LUKE: YEAR OF OUR LORD (WEEK 23) - WHO’S MY NEIGHBOR?

Stories can teach us things in powerful ways. They allow us to let our guard down so that the principle to learn can be caught, rather than taught..

Parables were commonly used by Jesus. Why? For a couple of reasons,

In Matthew 13:10-13 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

In other words, those who really did not desire to know God or what God wants would not get it.

But he also spoke in parables so those who desired to understand would remember and think through the implications and truly begin to understand.

Mark 4:33-34  With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

He spoke in parables to help those who were willing to understand, to understand deeply. It is my hope that through this summer series where we are looking at several of the parables recorded in the Gospel of Luke, that we would desire to understand more and live life in accordance with Jesus’ teaching so that the Lord would draw our hearts closer to his and compel us to action in life.

Today's story makes me wonder where compassion can be found in this world anymore, we are going to look at a story that Jesus told that also talked about compassion.

It is a familiar story to most of you here, even if you are not regular church goers. It is the story of the Good Samaritan. Turn with me to Luke 10:25-37. Jesus will present this story in response to a question asked of him by an expert in the Jewish Law.