A SCRIBE HAS MIS-STEPPED , and seriously so, in his dialogue with Jesus, something that you and I are often guilty of in our conversations with the people we engage. This conversation is apparently taking place in a synagogue, where Jesus frequently taught; it was common for a teacher to respond to questions after speaking, and also common for the person with a question to stand.
So, this lawyer, for that is what scribes are in a theological sense, stands and asks Jesus questions in front of everyone present, and in the environment in which he himself has expertise—and therefore a reputation to lose, if he is not careful. We get a sense of how this is going to go from the way Luke records the scribe’s opening question. “An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.” (Luke 10:25a) As with most clashes of personality, one or the other here will look bad, and we suspect immediately how this one will turn out. The scribe dives deep into theology of the first order with his question: “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25b)
Before we hear Jesus’ response, we have to recognize that the answer to that question is not clear in the O.T. Instead, there are tantalizing references from which an understanding of eternal life was derived by the rabbis over time . A sampling from the order of the canon of scripture from the O.T. suffices: “You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up .” (Psa. 71:20) And, “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise the earth will give birth to her dead.” (Isa. 26:19) Also, “O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.” (Eze. 37:12) Or, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.” (Dan. 12:2) From such scriptures as these, the rabbis of old had developed an imperfect theology of eternal life.
Jesus turns the scribe’s question back on him. “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26) And the man answers accurately, straight out of that O.T. rabbinical theological understanding: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” (Deut. 6:5) He then adds, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) After this, the Lord commends him. “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:26) As in so many things in life, if he had just stopped there, the scribe would have fared much better. But he just can’t help himself, and asks, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29b) This last question is precluded by Luke’s observation of his motivation: “But he wanted to *justify himself.” (Luke 10:29b)
We’ve all been there. Maybe at the moment we open our mouths we sense a caution, some kind of mental or emotional or spiritual check, but even so the words are already coming out and we plunge ahead and finish whatever it is we are going to say. Or, immediately after, we might notice that we foolishly went past the warning signs and desperately wish that we could somehow undo the folly. But, all too often, in our inane pride, we think we have scored a point on our opponent and wait for them to concede our victory. And this last stance seems to be the case with the lawyer. ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Smirk… glance to the side at appreciative audience… wait for it…
And come it does. Jesus tells him, and all present, and us, “Your neighbor is anyone in need.” (cf. Luke 10:30-37) No, that’s not purely scripture, but it’s a good paraphrase of the lesson Jesus delivers. It takes a little more than this at the synagogue that day—the object lesson is delivered in a story about a Samaritan, the hated half-breed brother of Jews, who turns out to be the hero of the story for a complex act of kindness extended to, presumably, a Jew. “A man was going down from Jerusalem.” (Luke 10:30) He doesn’t just help the man beaten by robbers that everyone else, including a priest and a ignored Levite (cf. Luke 10:32); instead, he takes him to town, pays for his needs, and visits him again. The story told, Jesus now pointedly asks the asker, perhaps still standing in front of all his friends, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Luke 10:36) At this time it would be foolish for the scribe to give anything but the obviously correct answer. “The one who had mercy on him.” (Luke 10:37a) Lesson over? No, not quite: “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37b)
Is that a flush of red coming up his neck, perhaps even to his ears? Does the scribe lower his eyes, and deliberately not look at anyone else in the room, sit down hurriedly, and try to make himself unnoticeable while he looks out the window? Oh, the unhappy memories! Sometimes it’s good to revisit the hard lessons in life, and especially so if we learned from them.
There are essential modifications to our character that are made both from victories and from defeats. It is the province of the young and foolish to believe that they will never lose, and it is not only our modern culture that so clearly suborns such attitudes. Life very clearly has a way to disenfranchise us of such notions. To this point, scripture rightly cautions, “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: ‘How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?’” (Pro. 1:20-22)
What have we learned from our desires and attempts to be justified, and the brokenness that exudes from the Lord’s ministration to our foolish pride? As followers of Jesus, some painful lessons are to be expected, and trusting in his mercy towards and for us is the easiest way to get past the breaking/broken times. Ultimately, we learn something through this process. We learn that the mercy given us is the mercy also expected of us. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners . ” (Matt. 9:13) Upon our further reflection and practice, the Lord then walks us a step at a time into deeper understanding of this. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matt. 5:5)
Wonder if the Pharisee ever got past himself…
Q. What does it mean, that Jesus is my righteousness?
* Strong’s 1344, “Justify” – “To show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered.”
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