I'll turn back to Luke chapter
10 this morning, Luke chapter 10, and I want to consider the
parable of the Good Samaritan. It's a very familiar parable,
and it's the sort of thing that most religious folks would regard
as good material for the BBC's Thought for Today snippet on
the Today program in the morning, you know, where you get that
five minute little moral lesson and, you know, you get churchmen
who would come on the radio and give their little five minute
talk along the lines of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Oh, wouldn't
it be a good place if we could all just be kind and friendly
towards one another? What a nice utopia we'd build.
Oh, if only these people in these places where they're fighting
all the time and rioting would just stop and just be nice and
friendly to each other, just be good neighbors to each other.
And without the revelation of the Spirit of God, that's all
the account is. That's all it is. But look at
verses 21 to 24 of this chapter before we get into the parable.
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes, even
so, Father. For so it seemed good in thy
sight. God is sovereign. Oh, how man,
in arrogance, shakes his fist in the face of God and says,
you owe me all of these things. You owe me this, that, and the
other. But God is sovereign. So it seemed good in thy sight.
He says, all things are delivered to me of my father. And no man
knoweth who the son is but the father, and who the father is
but the son. Sovereign grace again, listen,
and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Not he who decides he wants
to, not he who condescends to do God a favor and believe him,
he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned to his disciples
and said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. Blessed, for I tell you that
many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which
you see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which
you hear and have not heard them. Blessed, blessed little company. Oh, you know, we would love to
see more people. we would love to see more people,
but blessed little company, blessed. He said to his disciples privately,
blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see when
so many others don't see them. These are things of eternal life.
These are the things of peace with God. Blessed, little company,
blessed. You've got spiritual discernment.
If you're trusting Christ, if you know Him, if His Spirit reveals
the Gospel in His Word to you, the mystery of the gospel revealed
to his saints as he says in the epistles you've been given that
spiritual discernment that the natural man 1st Corinthians 2
14 the natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit of God
for their foolishness to him neither can he know them because
he only uses his natural powers when Nicodemus came to Jesus
Jesus said to him, unless a man, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. You must be born of God, you
must be born from on high. It must be as the wind lists
where it wants to, as he says in John 3. As the Holy Spirit
comes and reveals that truth to this one, and that one, and
another one, calling out his people, O blessed little company,
that your eyes have seen these things, when so many of the wise
and prudent in their own eyes. Those who are regarded as the
wise and prudent in matters of religion. Those who are the wise
and prudent haven't seen these things. They've been hidden from
them. I heard a program on the radio the other day and it was
that modern clown Russell Brand giving his Desert Island Discs
and pontificating on spiritual matters as if he has anything
to say, wise and prudent in his own eyes. talking about this
deity and that deity that he thinks is a good deity or not
a good deity and I just thought you fool you silly man you're
playing with things that you have no understanding of this
is all of sovereign grace is God revealing his truth to his
people what's the purpose of scripture let me remind you the
purpose of the scripture is not to tell men and women how to
behave in order to please God The purpose of Scripture is to
reveal gospel truth to God's people, God's promises to his
elect. It's always to reveal grace.
The purpose of the law of God and the thou shalt do's and thou
shalt not do's of Scripture is always to drive to Christ. because
by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight
and God saves this is what this book says God saves and blesses
a particular specific people it's a multitude that no man
can number from every tribe and kindred and tongue on the face
of the earth in all generations but it's by grace alone through
faith alone but the pride of man doesn't like that The pride
of the natural man always says, I can do something and I must
do something. It cannot all be of grace, it
must be something that I do to contribute to it. And so it was
in these days, as Jesus walked the earth in his ministry on
earth and he was surrounded by the scribes and the Pharisees
and the Jewish religious leaders, their system said this, their
legal system said this, you must do something, I must do something,
I can do something, hence this lawyer's question. Verse 25,
a certain lawyer stood up, as Jesus was teaching, a certain
lawyer stood up and tried to trick him and tried You see,
this lawyer was not the sort of lawyer that we imagine today,
you know, like a solicitor or a barrister. He was an expert
in the written law of the Jews from the scriptures. So that
all of the thou shalt do this and how many seeds of one particular
herb you needed to give as your tithe for that thing. They were
experts in the little detail. They, as Jesus said elsewhere,
They strained at a gnat. You know, imagine you're having
a drink and a little gnat, a little insect has fallen in your drink
and you might put your teeth together so you have the drink
without swallowing the gnat. And he says you strain at a gnat,
you're trying to strain a gnat out of your drink with your teeth.
