not a follower of Christ. As we will see through this interaction with Jesus, he is a religious man, but he has a pretty twisted understanding of what God’s kingdom is truly like.

At face value, he seems to be a respectable person. He was seated as Jesus was teaching and stood up to ask a question (a sign of respect). He addresses Jesus as “Teacher.” He’s doing all the “right” things, outwardly… again, he’s very religious. However, Luke fills us in– that this lawyer’s motives were not pure in heart. He stood up to ask a question to put Jesus to the test. Well, what happens is he actually tees Jesus up to answer one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask! The very question that Jesus came to address! “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Maybe some of you are here today because you have the same question. Life on earth is temporary. The clock is ticking and none of us have any way of knowing when the timer will go off. Each of us will one day stand before the Lord to give an account for all that we’ve done, and we will either have eternal life in paradise with him, or eternal death under his judgment.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Well, how does he answer? Maybe not the way you would expect. He answers by raising a question back to the lawyer. “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” This is an appropriate question for someone who is well-versed in the OT Law, such as this lawyer.

The lawyer answers, by quoting the “Shema” – a combination of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, “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, [in other words, with your entire being] and your neighbor as yourself.” [In other words, we inherently do what’s good for ourselves so do that for your neighbor all the time]. These two commandments summarize ALL the law of God, as Jesus explains in Matthew 22. And so, Jesus responds, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Now, wait a minute! The lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus’ answer is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind AND you must love your neighbor as yourself. “do this, and you will live.”

Friends, in case it’s not obvious, NO ONE can do this! Not you, not me, not this lawyer. None of us have ever loved God with our heart, soul, strength, and mind continually all the time, and loved our neighbor as ourselves continually all the time. If that’s the standard for inheriting eternal life, then this man, along with the rest of us, are doomed!

So, what is Jesus getting at here? Well, the lawyer is asking the right question but in the wrong way. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer is that there is nothing you can do to inherit eternal life. You don’t do anything to receive an inheritance. You are given an inheritance. This lawyer is a self-righteous man. He is convinced that eternal life is something that he must (and is capable) of earning, so Jesus pushes him to tease out his own logic– “If you really want to earn your way to heaven, here’s what the Word says– perfectly love God and love others with all your being.” Jesus is giving him an opportunity to recognize that he can’t do this, which should draw him to his knees to plead for forgiveness. Because apart from divine intervention, no one can inherit eternal life.

Which is why the first answer to our question today: What does a follower of Christ do? Is, a follower of Christ…

Jesus is the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world. And he is able to do so because he is the only one who has ever perfectly loved God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as himself continually all the time! Inheriting eternal life is not a matter of trusting ourselves to fulfill God’s law, but a matter of resting in Christ’s sufficient work on our behalf.

The religious leaders at that time had it mixed up. They thought that inheriting eternal life was a matter of trusting their own ability to fulfill the Law. That’s why Jesus came with a radical message: to REPENT and BELIEVE! That is the only right way to respond to the logic that Jesus has laid out for this man. You would expect that this lawyer would recognize his inability to fulfill this task and fall to his knees in humble repentance.

Sadly, that’s not what happens. He actually tries to justify himself. The standard is to love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself, and his first response is to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” His self-righteousness is evident– he doesn’t raise a concern about the first part of that commandment – to love God with his whole being. Maybe he thought he was doing well in that regard. It’s the second half that really makes him sweat. He asks, “And who is my neighbor? Because, as long as we have the same definition of neighbor, I’m pretty sure I’m good to go…”

He misses the point. And he is not going to inherit eternal life if he believes it’s a matter of what he can do. To inherit eternal life, one must follow Jesus by recognizing their total dependence on him for salvation.

