Question of Eternal Life (Luke 10:25-37)
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
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’ [a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [b]”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
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. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 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. The next day he took out two denarii 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.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus tells Christians that loving their neighbors should be even simpler than loving God because they love God. The one who loves his neighbor is the one who loves God.
A play-like passage
The passage is a story like a play composed of two acts. Act 1 is verses 25 to 28, where a lawyer asks about eternal life. Act 2 is verses 29 to 37, where the lawyer asks who his neighbor is. The theme of the play is 'walk humbly with your God.' Let's delve deeper into the play.
The lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus responds by asking the lawyer what the law he knows well says and how he understands it. The lawyer, a law expert, answers with Shema (Deuteronomy 6), which states, 'to love the one and only God with all your body, mind, will, and sincerity and to love your neighbor as you care for your own body'. Jesus says, "Your answer is correct" and then tells the lawyer to act according to his answer. The lawyer must have been embarrassed since his answer would get a perfect score if it was a short-answer question, but Jesus pointed out the essence of the matter by asking, 'Are you practicing what you answered?'
Now, in Act 2, the stung lawyer provokes Jesus, asking, 'Then who is my neighbor?' Jesus replies with a story about a man who encountered a robber while traveling to Jericho. Jesus eventually asks the lawyer, 'Who is the neighbor to the one who encountered the robber? The priest? The Levite? Or the Samaritan?' When the lawyer answers that it is the Samaritan, Jesus tells him to live like the Samaritan, just as he did in Act 1.
The last verses of Act 1 and 2, 28 and 37, have the same content. So, in Act 1, Jesus told the lawyer to practice the law he already knew, and in Act 2, Jesus urged him to implement the spirit of the law without considering race, origin, education, or possessions. In any case, Jesus made the weakest part of the lawyer's argument evident.
Eternal Life and Love
A remarkable point in the text is that both the legal expert and Jesus see eternal life and love as one. The legal expert agrees with the law stating that to gain eternal life, one must love God and their neighbor. However, when examining Jesus' words in the gospels, he does not separate or differentiate between the love for God and the love for neighbors: “One cannot serve the invisible God if they do not serve their parents. Whoever gives a cup of cold water to someone lowly and small will surely not lose their reward. Whoever receives a child in my name is receiving me.”
The core of the law is indicated by the Ten Commandments. Commonly, the first four commandments are considered commandments between God and people, while commandments five to ten are considered commandments between people. Jesus, on the other hand, reveals that by keeping commandments five to ten, it becomes evident whether one adheres to commandments one to four. Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart; take my yoke upon you and learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
When a Christian claims to love God, they may think that they must devote their time and heart in a pure form to love God. Yet, Jesus instructs not to take on that heavy burden. Instead, Jesus encourages taking on the yoke of treating visible neighbors with a humble and gentle heart.
For a Christian, loving the people they ought to love becomes equivalent to loving God. The Christian who loves God already loves their neighbor. The person who loves their neighbor is also the person who loves God. Only those who strive to keep commandments five to ten are also keeping commandments one to four. The principle that the love of God and love of neighbors are not separated but the same, this is precisely the logic of Jesus.
The text informs Christians that there are no conditions required to become a neighbor to others. Whether they are Jews, Samaritans, or foreigners, people can become the individual who encountered the robber, without regard to time and place. Additionally, factors such as race, background, education, time, and location should not constrain becoming a neighbor to the person who encountered the robber.
A Question of Eternal Truth
Discussing eternal life and the love for God, Jesus warns a lawyer who talks about the law that it is crucial not to hide behind legal clauses and formalities when it comes to important aspects such as eternal life and loving God. If the lawyer had asked a sincere question about eternal life, he would have listened carefully to Jesus' words about loving one's neighbor. A dictionary defines a neighbor as 'someone who is located closely or side by side, having a mutual border, or a person with an adjacent house.' Neighbors are existences closely attached to each other. Neighbors are not far away. They are close to Christians. Therefore, Christians are people closely connected with their neighbors, and naturally, they are also closely connected with God. A Christian who loves their neighbor as much as they love themselves is already loving God.