And without realizing it, you've just swallowed a huge great camel
in your own ignorance of what you're doing. This is what these
lawyers were like. They had these phylacteries,
these little boxes between their eyes, because the Word of God,
speaking metaphorically said, the Word of God shall be before
your eyes all the time. So they made a little box, tied
it around their heads, and put a little scrolled up bit of the
law in this box so that they literally kept that law. This
was the sort of people that they were, straining at gnats but
yet swallowing camels, picking little tiny specks out of their
neighbor's eye and not seeing the huge great plank of wood
that was in their own eye. That was the sort of thing that
they were. A certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, tried to
trick him, tried to show that this new teacher who had such
followers, such huge numbers following him, who went so much
against what the Pharisees and scribes were saying, that he
was faulty in his understanding of the law. He tempted him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This certain one
that stood up, trying to trick him, trying to find an inconsistency,
in respect of the law of God, in respect of the law as it's
revealed in the Scriptures. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Do you see what he's thinking?
I must do something. I can do something. What does
the law say I must and I can do in order to inherit eternal
life? Because I'm pretty sure I'm virtually
there, because I've done all the little details. I've ticked
every box on my check form as to what I'm supposed to do. I
can't think of anything that I haven't done. This is his thinking.
What are you going to say, new teacher? Let's think for a few
minutes about what the law demands, the law of God. Remember the
question that I often quote that's written a couple of times, at
least in the book of Job. How shall a man be just with
God? Here's a man in great suffering,
physical suffering, and he's surrounded by his so-called friends,
his comforters, who've come to tell him that he's brought it
all on himself by the way he's behaved. and they're discussing
things and the question arises, well how can a man, how shall
a man be just with God, be regarded as right in the sight of God? And in the eyes of this lawyer,
that question about how shall a man be just with God becomes,
what shall I do? Emphasis on the I do. What shall
I do? Because if I do the right thing,
I will inherit eternal life. I must do something. Surely I
can do something. How many think like this lawyer? Down the ages and in our day,
do you? Do you? I'm sure there are times
when that thought crosses your mind. But think of relatives.
Think of relatives, not just living relatives. Think of relatives
that are now dead, who've gone before. Do you think about them
like this lawyer was thinking? Surely they were good enough
for God. How many people, how many people
hold the position that they do in respect of salvation and the
truth of God because of what the implications would be for
Uncle Joe, who was such a nice man, who died ten years ago.
You know, if what you're saying about the gospel and rightness
with God is true, then Uncle Joe's in hell. And I cannot tolerate
the thought that Uncle Joe's in hell, therefore I'm not going
to believe. Isn't that what so many people
say? Isn't that how so many people react to the word of God? If
what you're saying is true, my lovely nana that died 20 years
ago is now in hell. because she didn't believe the
gospel of grace, she didn't trust Christ, she trusted in her own
righteousness, she trusted in what shall I do that I might
inherit eternal life. So many like that. Look at Jesus'
reply. His reply is this, verse twenty-six, Here comes a man saying, what
shall I do? Let me paraphrase. What law works
shall I do to inherit eternal life is what he really means.
