Behold,
a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, 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?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:25-29
Luke 10 [23.] Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
Luke 10 [25.] Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10 [26.] He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
Luke 10 [27.] He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10 [28.] He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
Luke 10 [29.] But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10 [30.] Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
Meaning:
This short dialogue leads into one of the best-known parables Jesus told, the Good Samaritan. A lawyer asks the greatest question of all, Jesus turns it back to the Scriptures, and the lawyer’s final question shows what was really in his heart.
- “Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him”
A “lawyer” here is an expert in the law of Moses, a scribe who studied and taught the Scriptures. He “tested” Jesus, perhaps to see whether this teacher from Galilee was sound in the law. Yet his question is a real one: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” A rich ruler later asks Jesus the same thing (Luke 18:18).
- “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
Jesus answers with two questions. He sends the lawyer back to the Scriptures he already knows. The lawyer replies by joining two commands from the law. The first comes from the Shema, which devout Jews recited every day: “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The second comes from Leviticus: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). On another occasion Jesus himself named these two as the greatest commandments (Mark 12:29-31; Matthew 22:36-39).
- “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
Jesus agrees. The words echo Leviticus: “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them” (Leviticus 18:5). The law’s summary is clear. The problem is not knowing it but doing it. Love for God with the whole of one’s being, and love for others as for oneself, is a standard no one keeps perfectly. Paul later wrote that “by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). The command to love exposes the need for grace.
- “But he, desiring to justify himself”
The lawyer felt the weight of Jesus’ words and wanted to show that he was in the right. So he looked for a limit: “Who is my neighbor?” Many in that day understood a neighbour to mean a fellow Israelite or a faithful member of one’s own community. If the circle could be drawn small enough, the command might seem manageable. Jesus answers with a story that breaks the circle open, showing a despised Samaritan acting as neighbour to a wounded stranger (Luke 10:30-32; Luke 10:33-37).
The Significance of Luke 10:25-29
- Knowing is not the same as doing
The lawyer knew the right answer, yet Jesus said, “Do this.” Faith in God shows itself in love that acts, not only in correct words.
- Love with the whole person
Heart, soul, strength and mind together describe a love for God that holds nothing back. It shapes feelings, choices, energy and thinking.
- No limits on love
Like the lawyer, people often look for ways to limit whom they must love. Jesus calls his followers to stop asking who qualifies as a neighbour and start being one.
Cross-References:
Deuteronomy 6:5: "You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." The first command.
Leviticus 19:18: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The second command.
Matthew 22:37-39: Jesus names these as the two greatest commandments.
Romans 13:10: "Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law." Love fulfils the law.
Conclusion: A lawyer tests Jesus with the question of eternal life. Jesus points him to the law, and the lawyer rightly sums it up as love for God with all one’s being and love for one’s neighbour as oneself. Jesus tells him to do this and live, but the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, asks who his neighbour is, opening the way for the parable of the Good Samaritan.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible