Lost & Found PArt
6: THe Lawyer
Luke 10:25-37
We continue
our series this morning entitle Lost & Found: Stories of Redemption from
the Gospel of Luke. This morning we are
going to look at Jesus’ interaction with a lawyer. I am very tempted right now to tell some
lawyer jokes but that might distract us from our text this morning. Besides, this lawyer is not an expert in
civil law as we would understand it but he is an expert in the law of God. And Jesus’ interaction with this man is very
informative and I believe, life changing, if not for this particular lawyer in
the story, at least for folks like this man.
So as we get ready to hear God’s word this morning, let’s pray.
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
Now many of us are familiar with this
story and we know it as the story of the Good Samaritan. This short story that Jesus told has had a
profound effect on western culture.
There are hospitals named after this story, there are slogans drawn from
this – “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” The very question of what it means to be a
good neighbor is defined by this short story Jesus told. I don’t in any way want to diminish the
impact of this incredible and poignant story Jesus told. But I do want to
suggest that this interaction is not about the Good Samaritan and not even
about what it means to be a good neighbor.
I believe this interaction is about how God deals with the
self-righteous.
All the other main characters so far
in this series have come to Jesus recognizing their great need for a Savior –
the paralytic, the sinful woman, the woman with chronic bleeding and Jairus and
his daughter. We meet someone different
in this story. He is described as a
lawyer by Luke. Another word used to
describe lawyers in the bible is scribe.
Scribes or lawyers were basically bible scholars who held influence not
only over the understanding of the bible but also its application. They were kinda like a mixture of college
professors and judges. They were often
Pharisees but not necessarily so. They,
along with many influential Pharisees plotted with the political powers of the
time to have Jesus put to death for claiming to be God in the flesh. These were the big guns of the day.
And this Lawyer came to Jesus not to
seek his help but to test him. His
question was not a true question but a test.
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” What a question this is. The lawyer certainly knew the best type of
question to ask Jesus. You see, he is an
expert in the law and he knows that the bible is very much about God and how we
are to rightly relate to him. And more
than that, the bible teaches us that there is a trajectory for God’s creation
and for mankind. There was a beginning;
there is a middle and an end. In the
beginning mankind was created to dwell forever in right relationship with
God. He soon tragically fell from this
and the rest of the bible is about God’s actions to bring man back into right
relationship with God. All this is done
with a sense that God is working out a final solution to this problem, and
eternal state of being rightly related to God.
And there will be a day when it is all finished and all of creation will
either be rightly related to God or not, forever – we call this heaven and
hell, or eternal life or eternal damnation.
So for us this morning, the same question applies – are we rightly
related to God and how does that happen and what does it look like. How do we have true eternal life?
So this lawyer knew the right
question to ask but there is a fatal flaw in his question. Did you notice it? The center of his question holds a huge
assumption. He says “What shall I
do…” Literally, he says “What having
done eternal life will I inherit?” The lawyer has already answered his question
before he even asks Jesus anything. He
has assumed that the core of getting into right relationship with God comes
from doing something. He assumes that
the difference between being rightly related to God and not is all about us –
what we do.
Notice how Jesus answered him. He says, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” Jesus answers the question with a question –
a tactic he often used and an excellent example of how to deal with people who
are questioning you – turn the questions around to them and make them deal with
their own line of reasoning. Jesus turned
this conversation around according to the lawyer and essentially beat him on
his own playing field. Not just to win
but also to win his heart.
This is the approach Randy Newman
recommends in his book, “Questioning Evangelism.” I highly recommend this book as a way to
rethink how you interact with folks about the truths of scripture. Listen to this example from the book:
“Once, a team of skeptics
confronted me. It was during a weekly
Bible study for freshmen guys that we held in a student’s dorm room. The host of the study, in whose room we were
meeting, had been telling us for weeks of his roommate’s antagonistic
questions. This week, the roommate
showed up – along with a handful of likeminded friends. The frequently asked questions of exclusivity
arose, more an attack than a sincere inquiry. “So, I suppose you think all
those sincere followers of other religions are going to hell?” “Do you believe
in hell?” I responded. He appeared as if
he had never seriously considered the possibility. He looked so puzzled, perhaps because he was
being challenged when he thought that he was doing the challenging. After a long silence, he said, “No. I don’t believe in hell. I think it’s ridiculous.” Echoing his word choice, I said, “Well, then
why are you asking me such a ridiculous question?” I wasn’t trying to be a wise guy. I simply wanted him to honestly examine his
assumptions behind his own question. His
face indicated that I had a good point, and that he was considering the issues
of judgment, eternal damnation, and God’s righteousness for the first time in
his life. The silence was broken by
another questioner, who chimed in, “Well, I do believe in hell. Do you think everyone who disagrees with you
is going there?” I asked, “Do you think
anyone goes there? Is Hitler in
hell?...”Of course, Hitler’s in hell.”