And Jesus says to him, well what does the law say? You've got
it written down. Ever since Moses it's actually
been written down. What's written in the law? How
do you read it? And he answering said, 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. He's quoting two scriptures,
Deuteronomy 6.5, which is about loving God perfectly, and he's
quoting Leviticus chapter 19, which is about loving your neighbor
as yourself. So that's the summary of the
law. If you want two verses that encapsulate
what all the rest of it's about, it's love God perfectly, and
love your neighbor perfectly. And then you'll have done everything
that the law of God requires. If you seek to be justified by
the law, he says, go to the law. Because it says, look at the
end of verse 27, this do, and thou shalt live. This do, love
God perfectly, love your neighbor perfectly and you shall live. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Love God absolutely perfectly
all the time and love your neighbor absolutely perfectly without
ever wavering as yourself and if you do that you shall live. Did you hear what it said? I
wonder if he heard what it said when he quoted it. Galatians
4 verse 21, tell me, says Paul, you that desire to be under the
law and to earn favor with God by being under the law, don't
you hear what it's saying? You know when Israel heard the
law given at Mount Sinai and Moses said to them, will you
do all these things? And they said, yes, of course
we'll do all those things. And when Joshua said it to them,
they said, yes, we'll do all of those things, not realizing.
that they're totally incapable. How many New Year's resolutions
are abandoned in a matter of days, or hours, or minutes even? How many, in truth, in reality? People don't hear what it says.
It says, love God perfectly, absolutely perfectly, every minute,
every minute, without any wavering whatsoever. And your neighbour,
Love them like you love yourself. Care for them like you care for
yourself. Do you not hear what it says? That's a demand that nobody ever
keeps. Nobody ever has. To not keep
it is sin in the eye of God. It's falling short, which is
what the word sin means. The arrow in archery sins when
it falls short of the target. is to fall short of that target.
And we all fall short of the target. For all have sinned and
fall short, come short of the glory of God. All of us. We're
incapable of doing it. Galatians 3 verses 10 to 12.
For as many as are of the works of the law, as many as try to
live according to the works of the law, to be right with God
and inherit eternal life, are under the curse. Do you hear
that? Those of you who try to be justified
by the law, you're under the curse, for it is written, cursed. In the scriptures it's written,
cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. That means all things,
every minute, all of the time, without any exception, constantly,
from birth to death, without any exception. If you don't keep
it perfectly, then the word of God says you're cursed. that
no man is justified by the law by doing what the law says in
the sight of God is evident for the just shall live not by law
works but by faith and the law is not of faith the man that
doeth them law works shall live by them Romans 3 19 and 20 now
we know that what things soever the law says it says to them
who are under the law What's the law for? That every mouth
may be stopped, that every excuse may be silenced, that every objection
may be shut up, and all the world, all the world, all have sinned,
all the world become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For
by the law, what's the law for? That you might know. that you're
a sinner, that you might know that you're not just before God,
that you might know that you are short of eternal life with
God because of sin. But what do legalists, religious
legalists, always try to do? They always try to reduce the
law's demands so that they justify themselves. Verse 29, but he
willing to justify himself said to Jesus, who is my neighbor?
This is what they always try to do. They try to justify themselves
and how many today make the law of God something simpler to keep
so that they look like they're keeping it. There are those who
say that we must live as though the law is our rule of life.
The Ten Commandments are our rule of life. And so where it
says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In it you shall
do no work and whosoever does any work will be stoned to death
for picking up sticks to make a fire and so on and so forth.
This is what the law says. absolutely no work whatsoever
on that which was the Sabbath day, and they make Sunday the
Christian Sabbath day. Ah, but we can't have laws as
severe as that, can we? I mean, we can't be going out
stoning one another the moment we try and do something like
cook a meal or something. No, no, no, we can't have that.
So we'll amend it. We'll make it so that we can
keep our own version of the Sabbath law. And we'll make it that we're
not going to have any television allowed in the house on the Sabbath
day. That'll do, that's a good, that's
equivalent of not picking up sticks, right? So we won't have
any television on in the house. What else won't we do? Oh, we
can go for a walk, but it can only be a short walk. It better
not be a long, strenuous walk. So we won't have a long, strenuous
walk. And different places have different variants of their Sabbath
laws, so that they make it... I must tell you this story yet
again, because I know it involves Bill in his travels in India,
and Evelyn will remember it well, but they were due to fly back,
and there was going to be a week of a wait for another flight
if they didn't go on a flight which was leaving on a Sunday.
