THE GOOD SAMARITAN
(Suggested Reading: Chapter 9:51-62 and Chapter 10)
And now we come to a great watershed in the gospel of Luke. The Lord's Galilean ministry ends at chapter 9:50; the following verse opens the concluding section of the gospel, "and it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." Note Luke's emphasis here, not on the cross, but on His being received up— the ascension. This was the end of the Lord's journey from the Father to the Father. In the eighth chapter, Luke gave us the entire story of the Lord's journey into this world, through this world, and out of this world, concluding with the Gadarenes— the people of this world— asking Him to leave them. 8:37. In the last section of his gospel, Luke gives us our journey— in the story of the poor man beaten by thieves whom the Good Samaritan befriended. Christ was the Good Samaritan. He journeyed through this world to rescue us. His journey through this world was triumphant— ours tragic. No matter, the Good Samaritan cannot rest until we start another journey— out of this world to His Father's house. So He invites us to a Great Supper in His Father's house. But first, the Good Samaritan lodges man in an inn until He returns— striking contrast to man's treatment of Him, for there was no room for Him in the inn at His birth. Then the poor man, beaten by thieves, and the Good Samaritan change roles, becoming respectively the prodigal son and the shepherd —Christ— seeking the lost sheep. The Shepherd brings the lost sheep to the house. This is the prodigal accepting the invitation to the Great Supper, returning to his father and eating the fatted calf in his father's house— heaven, figuratively. These stories bring out the hearts of God and man as none others do. Luke's "method" is always to bring the heart closer to God. That is why he condenses the Lord's Galilean ministry and expands these themes. They constitute the bulk of his gospel and are the very heart of it— the unfolding of the divine bosom and the very beating of the heart of God.
"Lord Jesus Christ, we praise
Thy Name In God the Father's ear;
And worship Thee Thou holy Lamb,
Whose blood has brought us near.”
A New Spirit for a New Man—9:51-56
As the Lord journeys to Jerusalem and the cross, the Samaritans show their disapproval. James and John ask the Lord if He will bring fire down from heaven to burn them up. James and John had been on the holy mount with Moses and Elias. The Father's voice had not instructed them to listen to the law and the prophets, but the gracious voice of His Son. Peter failed on the mount by wanting to build three tabernacles— one for the Lord and one each for Moses and Elias. James and John failed after coming down from the mount— desiring to repeat the works of Elias in the spirit of Moses' law. So the Lord rebukes them— which He would not have done if they had not been with Him on the holy mount. He says, "ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”
Following and Serving Christ—9:57-62
Next, a certain man would follow Christ without a call. He was not the first to do so— "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran." Jer. 23:2121I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. (Jeremiah 23:21). And he has had many followers since. Self-will "—I will follow Thee"— is not God's will. It is different when the Lord calls, as He did Peter— "Follow thou Me." The Lord reminds this man that following Him is not a pathway of ease gratifying to nature— "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." Next, we are given an illustration of what happens when the Lord Himself calls us. Immediately nature objects, "Lord," the man says, a contradiction, because if He is our Lord, we must obey Him— "Suffer me first to go and bury my father." This seems a legitimate enough request, except for the order in which he wanted to do it. The key to his difficulty was "first" which put Christ second. Then a third man volunteers to serve Christ, "but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house." The first thing with him was saying goodbye to the dead. Dead or alive, nature's claims combine to give Christ second place. But God will not have this. And so the Lord tests every man "no— man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." To plow a straight furrow you must look ahead, fixing your eye on one object ahead of you. Failure to set Christ first before us as our object in Christian life means that our furrow the record of our life's work in the earth— becomes a crooked one.
This gives us an insight into why some Christians become good servants of Christ, while others fall by the wayside. There is a sifting out process, as we see in the stories of these three men. It is only "after these things"— that is, after His true followers gathered around Him, that He appoints— from them, no doubt— "other seventy also" —that is, in addition to the twelve Apostles. We cannot serve Christ until we first become His followers, for the servant is the ambassador of Christ and must fittingly represent Him before men.
A certain class of people today will tell you that since the simplicity of these early days has passed away, the Christian message is no longer relevant. Actually, although jet aircraft span the oceans and man has gone to the moon and returned, nothing has changed. Modern life in great cities, interlaced with traffic arteries, may differ in some details from life in the past, but the eternal issues remain the same— life, death, salvation, heaven, hell. One day I was driving slowly along a great highway, for traffic was virtually halted by an accident. A great truck was straddling the road and beside it was a completely demolished car. At the time I thought, "Nobody in that car can come out alive." The next day I went to preach in the jail and noticed the prison guards huddled together. "We have just lost the best secretary this institution ever had," they lamented. As they went on, it became clear that the wreck I had seen the day before was the one in which their fellow employee had been killed. Across my mind flashed the memory of another woman— a Christian school teacher who used to accompany me on visits to this institution and speak to the women prisoners. I gasped, for it was two years to the very day since she also was killed in a traffic accident. The last time she was with the Lord's people, I had spoken on the text, "behold the Lamb of God." We sang together the hymn, "And shall we see Thy face, and hear Thy heavenly voice?" The next Lord's day she was with Christ, which is far better. We had dinner together on the day we parted and drove to the jail, each in our own car. Then I entered her car and discussed with her, "the things concerning Himself," little knowing it was to be a farewell message. Surely eternal issues are the same now as when the Lord sought the souls of men, both Himself and through His servants? What the world has done since then doesn't matter— God's testimony is the important thing.
The Lord Sends Out the Seventy—10:1-20
The sending out of the seventy introduces a dispensational change. That is to say, they are sent out as representatives of a Christ who was on His way to Jerusalem, not to be crowned there as King, but to be crucified outside its walls. The Lord sends them out by twos to precede every place He visited. The time is short now before the cross. He reminds them of the greatness of the harvest and the few laborers. But they are to go as lambs in the midst of wolves. This is an impossible thing to do unless there is total dependence on the God who sent them. To ensure this, they are not to take care of themselves by human means— money, etc., and are not to salute man by the way— that is, they mustn't waste God's time in human traditions, ceremonies, etc.— it is not that they were to be discourteous. They were to enter houses with a message of peace, and if received, their peace should rest on that house. This was God's provision for them instead of their own— purse, scrip, shoes. For in the houses in which they were received, they were to eat and drink "such things as they have," which would vary with the house in which they lodged. They were not to be traveling beggars going from house to house. Remaining in one house, the blessing of peace rested on that house in receiving them, for in receiving them, the householder received Christ who sent them.
The Lord gave His own instructions, not only for their conduct in houses, but in cities. Again they were to eat "such things as are set before you." But there is more— "heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them the kingdom of God is come near you." If the message of peace was rejected, it would be more tolerable for Sodom "in that day" than that city. Sodom had no such message of peace from those who represented God manifest in the flesh. Well, the Lord pronounces woe on two cities— Chorazin and Bethsaida, which had rejected His mighty works. Even Tyre and Sidon would have repented if such mighty works had been done in them. A special judgment is pronounced upon Capernaum— lifted up to heaven, it should be thrust down to hell. Then the Lord connects His own personal acceptance or rejection with the seventy who represented Him.
The seventy return with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through Thy Name." The Lord's reply is, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." This reply showed that He was more concerned with the destruction of the seat of Satan's power— heaven— than with the workings of Satan's power on earth. Satan hasn't access to the dwelling place of God in heaven, but he still comes before the judgment seat Job 1:6-126Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. 7And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:6‑12) where he accuses us before God unceasingly see Rev. 12:1010And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (Revelation 12:10). But the day is coming when he will be barred even from that and cast out of heaven to earth as the Lord prophesies here. The actual event is given to us in Rev. 12:1212Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Revelation 12:12) "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Later on, he is taken away from earth by an angel with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and is confined in the abyss for one thousand years. This is the duration of Christ's millennial kingdom. While the kingdom lasts, he remains confined in the abyss, unable to trouble man. At the end of the kingdom, he is freed briefly. He is allowed to tempt man after God has showered every goodness on him for one thousand years —no famines, wars, diseases, etc.— all richness and plenty from the hand of God. Satan succeeds in tempting man and is cast into the lake of fire "where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." Rev. 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10). Even here in Luke's gospel, we see how richly his fate is deserved. He tempted Christ in the wilderness, but was overcome 4:8. His doom is foretold here 10:18. Later on we will see how he entered into Judas— a sinner 22:3 to betray Christ and desired to have Peter— a saint 22:31. But the Lord says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Not withstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”