The Lawyer was in Attack Mode, The Rabbi was in Story Mode, Everyone wins: RRE 6
Religion Ruins Everything Daily 6 9.16.16
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25–37
This conversation that Jesus had started out as a trap. Instead of springing the guy’s trap, Jesus asked this guy questions that helped him understand some core meanings to the scriptures. Jesus pierced His way in to confront the guy in a gentle way with the right actions of the religious life.
Jesus is trying to point the conversation in the right direction. He wants to really answer this guy’s deepest questions, instead of arguing with him.
Jesus also didn’t use a bunch of Bible words and church talk that the lawyer couldn’t relate to–this was a very easy to understand story. Then He lived out the story Himself. He wasn’t a hypocrite that told a great story and expected everyone else to live it except Him.
To this day, a “Good Samaritan” is someone who sacrificially takes care of someone else. That is the exact life that Jesus lived. He not only taught and spoke gently, but He lived out what He taught mightily.
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