Am I really as good as I think I am?

The attorney should have known better. This was not your standard deposition. Nevertheless, he posed the question: Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? The teacher countered with a question of his own: What is written in the law? How do you read it? The attorney knew the law, and he answered accordingly: 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.  There was no catch in his voice nor moment of conviction. Confident that he had fulfilled the first commandment, he went right to the second: and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The attorney allowed himself a smile. This was just like law school. Answer correctly and move to the head of the class.  Eternal life was his for the taking. The teacher appeared to confirm his position when he replied: You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.

But the teacher’s response gave the attorney pause. While the teacher had acknowledged the answer was correct, he had added something—do this and you shall live. What did he mean by do this? Wasn’t the answer sufficient? No one could be expected to love God that perfectly. And what about your neighbors? Loving God was hard to do, but loving some people was downright impossible. If the teacher had known some of his neighbors, he wouldn’t have expected him to do this. As his conscience brought conviction, his mind sought a way out. Maybe not everyone was to be considered a neighbor. He blurted out his defense as a question: And who is my neighbor?

If he had sought release from the pressure of the law’s conviction, he chose the wrong question. The teacher answered with a story that has become a classic — the parable of the Good Samaritan. In so doing, he proved to the attorney that he was not who he thought he was; that he had fallen hopelessly short of not only the second commandment, but the first also.

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.  A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same” (Luke 10:25-37).