Let’s consider for a moment how to respond to this interaction. Firstly, if you are here and you haven’t made a profession of faith, as I mentioned earlier, we don’t know when our time here is up. Eternity could be moments away. Are you on the path to eternal life, by way of trusting in Jesus alone? Or are you on the path to eternal death because you are trusting in something else? Maybe you’re like the lawyer. You’re convinced that you’re a pretty good person and the weights will balance in your favor. Maybe you haven’t given any serious thought to life after death at all. If not, I want to encourage you again to pay attention to these weighty matters. And ultimately, I hope that you will put your faith and trust in Jesus. He did what you and I could never do so that we might have eternal life in him. That’s a promise that you could be assured of TODAY if you recognize your dependence on him and respond by repenting and believing in him.

For those who are in Christ, how should we respond to this interaction? First, do what Jesus said in the beginning of chapter 10: rejoice that your names are written in heaven!!! Rejoice that Jesus has done what we could not do. Rejoice in the inheritance of eternal life that has been secured for us!

Which brings us to the next part of this exchange between Jesus and the lawyer. Instead of recognizing his helplessness, the lawyer seeks to justify himself by asking, “who is my neighbor.” As J.C. Ryle points out, “The lawyer, no doubt expected that our Lord would answer according to narrow-minded prejudices of the Jewish nation at that time, that Jews alone were his neighbors.”

You can imagine how they got to this point. God had set apart the nation of Israel as a people for himself and had given them specific laws to keep them a separate people among the nations. The issue is, in their sin, they took that to an extreme and viewed a commandment like “love your neighbor as yourself” as limited to their fellow Jews.

So, the lawyer anticipates that Jesus will answer accordingly. Instead, Jesus answers by sharing a shocking story that is designed to shatter this man’s self-righteousness.

Let’s read that portion of our text now in verses 30–37.

As you can see, Jesus shares here the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A parable that many of us are very familiar with. I first learned about this story in Sunday School on a flannel graph, and frankly, up until the past couple of weeks had not given it much more consideration outside of that. It is a parable that is so popular that even in secular circles, it is used as a universal message for sharing kindness and generosity. However, reading it here in context will show us that this is far more than that. Remember, Jesus shares this parable as an answer to the lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” and it is designed to disintegrate his self-righteousness. Let’s dig into it.

The parable begins with a man. Who is this man? We don’t know? What kind of man is he? We don’t know that either. Some commentators suspect that he is a Jewish man, but there is not conclusive proof of that, and as we will come to see, it’s irrelevant to the point of this parable who this man is. Jesus leaves this man as unidentifiable. What’s important is that while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho this man encountered an awful attack and was left helplessly in need.

For context, the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was about a 17 mile walk or ride, mostly steep downhill, in a very rugged terrain. You can expect that this is the kind of place for crime to prevail. Lots of good hiding spots in the rocks. Vulnerable travelers cautiously making their way along. So, these robbers stripped the man, beat him, and left him half dead in the ditch.

And while this man is lying half-dead in the ditch, Jesus shares about three different characters and how they respond to his situation. The first is a priest. Priests are supposed to represent God to the people. They are zealous for the word and in keeping it. You can imagine that this Jewish lawyer Jesus is speaking to, might have a bit of hope that perhaps the priest will do what’s right and care for the man. To his shock, that’s not the case. The priest saw him and passed by him on the other side.

The second person that encountered the man was a Levite. Levites assisted the priests in the temple. So, perhaps this religious man of God may intervene here! The Levite came to where the man was, saw him, and passed by on the other side…

Two religious men whom you would expect to live out the compassionate love of God were completely calloused to a helpless man in need. They had no love. They did not love their neighbor, which is a byproduct of not loving God.

You can imagine the listeners are eager to hear who will intervene and help this man. Will it be another religious leader? Or will it be just a plain Israelite? Not at all… much to their surprise, a Samaritan emerges as the hero! This would have been the LAST kind of person they would have expected. During the time of this teaching, there had been a longstanding hostile relationship between the Jews and Samaritans. As it explains in John 4:9, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” They hated each other. The Jewish listeners to this parable would have been ashamed to hear that their religious leaders avoided the man on the road while a Samaritan (their enemy) went out of his way to care for him.

And the extent that he cared for this man was extravagant. Firstly, he risked his own life to go to the man and clean him up. He bound up his wounds, pouring oil to soften them and wine to disinfect them. Then he set this man on his own animal (likely a donkey) and brought him to an inn to take care of him.

He even left two denarii with the innkeeper. This was equal to about a day’s wages, or around three weeks’ worth of food for one person. And he offers to pay more if needed! The Samaritan was willing to pay for all future expenses that would incur, with no limitations or strings attached. He cared for this man to the best of his abilities and then some. This is lavish love! We may be willing to expend this kind of care on ourselves, or maybe those closest to us, but the lavish love that the Samaritan poured out was on a total stranger.

Jesus follows up this story by asking the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man?” And the lawyer answers, not by saying the priest… not the Levite… but it was “the one who showed him mercy.” You can sense the pride in that he can’t even bring himself to say the word, “Samaritan.” Nevertheless, he understands, and Jesus commands him to “go and do likewise.”

Now, to understand the point of this parable and what Jesus is getting at, notice how he flipped the question... The lawyer had asked, “who is my neighbor,” but Jesus asks, “Which of these three… proved to be a neighbor…” He’s making a point that loving your neighbor is not limited to a specific people group (like the ones he thinks he is loving well), but a command to love everyone that you come in contact with all the time! Instead of asking “who is my neighbor” the lawyer should be asking “am I a neighbor to those who are in need!” “Do I love whoever is around to be loved all the time?”

It’s a shift from the self-righteousness that desires to know the limits so that we can justify ourselves, to a profound principle that we are to be a neighbor that loves whoever is around to be loved. That’s why the second answer to our question of what does a follower of Christ do is that a follower of Christ:

The command to love your neighbor as yourself is not an opportunity for us to ask “who is my neighbor.” It’s a call to love as a neighbor whoever is around to be loved: friend, foe, or indifferent!

You know the slogan, right? “Like a good neighbor… State Farm is there!” Yeah, well, my wife and I have Progressive, so Jake from State Farm has never once been there for us! Because he asks, “who is my neighbor?” which is the wrong question 😊

For a follower of Christ, true, neighborly love is how we are to treat anyone who crosses our path. And the quality of this neighborly love is demonstrated for us through the compassion and mercy of the Samaritan.

The first part of that may make more sense right away than the second. It’s easy to understand compassion as a form of love, but what does it mean that the Samaritan showed him mercy? 

Translated more literally, it would read, “he did mercy with him.” It was an act of entering into this man’s suffering to provide help. He made himself vulnerable– he got down in the ditch to walk alongside the one in need. That’s the compassionate and merciful kind of love that Jesus calls his followers to share with others.

And notice the depth of love that this Samaritan showed the man:

Firstly, it was compassionate love… when he saw this man, he didn’t feel obligated… or reluctant… or fearful of his reputation if he didn’t intervene… he felt compassion.

Secondly, it was risky love… he made himself vulnerable to care for this man. He had no way of knowing if the robbers would return and do the same to him. He had no way of knowing if through the course of helping this man, the man would turn against him and abuse his generosity.

Thirdly, it was costly love… He got up close to his bloody wounds to lift him up… used his own resources: oil and wine… put him on his own animal… used his own money to cover his expenses in full…

Fourthly, it was inconvenient love… you can imagine that a man with such provisions as this Samaritan likely had important things to do with his time. He could have been like the priest and the Levite who did not bother to inconvenience themselves with this man’s problems. Instead, the Samaritan embraces the inconvenience. Whatever he was doing that day, it didn’t matter. He was presented with an opportunity to love and so he loved. And he even made plans to return to make sure that the man was well on his way.

Friends, this is extravagant love. And if this is the requirement for inheriting eternal life by our own strength, we are doomed. Again, if you are here today and you have not trusted in Jesus… if you are trusting in your own goodwill to get you to heaven… THIS is the standard… And this is an impossible standard. Because we are all guilty of not loving like this. At least not loving like this all of the time. And not showing this quality of love to every person that God puts in our path. I urge you again to recognize your total dependence on Jesus for salvation. The compassionate love that the Samaritan had on the helpless man is the same compassionate love that Jesus has for you. And he stands ready to save you.

Christian friend, how do you respond to Jesus’ clarification about what it means to be a neighbor to those in need? Where is God calling you to soften your heart and have compassion on even those you would never think to call your neighbor? Where is God calling you to risk your own comfort for the sake of getting down in the ditch with someone else’s hardships? Where is God calling you to love sacrificially? Where is God calling you to embrace inconvenience for the sake of loving others well? Ultimately, where is God calling you to practice the kind of Christian love that we preach?

I would hope that we are all aware of our shortcomings in this area. We are all tempted to limit our love to those whom we want to give it to or whom we feel obligated to give it to. May we all be aware of times our hearts have asked, “well, who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer is not, “Well, you live on second street, so you have the Johnsons on the left and the Smiths on the right. Be sure to care for them. And, well, you do live in a cul-de-sac, so technically you are cattycorner from the Browns so at least show up for a birthday party or give them a hand with the yard from time to time…”

No, Jesus says that’s the wrong question. Instead, we should be asking “am I a neighbor to whomever God has placed in my life that needs love.” And as believers, those who have inherited the free gift of eternal life, who have been lavished with the compassion and mercy of Christ, we should be the first to eagerly share that love with others.

Praise Jesus that we can repent of our lack of love, rest in his righteousness, and eagerly seize the next opportunity to love as a neighbor to the one in need.

We don’t know the result of this conversation between Jesus and the lawyer. But praise God that Luke has included this story so that we might glean the importance of trusting in Christ alone for our salvation and helping us to live out the command to love God and love others by being a neighbor to those in need.

In the final portion of our text today, Luke moves on from this interaction between Jesus and the lawyer to a new one between Jesus, Martha, and Mary. There’s no clear connection between the two, but if you’re following along, there has been a thread throughout our time together regarding salvation and works. The lawyer trusts in his own works and consequently will not inherit eternal life. He has works backwards. Jesus indirectly teaches that he is the only way to inherit eternal life and the good works that he calls us to should flow out of that free gift.

And in this final story for today, we’ll learn from Jesus about what is most important in our walk with him, and a common struggle that can distract believers from what is most important.

Let’s turn our attention to the last portion of our text. Follow along as I read, beginning in verse 38.

This is a story that we can all relate to and the lessons we will gather from it are of eternal significance both in the life we have now, and the one to come. Let’s unpack it a bit.

Firstly, it’s important to note that this story takes place among friends. Jesus is very acquainted with Martha and Mary. This is the same Martha and Mary associated with Lazarus– they were close friends with Jesus. And through this little story, we get to know a bit about these women and their personalities.

They are sisters and it’s presumed that Martha is the oldest and has assumed the role of hostess. And at first, Martha’s behavior is sincere and appropriate. As it says in verse 38, she welcomed Jesus into her house. She wanted to be a good hostess! That’s exactly the kind of hospitality that the disciples were hoping for as Jesus sent out the 72. And as we read on, we get the sense that Martha wanted to do something special for Jesus. She was pulling out all the stops. Meanwhile, Mary has chosen to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his teaching. To spend time enjoying his presence and learning from his words.

Both are doing seemingly “good” things for Jesus. But what happens? In what maybe started as a sincere attempt to serve her Lord, Martha became distracted by “much serving.” She’s doing far more than what’s expected of her and in doing so, she misses the point of hospitality– to enjoy her guest. We sense that she’s busy in the kitchen, witnessing Mary who’s getting this time with Jesus, and she becomes upset that she has been left alone to do all the work, while Mary gets to enjoy their guest.

So, she finally snaps! She comes in, huffs, and let’s everyone know that she’s not happy! And she even pressures Jesus to correct Mary! Instead, he corrects Martha.