“How do you think God decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? Does He grade on a curve?” From there, the discussion became civil for
the first time, and serious interaction about God’s holiness, people’s
sinfulness, and Jesus’ atoning work ensued.
Answering questions with questions turned out to be a more effective,
albeit indirect, way to share the gospel.” [2]
So, our Lord masterfully uses this
approach to get at the heart of this lawyer.
He calls the lawyer to answer his own question. The lawyer answers Jesus’
question by stating the first and second greatest commandments. “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.”
This is a good
answer, the lawyer
answers right on the money in line with the prevalent thinking of the day. The prevalent thinking of the day is seen
clearly in the Apostle Paul’s interaction with the issues of the law in
Galatians and Romans. The Scribes and
leaders believed that they inherited eternal life because of two things, #1,
having been chosen as the people of God, that is, because they were Jews,
chosen of God by grace and #2, by obedience to the law of God. They believed they were chosen by grace just
because they were Jews, and they were right, but they believed they maintained
their status by obeying the law. The
lawyer’s confidence was in his doing for inheriting eternal life. So Jesus presses this point for the lawyer.
The lawyer doesn’t get it right
away. Notice what his answer says. “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.” This command is so beautiful and so perfect
that it should cause anyone who truly hears it to feel small in entirely
impotent to obey it. Love God with all
your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind and your
neighbor as yourself. This is talking
about 100% dedication without exception.
When is the last time you were able to do that? Yet, we all know that this is right. Every human being knows that God deserves all
our love and that our fellow men deserve to be treated with the same love and
respect we expect and desire for ourselves.
We know this is right. But have
you ever thought about how far short we fall of these commands that we intuitively
know as right? Have you ever loved God
with all of your being? Maybe at your
very best moments you feel like you have come close. I remember a time where it felt like this was
true for me. I was in college and I was
having an extended time with the Lord, reading the word and praying and I read
something from the book of Revelation about the worship around the throne of
God and I remember being caught up with the beauty and worth of God to the
point of shivers running up and down my spine.
I felt at that moment that God was most glorious and worthy of my life
and I cared only that his name was lifted up.
I felt at that moment that my glory was to ascribe all glory to him
alone. It lasted a few seconds and then
diminished and I thank God for it. But I
must say, it still fell far short of loving God with my whole being. I think I might have loved him with a lot of
my being, but soon I was off into thinking about myself and my own glory and my
own reputation and my own comfort.
Certainly many trials since that evening have exposed just how
interested I am in loving myself first, before God. Thank God for exposing our sin through
trials, showing us our desperate need for forgiveness and new life in Christ and
refining us that we might love and enjoy him above all things. But we still have a long way to go and if our
confidence in obtaining a right standing before God rests on obeying this
awesome and perfect commandment than we all are in a lot of trouble.
Notice how Jesus
answers the man’s quoting of the greatest commandment. “You have answered correctly; do this and you
will live.” In other words, if you want
to frame achieving eternal life in terms of your doing something, you are
exactly right – if you are able to truly obey this great commandment perfectly
all your days then you will indeed inherit eternal life. This is truly an
impossible task. And Jesus knows
it. Don’t be mistaken, he didn’t go
around teaching that the way to heaven was the path of works, his teaching on
the law was so different from the Pharisees and Scribes. They made the law doable and manageable. Jesus made it glorious and perfect and
ultimately unattainable apart from a miracle.
And then he commended not those who thought they could keep the law but
those who recognized they never could.
Check out Luke 18 – the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. 9 He also
told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am
not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector,
standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his
breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the
other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.[3] Luke 18:9-14 (ESV)
Yet our Lawyer
friend thinks he can do enough to inherit eternal life, he is deceived and doesn’t
see it – at least not right away. I
think something happened as he answered his own question. I think the weight of the command started to
hit him. I would guess that the presence
of Christ and the Spirit of Christ brought conviction to this man, particularly
in regard to the part of the command relating to his love for his neighbor. So he asks, “And who is my neighbor?” and
Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan that we know so well. Notice how this story is specifically
designed to get at this lawyer and show him how far short he falls of the law.
