Luke 10:25-28

Luke 10:25-28

And behold!  A lawyer!  He rose up while testing Him, saying, “Teacher, after doing what will I inherit eternal life?”  And He said to him, “What has been written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  And he answered, saying, “Love the Lord your God out of your whole heart and in your whole soul and in your whole strength and in your whole mind.  And love your neighbor as yourself.”  And He said to him, “You answered rightly.  Do this and you will live.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

A lawyer comes forth to test Jesus.  However, I don’t want to seem too judgmental here.  Just because a person comes to God and wants to test God doesn’t make them unredeemable.  After all, how many of us haven’t done the same thing?  How many of us haven’t asked God to prove Himself?  How many of us haven’t allowed our belief in God to momentarily rest on how much He does for us?  Of course we do.  This is simple human nature.  Granted, it doesn’t make it right.  We should not put God to the test.  However, we shouldn’t judge those who do too harshly.  If we are honest with ourselves, we aren’t really any different than this lawyer.

When are you prone to testing God?  Why should we be careful to not test God?  Why do we like to judge those who do wrong even though we are often guilty of the same mistakes?

Second Thought:

The lawyer comes to test Jesus’ piety.  He asks Jesus what one needs to do to inherit eternal life.  Notice that Jesus answers him with the law.  This lawyer is focused on doing, so Jesus points him to the place where he can see the answer.  Jesus points him to the Law.  Jesus knows what we need.  He knows how to reach us.  He knows which direction to point us so that we can come to an understanding of the Son and the Father.

Where has Jesus met you where you needed Him?  How has Jesus reached other people around you?  What can we say about how God reaches a variety of people?

Third Thought:

Unfortunately, the lawyer doesn’t get what Jesus is saying in this part of the passage.  The lawyer knows that Law, but the lawyer doesn’t understand that he cannot keep the law.  Who among us can love the Lord with our whole heart – not loving anything except the Lord?  Who among us can love the Lord in our whole being?  How many of us can love the Lord in our full strength?  How many of us love the Lord in our whole mind?  Can any of us say yes to any of these, much less all four?  Of course not.  We can know the Law.  We can know what is expected of us.  But unlike the lawyer we need to realize that we cannot attain these things.  They are the ideal.  They are what we should attain.  But we cannot.  This is the point of the Law and this is why Jesus points the lawyer to the Law.

How do you strive for the ideal of the Law?  How do you fail to attain it?  How do you respond when you fall short of the Law and its expectations?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 10:29-37