And one of the parties said, it's Sunday, it's the Sabbath
day, I can't possibly step on a plane on the Sabbath day. And
well, and Bill said, I know Bill said, well you do what you like,
but I'm getting on that plane, I'm going home now. You can come
in a week if you feel like it, but I'm going now on this day,
even though it's Sunday. And the guy thought, and he thought,
and then he thought, hold on a minute. Back home, it's not
Sunday yet. It's only Saturday. So I'll get
on the plane and I'll go. You see? Seeking to justify himself. This is what the lawyer did.
I'm going to make it easier. When it says, love your neighbor
as yourself, I love my mum and dad and my relatives and those
down the street. I'm very, very kind to them.
I, you know, I don't ever do anything offensive. I love my
neighbor as myself. What about that Samaritan? Oh,
the Jews don't have anything to do with the Samaritans. Surely,
who is my neighbor? Surely you don't include the
Samaritans. We despise the Samaritans! You don't expect us to love the
Samaritans as we love ourselves, do you? And what about the Hittites
and the Amorites and all the otherites? You don't expect us
to love them. I love my fellow Jews that live
in the same place as me, and think like I do, and you start
to get to the point, like they used to say up north, about neighbours,
they used to say they're all queer apart from me and thee,
and thou's a bit queer thyself. You see? Let's make it easy for
us to love our neighbor. Let's lower the barriers so that
we can all get by and love them. But no, no. Who is my neighbor? Does my neighbor really mean
everyone I might ever come across anywhere in the world? And so
Jesus tells the parable about the man going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and he gets ambushed by outlaws, by thieves, and they
beat him up, and they strip him of his clothes, and they steal
his goods, and they leave him beaten, and it says, half dead.
And he's lying there, dying in the gutter, and in the parable
Jesus says a priest comes by, and passes by on the other side.
looking down his nose, looking the other way, don't want anything
to do with that. And a Levite comes by, one who
would know the law, and he goes and has a look, and you can just
imagine, tutting, and there but for the grace of God go I, and
off he wanders. He doesn't do a thing for the
man. But here comes a Samaritan, those you regard as your enemy,
who has compassion on him, and binds up his wounds and pours
in oil and wine and does that which the medicine of the day
says you should do for that situation. And who then is the neighbor
to that one that fell among thieves? And the lawyer has to admit it
was that Samaritan who did what the law requires. So look at
verse 37. He said, the lawyer, he that
showed mercy on him. Who is it that was neighbor to
the one that fell amongst thieves? The Samaritan. It must have nearly
choked him to say it, but that's what he couldn't avoid saying.
He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said to him, go and
do thou likewise. And as I said, many people walk
away from this parable learning nothing other than try your best
to be a good neighbor to other people. This lawyer considered
his neighbor failed to fulfill the law, but the Samaritan's
actions did fulfill the law, and he admits that the latter,
the Samaritan, did what the law required, and so go and do likewise. If you would have eternal life
by law works, Go and do what the law says. But by the works
of the law, no flesh shall be justified. It only confirms the
curse of not continuing to do perfectly. Go and do likewise. You can't go and do likewise. You're incapable of going and
doing likewise. The point is, he brings him to
the law to show him his inability to do that which the law requires
perfectly, and therefore inherit eternal life. By following after
a law of righteousness, as Israel did, as we saw a couple of weeks
ago in Romans 9, 31 and 32, Israel, which followed after the law
of righteousness, hath not attained to the law. They didn't get what
they were seeking. Why? Because they sought it not
by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. Go and
try and be a good neighbor like that Samaritan was. You can't.
You're incapable of it. You cannot do it. Go and do thou
likewise. You cannot. But blessed are the
people of God who see, who are given eyes to see, the mystery
of the gospel in everything. And here we see the law's purpose
as a schoolmaster to drive us to Christ the substitute. And
that is what this parable is about. I know so many of you
know this already, but this is what this parable is about. There's
the gospel in this parable. This parable is not a moral lesson
to teach us how we ought to behave. This parable is to show us the
utter inability of law works to save us, because we cannot.