“Martha, Martha” – he’s addressing her tenderly here. Not “Martha, take a walk… come back once you’ve had a second to calm down…” but more as a compassionate friend, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

Now we see the problem clearer! Out of a sincere desire to serve the Lord and to do something special for him, Martha lost focus of what was most important. She became anxious and troubled by her own fixation on temporary matters while missing out on what’s eternal. Well, what’s eternal? What’s most important? Jesus says the clue is with what Mary is doing: “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her?”

While Martha was burdening herself by making an extravagant, but temporary, meal, Mary was choosing the eternal good: she was basking in the Lord’s presence and teachings.

That’s why our final answer to our question this morning, What Does a Follower of Christ Do?” Is that a follower of Christ…

 

By “basking in the Lord” I mean to delight and rest in the grace of his presence and in his word. To delight in him and eagerly sit at the feet of his teachings, savoring every word because we know that his words bring life.

Those who have inherited eternal life, we cannot forget that part of that inheritance is we get Jesus! Here and now! We get to reap the benefits of his lavish love and draw nearer to him each and every day. And these are eternal things that cannot be taken away from us, even as the temporal things fade away.

Jesus is the good portion that Mary chose that cannot be taken away from her! And that is the life-giving response to the presence and teachings of Jesus.

This morning, we’ve witnessed three totally different responses to people who were face-to-face with Jesus: the lawyer tries to test him. Martha tries to impress him. Mary rests in him. She sits at his feet, basking in his presence and teachings. Will you do the same?

Now, this doesn’t mean that we should just stop doing good works and only contemplate and read our Bibles. Martha and Mary still needed to show hospitality to Jesus BUT without losing sight of the main thing. Similarly, we are called to fulfill our duties and vocations while also keeping Christ first. We are called to do good works. We are called to serve the Lord. We are called to be hospitable. But just as loving our neighbor cannot be divorced from a love for God– so goes any work that we do for the Lord, even when Jesus is your brunch guest (like in Martha’s case).

Our works don’t impress Jesus. We’ve already established that they don’t get us into heaven. So, unless we do them while resting in and enjoying Jesus, and keeping them in their proper priority, we will be become distracted, anxious, and burdened by them.

Christian friend, are you enjoying your inheritance? Have you spent time with Jesus lately? Or are you too busy doing things for “him”? Are you filling your schedule with good things, yet neglecting your time with the Lord? Remember Jesus’ tender warning to Martha. The ants will gobble up the crumbs of the charcuterie… no matter how magnificent the feast, we’ll all be hungry again tomorrow… our glasses will become dry, and our supplies will need replenished. All these things are fleeting and temporary. Don’t trouble yourself and become anxious about what will fade. Instead, focus on storing up for yourself what is eternal.

And what better way to do that than by running to his word, daily. To sit at his feet like Mary, enrapture by his teachings. No one can run on an empty tank. We must daily draw near to Christ and feast on the bounty of his Word if we are going to strive to do good for him. Even Jesus, when asked the most important question anyone could ever ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” pointed a helpless man to the Word of God. Do you run to this word daily, or is there something else that has enraptured your heart or distracted you from it?

Lastly, if you have not placed your faith and trust in Jesus, I urge you once more… listen to what you are missing out on. I don’t know what your opinions are about God or what you think he’s like, but as you can see… the bitterness of this life is far sweeter with him. And whatever pleasure we gain from the things in this world, they won’t last. But life with Jesus is eternal. And if you want to learn more about that, please open his word and see for yourself. Or find someone who can do that with you. I, or anyone else in this room who has tasted and seen the goodness of God would love the chance to tell you more about him.

Church, let’s remember this week that eternal life is a gift that is freely given because Jesus has done what we could not do. When we are confronted by our shortcomings, let’s humble ourselves, recognizing our total dependance on Jesus and repent of any self-righteous attempts to justify our actions. When we are met with an opportunity to love someone, let us not ask “how much” or “for how long” or “to what extent” or “whom am I to love” or “whom am I not to love.” Let us simply love by being a neighbor to whomever needs a neighbor this week. And may we bask, daily, in the presence and teachings of our Lord; an inheritance that cannot be taken from us.

 

*Pray