We know the
storyline. A man is traveling the
notoriously dangerous
Now Jesus didn’t
just say this because he thought if the Lawyer went on the road to
Now we don’t
know what happened to this man. There
were others like him, who asked similar questions and got similar answers. Most probably continued to think that they
could earn heaven themselves and thus rejected the idea of their need for a
Savior, especially one like Jesus. There
were at least a couple of Jewish leaders who responded well to Jesus. Nicodemus was one. Apparently Jesus convinced him he needed
something more than his very best attempts to obey the law to enter
heaven.
What about
you? Do you think you can inherit
eternal life by doing something? Have
you done enough? Have you done it well
enough? How will you know? Is it a matter of sincerity? I don’t think so, Hitler and Stalin and Mao
were sincere. How much good do you
really need to do? Do you really need to
just try hard enough? How about once you
are already in, do you need to do something to stay in? How much do you need to do? How do you know you are doing enough? The same questions apply.
Check
out what Romans 4:5 says: 5 And to the one who does not work but
trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [4] Romans 4:5 (ESV) Now what does that mean? It says that to the one who does not work
[that is to get right with God] but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his
faith is counted as righteousness. Paul
is explaining the answer to the Lawyers question but without the fatal flaw the
lawyer had. Remember, a main point of
the bible – how to be in right relationship to God. Another word for someone in right
relationship with God is someone who is righteous. And a word closely related to being righteous
is being justified. In the original language
they are almost the same word. Being
righteous is being just. And being
justified is being declared just or righteous.
So, to rephrase the big question of the bible, how are we in right
relationship with God - how are we justified before God? Now the Lawyer thought the answer to this was
in something he needed to be doing. But
Jesus taught it was the man who abandoned all hope in himself and put all hope
in Christ who would stand justified. And
that is what Romans 4 teaches. We are
made right with God by trusting in the One who justifies the ungodly – and in
this we are made right with him. In
other words it is not what we do that counts but what Jesus did that
counts. Our job is to put our trust in
Jesus, not ourselves. One more passage
that goes along with this, Galatians 3:10-13 (ESV) “10 For all
who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be
everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and
do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is
justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the
law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—.[5]
This is what the lawyer missed.
This is what we often miss.
Jesus alone lived the perfect
life. Jesus alone went to the cross and
died for sinners. He alone paid the
penalty we deserve to pay for our sins.
He alone was raised on the third day.
He alone deserves all glory. We
are to put all trust in him alone for our righteousness before God. Are you doing this or are you like the
lawyer, trying to smuggle in some self-achievement into the equation? Listen to what Sinclair Ferguson, the
Scottish theologian and pastors says, “The
glory of the gospel [the good news of Jesus righteous life and death for
sinners] is that God has declared Christians to be rightly related to him in
spite of their sin. But our greatest temptation and mistake is to try to
smuggle character into his work of grace. How easily we fall into the trap of
assuming that we only remain justified so long as there are grounds in our
character for that justification. But Paul’s teaching is that nothing we do
ever contributes to our justification.”[6]
And Jerry Bridges says, “your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that
you are beyond the need of God's
grace." [7] In other words, every day,
no matter how good or how bad, we are to trust in Jesus alone for our right
standing before God. This right standing
is a gift, it is grace, offered to us based on the life, death and resurrection
of Jesus – and he calls us, he calls this lawyer, he calls all to turn from
self-sufficiency and trust in him alone.
It is not what you do but who you trust that matters. We must trust Christ alone. God’s law exposes our desperate need for a
Savior. Only once we have acknowledged
our need for forgiveness and by faith received the totally free gift of
righteousness will we then begin to be able to grow in true obedience to God.
So where is your hope
today? Is it in your doing or is it in
Christ’s. We must trust Christ
alone. He will have it no other
way.
Let’s pray.
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[2] Randy Newman, “Questioning Evangelism”, Kregel Publications, 2004, p. 28
[3] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[4] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[5] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[6] Sinclair Ferguson, Know Your
Christian Life: A Theological Introduction (
InterVarsity, 1981), p. 71
[7] Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace.