August 31, 2025
Pastor Daniel Self
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy-two of His followers to go ahead of Him into towns and villages, preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick. They return with joy, amazed that even demons submit in Jesus’ name. Jesus reminds them not to rejoice in power but that their names are written in heaven. Then, He has a private moment of praise to the Father and teaches that the greatest blessing is knowing Him.
From there, a lawyer stands up to test Jesus by asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That sets the stage for one of the most famous parables in Scripture—The Parable of the Good Samaritan—where Jesus turns the question around and challenges us to think about what it truly means to love our neighbor.
Luke 10:25-36
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The expert answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But the bible expert wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho,
31 A priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he passed by on the other side.
32 A Levite came along, walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the beaten man, he felt compassion for him.
34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 Jesus asked, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?”
Acts 15:19
“it is my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for those far from God, who are turning to God, to come near.”
