A Year with Jesus

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

There are so many good things I could share with you about the verses below from Luke's gospel. Here are just a few things that I hope you will spend some time prayerfully considering today.

In the first encounter, Luke helps you understand the motives of the scholar who comes to question Me. Luke tells you that the scholar was there not to learn from Me, but that he "tried to trap" Me! So while he answered My question correctly, he did not answer "rightly." Correct data does not mean you have a right heart. My emphasis was on living the two great love commandments, not just knowing the right answers to them. Right answers without a right heart and without right living lead to a foolish waste of one's life - something I emphasized at the end of My Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:21-27)!

Luke also tells you that the scholar was "hoping to make himself appear smarter" than Me. So notice what I ask at the end of the parable of The Good Samaritan: "Which of these three proved himself a neighbor to the man who had been mugged by the robbers?" I shifted the issue from the right interpretation of Scripture into a question about right living and serving those in need.

In the second encounter, Martha struggles with societal expectations and what is really most important. Jewish society told Martha that her highest obligation was hospitality to the guests in her home. Martha lived up to that expectation beautifully except for one problem: she wanted to impose that obligation on Mary. Mary was sitting at My feet training to know, live, and teach My truth. Mary knew that there was no higher call than to sit at My feet as a disciple learning from Me. Mary chose the one greater thing, and I wouldn't let Martha's sense of obligation steal that away from her.

Now that's quite a bit to absorb for one note, but there are two other points you must not miss:

Samaritans were never supposed to be heroes in any Jewish story. However, I made the Samaritan a hero to help the scholar see that right religious answers, a proper religious pedigree, and racial identification carry no weight in My kingdom. Character and compassion are what truly matter.
In Martha and Mary's culture, women were not supposed to sit at the feet of a rabbi as Mary did. To sit at the feet of a great rabbi meant that you were his student in training (Acts 22:3 ESV). So Mary was the hero of this special time because she had "chosen that one thing" that truly mattered: to live as My disciple while preparing to teach others to do the same.

Both of these points would have come as a shock to those who heard them. But as you are learning together in our journey each day, My truth often comes with a bit of a shock to help you see what truly matters and what does not!

Verses to Live

My encounter with the scholar and My affirmation of Mary demonstrate what the apostle Paul would later write:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you.
(Galatians 3:26-29 NLT)

Luke gives the following account of the events immediately after the return of the 70 disciples from their mission and My time of rejoicing with them. Notice who and what I commend in the two encounters you are about to read:

Just then a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures tried to trap Jesus.

Scholar:
Teacher, what must I do to experience the eternal life?
Jesus (answering with a question):
What is written in the Hebrew Scriptures? How do you interpret their answer to your question?
Scholar:
You shall love - "love the Eternal One your God with everything you have: all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind" - and "love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus:
Perfect. Your answer is correct. Follow these commands and you will live.
The scholar was frustrated by this response because he was hoping to make himself appear smarter than Jesus.

Scholar:
Ah, but who is my neighbor?
Jesus:
This fellow was traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho when some robbers mugged him. They took his clothes, beat him to a pulp, and left him naked and bleeding and in critical condition. By chance, a priest was going down that same road, and when he saw the wounded man, he crossed over to the other side and passed by. Then a Levite who was on his way to assist in the temple also came and saw the victim lying there, and he too kept his distance. Then a despised Samaritan journeyed by. When he saw the fellow, he felt compassion for him. The Samaritan went over to him, stopped the bleeding, applied some first aid, and put the poor fellow on his donkey. He brought the man to an inn and cared for him through the night.

The next day, the Samaritan took out some money - two days' wages to be exact - and paid the innkeeper, saying, "Please take care of this fellow, and if this isn't enough, I'll repay you next time I pass through."

Which of these three proved himself a neighbor to the man who had been mugged by the robbers?
Scholar:
The one who showed mercy to him.
Jesus:
Well then, go and behave like that Samaritan.
Jesus continued from there toward Jerusalem and came to another village. Martha, a resident of that village, welcomed Jesus into her home. Her sister, Mary, went and sat at Jesus' feet, listening to Him teach. Meanwhile Martha was anxious about all the hospitality arrangements.

Martha (interrupting Jesus):
Lord, why don't You care that my sister is leaving me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to get over here and help me.
Jesus:
Oh Martha, Martha, you are so anxious and concerned about a million details, but really, only one thing matters. Mary has chosen that one thing, and I won't take it away from her.
(Luke 10:25-42)

Response in Prayer

O God, I want to have a heart that loves and chooses to demonstrate Your righteous character and gracious compassion to others. Fill me, please O God, with Your Holy Spirit to help me as I seek to honor You by loving and serving others as Jesus taught. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.