Go and do likewise as that good Samaritan did? You cannot. You
know you cannot. You know you're incapable of
it. You know you fall so far short of it. You know that you
deserve only the condemnation of God. You cannot do that. What
does it mean then? There's the gospel here in this
parable. A certain two men. That's what
I've called it. In this parable there are two
of the characters that are certain ones. The certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho and a certain Samaritan, a certain
man and a certain Samaritan, a certain two men. In verse 30,
Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem
to Jericho and fell among thieves which stripped him of his raiment
and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. This certain
man is Adam, is the human race as we are. Adam and all of his
progeny, but specifically, in the context of the parable, specifically
those of Adam's race whom God foreknew. Those of Adam's race
whom God predestinated to be conformed to the image of his
son. Those of Adam's race whom he called, whom he justified,
whom he glorified, who have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. They went down in Adam, from Zion, from Jerusalem, to
Jericho. They went down from the high
place of perfect fellowship with God in Eden. Created in the image
of God, they went down from there. On hearing Satan's voice and
obeying Satan's temptation, they went down to the low place, to
Jericho. They fell from that state of
bliss in Eden and went down and fell among thieves, demonic powers,
fell amongst Satan and his hordes who stripped him of his clothing.
You notice in the Genesis account of the fall how it is. that Adam
and Eve were naked and innocent. And when they fell, it says,
they knew that they were naked. And they were embarrassed and
they tried to find leaves to cover themselves with. And they
said to God, we hid because we were naked. Who told you you
were naked? There's something in this nakedness that's speaking
of the fall of man, how we are naked before the law of God,
how we are completely without covering, covering for sin before
the law of God. We're wounded, we're left half
dead as it says. In the day that you eat thereof,
said God, you shall surely die. And Adam and Eve, though they
didn't physically die, they were left half dead, because though
living in a body, they were spiritually dead, because the communion with
God had been broken and had been cut off for all time. In the
day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. And what happens
then? How can they be restored from
that fall? Well, religion comes along, verses
31 and 32. By chance, there came down a
certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he
was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the
other side. Legalistic religion came and
looked and passed by on the other side. What must I do religion
came and looked and passed by on the other side and did nothing
for fallen sinful man as it can do nothing for fallen sinful
man. Legalistic religion leaves fallen
sinful man exactly where he is, half dead, naked in the gutter
with no covering for sin, none whatsoever. All their works of
righteousness are just mere fig leaves, which will decay away
and show nothing whatsoever, will cover nothing whatsoever.
And legalistic religion is hard and cruel and merciless, just
like this priest and this Levite were. All they can do is wag
their finger and turn up their nose and walk by on the other
side. Romans 8 verse 3 says this, for
what the law could not do, it's incapable of it, in that it was
weak through the flesh. Law religion can do nothing to
cover, to heal up wounds, to make well. Law religion can do
none of that. And any mixture of law works
with grace, likewise, is impotent to do anything at all. How many
talk of grace, and yet they mix their law works without realizing
that in mixing their law works, they're poisoning the whole gospel.
They're making it of none effect. Christ will profit you nothing,
you who seek to be justified by the law in any way, you who
are circumcised, you who do any law work to add to your religion,
you who sow any of the of the filthy rags of your own righteousnesses
on that seamless robe of the righteousness of Christ. Destroy
it. You destroy it. Christ will profit you nothing.
And they walk by on the other side. And so it must be. What
must I do to inherit eternal life? Law or religion will just
leave you for dead in the gutter. But verse 33, a certain Samaritan,
specific, a certain Samaritan as he journeyed, One who is despised
by the Jews, by the lawyers, by the scribes, by the Pharisees. This certain Samaritan is the
second Adam. Just as the certain man was the
first Adam and all his progeny and God's people, particularly
in him, the second Adam is Christ. The Samaritan is that second
Adam. In John chapter 8 and verse 48, the Jews said to Jesus, we'd
rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a devil. That's what
they said to him in John 8, 48. I wonder, in the order of things,
we don't read it because that account isn't in Luke's gospel,
but I wonder if that account in John 8 occurred before this
account in Luke 10. a certain Samaritan. They'd called
him a Samaritan. They'd already called him that,
and he came where he was. This Samaritan came to where
that wounded man was as he journeyed, and when he saw him, he had compassion
on him. Philippians chapter 2, verses
7 and 8. But he made himself of no reputation, speaking of
the Son of God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Romans
5 verse 8, God commendeth his love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, whilst we were in an ugly, wounded state,
ugly, wounded, naked state, Christ died for us. Christ came to us
where we were. What an unlovely sight we were.
