San Diego First United Methodist Church’s Daily Devotion for
Monday, 17 February 2014 – Sunday, 23 February 2014
Sermon theme for upcoming Sunday: Designed by Jesus: Parable of
the Good Samaritan
Text to read: Luke 10: 25 Behold, a
certain lawyer stood up and tested him, 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 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;[a]
and your neighbor as yourself.”[b]
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and
you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my
neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and
departed, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance a certain priest was going down
that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way a
Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other
side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he
saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34 came to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an
inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out
two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him.
Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36 Now which
of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the
robbers?”
37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Footnotes:
a. Luke 10:27 Deuteronomy 6:5
b. Luke 10:27 Leviticus 19:18
John Wesley’s Notes-Commentary for
Luke 10:25-37
25. Matt. xxii, 35; Mark xii, 28.
27. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God - That is, thou shalt unite
all the faculties of thy soul to render him the most intelligent and sincere,
the most affectionate and resolute service. We may safely rest in this general
sense of these important words, if we are not able to fix the particular
meaning of every single word. If we desire to do this, perhaps the heart, which
is a general expression, may be explained by the three following, With all thy
soul, with the warmest affection, with all thy strength, the most vigourous
efforts of thy will, and with all thy mind or understanding, in the most wise
and reasonable manner thou canst; thy understanding guiding thy will and
affections. Deut. vi, 5; Lev. xix, 18.
Verse 28. Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live
- Here is no irony, but a deep and weighty truth. He, and he alone, shall live
for ever, who thus loves God and his neighbour in the present life.
Verse 29. To justify himself - That is, to show he had done
this. Lev. xviii, 5.
Verse 30. From Jerusalem to Jericho - The road from Jerusalem to
Jericho (about eighteen miles from it) lay through desert and rocky places: so
many robberies and murders were committed therein, that it was called the
bloody way. Jericho was situated in the valley: hence the phrase of going down
to it. About twelve thousand priests and Levites dwelt there, who all attended
the service of the temple.
Verse 31. The common translation is, by chance - Which is full
of gross improprieties. For if we speak strictly, there is no such thing in the
universe as either chance or fortune. A certain priest came down that way, and
passed by on the other side - And both he and the Levite no doubt could find an
excuse for passing over on the other side, and might perhaps gravely thank God
for their own deliverance, while they left their brother bleeding to death. Is
it not an emblem of many living characters, perhaps of some who bear the sacred
office? O house of Levi and of Aaron, is not the day coming, when the virtues
of heathens and Samaritans will rise up in judgment against you?
Verse 33. But a certain Samaritan came where he was - It was
admirably well judged to represent the distress on the side of the Jew, and the
mercy on that of the Samaritan. For the case being thus proposed, self interest
would make the very scribe sensible, how amiable such a conduct was, and would
lay him open to our Lord's inference. Had it been put the other way, prejudice
might more easily have interposed, before the heart could have been affected.
Verse 34. Pouring in oil and wine - Which when well beaten
together are one of the best balsams that can be applied to a fresh wound.
Verse 36. Which of these was the neighbour to him that fell
among the robbers - Which acted the part of a neighbour?
Verse 37. And he said, He that showed mercy on him - He could
not for shame say otherwise, though he thereby condemned himself and overthrew
his own false notion of the neighbour to whom our love is due. Go and do thou
in like manner - Let us go and do likewise, regarding every man as our
neighbour who needs our assistance. Let us renounce that bigotry and party zeal
which would contract our hearts into an insensibility for all the human race,
but a small number whose sentiments and practices are so much our own, that our
love to them is but self love reflected. With an honest openness of mind let us
always remember that kindred between man and man, and cultivate that happy
instinct whereby, in the original constitution of our nature, God has strongly
bound us to each other.
-------
Monday – When can you first remember hearing the story of the
Good Samaritan?
What was your first lesson?
Tuesday – When do you most commonly refer to this parable?
What types of situations remind you of it?
Wednesday –
Thursday – Who do you wish you were like in this parable?
Why?
Friday – What might be a modern version of this parable?
Who would the Samaritan be today?
Saturday – As an adult learner, what part of this story must not
be lost?
Sunday – Pray for those who let fear control their live
-------
First United Methodist Church
2111 Camino del Rio South
San Diego, CA 92108
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment