Key Passage: Luke 10:25-37
SERMON OUTLINE
I. The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35)
- The wounded man (10:30)
- The priest (10:31)
- The Levite (10:32)
- The Samaritan (10:33-35)
II. The Back Story
- First Round of Confrontation Between Lawyer and Jesus
- Lawyer confronts Jesus with Question #1 about eternal life. (10:25)
- Jesus responds, not by answering Question #1, but by asking lawyer Question #2. (10:26)
- Lawyer recites Scripture in answer to Jesus’ Question #2. (10:27)
- Jesus admonishes lawyer, “Do this and you will live.” (10:28)
- Second Round of Confrontation between Lawyer and Jesus
- Lawyer asks Question #3 about definition of “neighbor”. (10:29)
- Jesus responds, not by answering Question #3, but by telling Parable of Good Samaritan (10:30-35)
- Jesus asks lawyer Question #4, a turned-around version of Question #3. (10:36)
- iLawyer answers correctly. (10:37a)
- Jesus admonishes lawyer, “Do likewise.” (10:37b)
III. Real Message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
- If you have a heart for God, He will give you a heart for the people in your path.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Did a parent or teacher ever tell you a story instead of giving you a lecture? What was the story and how did it affect you?
- When has Christ treated your wounds with “oil & wine” (i.e., soothing and cauterizing)?
- The word “good” is not connected with “Samaritan”’ in the Bible parable. Why would “Good Samaritan” have sounded like an oxymoron to Jesus’ Jewish audience? (see John 4:7-9)
- Many Bible scholars think that the Samaritan was a businessman. What evidence is there for this?
- In Matthew 5:17, we read: Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” How might these words illuminate the Jews of Jesus’ day, whose concept of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) was confined to fellow Israelites and resident aliens?
- Read the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), the confession of faith that Jewish families said and still say in the morning and the evening. Do you have Jewish friends or acquaintances who recite the Shema today?
- Three people are said to have compassion in the New Testament, two fictional and one real (Jesus). Who is the other fictional character besides the Good Samaritan who is said to have compassion? (see Luke 15)
- Is there someone you look down on that you actually need to learn from, like the lawyer needed to learn from the Samaritan? (Luke 10:37)
- Is there someone God has put in your life path who is half-dead? Maybe it was even this person’s fault that they are like this. How can you show compassion in a practical way?
- Is your pride getting in the way of your relationship with God, like the lawyer’s was?
- Are you loving God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind? If so, you will have a heart for the people in your path. Is this the case for you? (I John 2:9)