The Parables of Jesus: The Ultimate Neighbor

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"  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." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."  But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.  He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'  Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"  He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." - Luke 10:25‭-‬37 ESV

Necessity of Mercy

Context matters. The lawyer here is not a civil servant. He is an expert in the law of God. This lawyer is testing Jesus. He knows that Jesus keeps company with sinners of all stripes. The lawyer wanted to test and trap Jesus in some theological trap. So Jesus see the question as what it is, a trap. He counters with another question. Jesus affirms his response. But the lawyer wanted to justify himself. He wanted to whittle down and water down the law of God. He wanted to claim that he had kept the law of God in his own life. So he asked, who is my neighbor? In other words, what is the bare standard needed to claim that they follow God's law.

Nature of Mercy

The hero of this story is a Samaritan. They are hated and despised by the Jews. This is the standard by which we judge our love for neighbors. How we treat those who we do not relate and maybe even see as enemies... That is God's standard. We cannot do this or be justified in this. Acts of mercy are a mark of saving faith. A faith that produces no love and no mercy is dead and will not save.

Consider ourselves in light of this. We limit mercy, by who they are, because of timing, or how much. We all seek to justify ourselves in how we "love our neighbor." Mercy will cost us, make us uncomfortable, and may even require us to risk our lives.

Motivation for Mercy

Guilt is not enough to keep us loving those around us. The law of God should make us acknowledge our inability to keep His law. And from this humble place, we will see that we need Jesus; we all need a Savior. One who fulfills the law and grants us undeserved grace and mercy. Those who know Jesus will be merciful. We cannot truly know Jesus without being motivated towards mercy and grace.

Methods of Mercy

We are finite, we cannot meet every need. The world is too big. We are most obligated to help those who are closest to us, either geographically, spatially, or relationally. We cannot love those halfway around the world and neglect our family members. If your sister is in trouble the next state over, you cannot ignore then because they are geographically far.

We should focus on those close to us. The poor who we cross paths with on a consistent basis. Our coworkers and friends. We need to use wisdom in considering the urgency and their proximity to us.

The Parables of Jesus: The Rejected Son

And he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.  When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'  But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.'  And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "Surely not!" But he looked directly at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  "'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."  The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. - Luke 20:9‭-‬19 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This is Jesus' response to the religious leaders questioning His authority. They wanted to get rid of him, but Jesus was too popular and the leaders were afraid of the people. So they took a shot at Jesus to attack his teaching.

Human nature

This parable is understandable to the common man. Throughout that time the nation of Israel was portrayed as a vineyard. So the idea that the vineyard is taken from the tenants meant that God would take away from the Israelites. The servants were the prophets. The owner was Father God. So the son can only be Jesus. Specifically, the tenants were the religious leaders.

Jesus speaks about Israel, but really it is not just the Israelites, but people and their hearts. Israel is hard hearted and anti God. But Israel is not alone in this, we all suffer from this. We are all sinners​. We all want to live our way and ignore God.

Unbelief comes from a desire not to submit to God. There are no objective views, not even scientists. We do not wish there to be a God. There are many atheists who disavow God, His very existence.

But some are more convert, there are many religious people who only serve themselves. They are in the vineyard, but they are taking the rightful place of the owner. Their devotion to God is to serve their self interests. Serving is to upkeep their image and to give them a sense of worth. Service is done not for God, but the praise of men.

Covert rebellion is also found in twisting the Bible to suit ourselves. We pursue our own desires and cover it over with theological argument. We gloss over what the Bible says rather than submit to what God desires. We want to be owners rather than managers over all the things that God has given to us.

God's nature

Why does God keep sending servants? Is God stupid? No. He is patient and tenacious in seeking out the people He loves. Servant after servant. He does not quickly retaliate, unlike us. He does not give up on hard headed, stubborn people. God does not treat us as our sins deserve.

The nature of God's judgement

Those who reject the servants and the son will be destroyed. God's judgement will obliterate. Jesus quotes from Psalm 118, letting us know that He will be the cornerstone. The entire building will be built to a new standard, Jesus. He is speaking of God's rebuilding from only being for the nation of Israel, to being also for the gentiles. Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life. The only one. Those crushed are those who reject Jesus. They will be crushed by the full judgement of God.

The Parables of Jesus: The kingdom of God is like ...

He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."  And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened." - Luke 13:18‭-‬21 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

"The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God's sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation." - The Gospel Coalition

In this passage, Jesus is teaching some specific things about the kingdom. The context of this teaching comes from a previous situation. A woman has a debilitating disease. Jesus lays hands on her and heals her. But the ruler of the synagogue opposes him and rebukes Jesus because it was the Sabbath. Healing was considered work. People had preconceptions of what the kingdom looks like.

From minute and mundane to majestic

The kingdom starts as something small and inconsequential. Christianity was initially seen as a sect of Jews. Jesus picks a very common seed. He doesn't talk about an exotic plant. He speaks of birds nested in a tree. This is a common metaphor used to speak of great kingdoms that would shelter smaller, weaker kingdoms. Jesus could have said the cedars of great strength, but he picks such a mundane and unassuming thing.

So how does God's power work in this world? It is unimpressive. This is not a fireworks display. The change of people happens in community. Common everyday things is what God works through. We should be encouraged and heartened. God often works in us through common mundane things. But we don't see it, we don't have faith that God is here in our mundane moments. He is at work; convicting us of sin, growing our faith, and challenging us to walk closer to God.

Transformation by infiltration

Fermented dough, leaven, about a fistful worth, can affected fifty pounds of dough.  Faith in God is small, but it will change our lives, each and every part. Not only for ourselves, but it will also impact the world. A changed person will change the world.