Just as that man, that certain man was in that unlovely state,
and he had compassion on his people. It says in the scriptures
that he loved his people with an everlasting love from before
the beginning of time. He went out, like Abraham went
out to rescue his brother, his nephew Lot, he went out to rescue
his brethren. And verse 34, he went to him
and bound up his wounds and pouring in oil and wine set him on his
own beast. He didn't go to him with a medical kit and say, for
any that wants to put his hand up now, I've got the means to
make you better. He didn't offer assistance. He
just did it. He came. He did it. He bound
up the wounds of this man. He gave him that medical treatment
that was necessary. He covered him. He put him on
his own beast. He brought him to an inn. He
took care of him. Christ didn't offer us assistance
in the gospel, he did it. He saved his people from their
sins. He didn't offer, you shall call
his name Jesus for not he shall offer his people salvation, he
shall save his people from their sins. He did it. He bound up
the wounds, the oil and the wine, speaking of Holy Spirit grace. The oil speaks of the grace of
the Holy Spirit, and the wine speaks of the blood of Christ,
which is redemption's price. On those wounds, which are the
wounds of sin, those wounds, he bound them up. He bound them
up. He poured in oil and wine, Holy
Spirit grace, and the blood of redemption's price, and put him
on his own beast. What does this mean? I don't
know, but I speculate it's something to do with Psalm 28, perhaps,
verse 9. "'Save thy people,' says the psalmist, "'and bless
thine inheritance. "'Feed them also, and lift them
up forever.'" Lift them up forever. Put them on his own beast. Isaiah
chapter 40, verse 11, speaking of Messiah when he will come.
"'He shall gather the lambs with his arm "'and carry them in his
bosom.'" He carries his people. He bears His people up. In terms
of relationship with God, He bears His people up. He carries
them. He puts them on His own beast
and brought them to an inn. And the inn is the church, the
fellowship of His people. His bride, He puts them amongst
His people. He sets the solitary, the wounded
solitary in families of His people, of like-minded people who have
that mind of Christ, who are given by God's grace the mind
of Christ. And in verse 35, on the morrow,
When he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou
spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee. The host is
the pastor of the church. The inn is the church, the host
is the pastor of the church. The two pence is like the Old
Testament equivalent of the half shekel, which you read about
in Exodus. The half shekel was the price
of redemption for Israel. This is the price that they must
bring. One penny. is the blood of Christ. The other
penny is the righteousness of Christ. I know it's reading in
symbolism, but I think we have the liberty to do that. This
is what Christ is showing us. That all of these things are
here pointing to that which he has done. The blood and the righteousness
that we must have. The blood to pay the penalty
for our sins. That he who knew no sin was made
sin for us when he shed his blood as the payment for our sins.
That we might be made the righteousness of God. He paid the price. Is
it not interesting? There are those that say, who
peddle false gospels, that the idea of debt and of payment is
nothing to do with the truth of God. Of course it is. The
scriptures are full of it. Here's a payment being made.
Christ came to pay the debt of his people. And whatever more
is needed, he says, I'll pay you. There'll be nothing left.
There'll be nothing lacking. This man doesn't have to pay.
This wounded man doesn't have to pay anything. When he's back
on his feet, he'll pay the rest. No, when I come, I will pay you
all that's needed. And this is what Christ says
to his people. I've paid everything. I will pay everything. There
is nothing that you have to pay. Nothing. He will pay it all. Saved to the uttermost. He is
able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him.
What shall I do to inherit eternal life? said the lawyer. What shall
I do to inherit, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Answer,
nothing. Because you can't. Because you're
incapable. This is what the parable's about,
nothing. You can never do what that good Samaritan did. You
can never do it. You can never do it actually.
You can never do it symbolically. Nothing. What must I do? Nothing. But believe and trust
the certain good Samaritan who has come and done all for his
wounded, helpless, half-dead people. That's the Gospel. How
fitted is our Savior how perfectly fitted to every need of his people.