The Law and Mercy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE LAW AND MERCY

Luke 10:25-37

 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"  27 He answered: "'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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

We have looked at the question, which might be in the hearts of all people, and we looked at the answer. In addition, we have looked at this effort to render ourselves innocent. Now let us take the parable apart, in some sense, even with knowing its meaning. We know the priest and the Levite, thinking themselves righteous men did not act according to the law which Jesus asked the expert in the law about. It is interesting how someone can think they are being righteous and find life in the law, or in the rules and regulations they added or interpreted from the law, yet not actually act according to the law concerning this man on the road who was robbed and left for dead. However, Jesus told about a dreaded Samaritan, one whom the Jews dislike to the point of hatred and will not have anything to do with them. This is the one who shows mercy and thus acts per the law, specifically the part about loving your neighbor. Of course, the Samaritans also believed in Yahweh. We have found evidence in their form of Hebrew calligraphy “Shema Yisrael” which means, there is one God, Yahweh, the same God recognized by the Jewish prophets. We also found among the most significant differences is where the Jews and the Samaritans believe God dwells. What this means is the Samaritan was acting out of his love, as he also knew the law that was written. This brings us to asking how we live out God's law. We know that Jesus did not cancel the law but fulfilled it. So if we are in Christ, we have fulfilled the law, but that does not mean we can ignore the commands of God, for we have those words recorded for us, especially about loving God with a whole heart and loving our neighbors as ourselves. So, the question is, How do we live? Do we truly show mercy? Isn’t that the law?