Summer Stories - Week 2: The Good Samaritan

0:01 Thank you to Ricky and the band just for serving us this morning through music and all their skills. Really appreciate it. Morning, everyone. It's good to see you. We are continuing our series exploring the parables of Jesus in Luke's gospel. And this morning, we are turning to what is arguably the most famous parable or story that Jesus ever told the parable of the good Samaritan. So let's dive into Luke's gospel. This is Luke chapter 10.

0:34 We'll pick it up in verse 25, just so that we can read exactly what Luke said, that Jesus said about this incredible story, and just as important why he said it. So it'll be on the screen, and we will start at verse 25 of Luke 10. Luke says this, 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? And he answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

1:20 You've answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself. So he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? And in reply, Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes. They beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. And a priest happened to be going down the same road.

1:49 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 the man, he 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. And he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. And then he put the man on his own donkey and brought him soon in in order to take care of him. And 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.

2:31 Now 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. And Jesus told him, go, do likewise. I wonder, have you ever found yourself in a situation where you stepped into something thinking that you've got what it takes to be really good at, only to suddenly realize that you don't have what it takes at all? For some of us, that kind of experience maybe happens in the exam hall, where after trying to be quite strategic with our revision and revise certain topics and hedge our bets that those topics come up, we turn over the exam script only to find that the topics we haven't revised have come up, and we do not have what it takes to finish the exam well. Or perhaps it's a new job or an exercise class, particularly a spin class, where you enter the class thinking, you know, I've got this, bring this on, only to painfully realize very quickly that you are completely out of your depth. And even if you might possibly one day have what it takes, the people around you are so further advanced than you are, you might as well not have what it takes. And for me, this was entering a tennis tournament in the early days of high school.

4:01 I'd watched Wimbledon several times. I was good at hitting a tennis ball against a wall. And when I saw who my first opponent was in this competition, saw that he was slightly more of the cuddly variety, sort of put in your mind of Augustus Gloop, if you know your role, Dal. I thought, I've got this. No problem at all. Well, it turns out that young Augustus had been sent to tennis coaching by his mom since he was four years old. And it took him all of about 15 minutes to annihilate me on that court. And then there was my first driving test, where despite though marks in the theory, I suddenly realized that the practicalities of actually doing the driving was significantly harder.

4:49 Well, this morning in our parable, we're going to meet a man who was convinced that he had what it takes only to be made to realize by Jesus that he didn't have what it takes at all. And the tragedy for him is that we aren't talking about this man in the context of exams or sport his context for thinking that he has what it takes but being completely self-deluded in that judgment is in the context of the most important area of life altogether. Living as God if he exists expects us to live and receiving eternal life or heaven as a result. I have no doubt that many of us are deeply familiar with this story that Jesus told no matter what our experience of church. It's been described as the greatest humanitarian story of all time. And its basic moral of showing kindness and charity to those who are vulnerable and need has transcended history and culture and become a paragon of social ethics, hospitality, and social justice. It's inspired leaders, influencers, and movements down through history, from the art of Rembrandt and Van Gogh to acts of parliament, hospitals, and charities whose brilliant work we support or perhaps have even benefited from ourselves. I'm told that the story of the Good Samaritan was the late Queen's favorite parable.

6:16 And in Memphis in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, in the final public address that he would ever give before he was assassinated the next day, spoke to a rally of people about this very parable. even today it's alive and well the idea of the good samaritan is alive and well in our everyday parlance and idioms if we hear someone refer to as a good samaritan we know what that means we're talking about somebody who's often unknown who's no obligation towards the person in need but who still shows kindness and assistance to that person in their awe of need it's a story that almost everyone appreciates except for the person for whom the story was first intended. Because for many people, the parable of the Good Samaritan sort of stands alone as the simple, timeless, inspirational story that Jesus told about holding out a helping hand to people in their hour of need, whoever they might be. And as much as we're going to see that the parable is certainly not less than that. I hope that we're going to see this morning that it's far more profound than that. Because whatever benefit this story might have as an independent sermon on treating others well, Luke tells us that that wasn't actually the reason why Jesus gave it in the first place. The reason why Jesus first told this parable was its contribution to a larger conversation that Jesus is having with an expert in the Jewish law about what a person needs to do to experience heaven and eternal life.

7:57 And the purpose that Jesus had for telling this parable in that context was to help this man realize for himself how inadequate and impossible it was to receive that eternal life through his own particular religious devotion and trying to live up to the standard that God had laid down in the Jewish law. Now people, of course, generally don't appreciate having their inadequacies exposed, particularly if they don't realize they're there in the first place. It's like the story of the husband who went into House of Fraser to buy a gift for his wife on her birthday. And he very courageously sort of went up to, you know, those cosmetic counters that confront you on the ground floor as soon as you walk in, really intimidating. And you just feel, well, I just feel ugly even being in any proximity to them. And he went up to this assistant and he said, look, I'd like to buy my wife a gift for her birthday. And the assistant said, absolutely, sir. We have this bottle of new range perfume.

9:04 It's 95 pounds. Shall I wrap it up for you? And the man replied, well, thank you, but I'm actually something a little bit cheaper. No problem at all, the woman replied. We have this new eau de toilette. It's only 65 pounds. She'll absolutely love it. The husband again replied, yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's great.

9:24 I'm just looking for something a little bit cheaper, if you don't mind. Well, then there's our new collection of foundation, only 40 pounds. It's sure to be a winner. And the husband finally stopped, a little exasperated, and said, look, I'm not sure I'm being quite clear. I really am looking for something quite cheap to which the sales assistant picked up the mirror on the counter, pointed it at the man and said, I think we found what you're looking for. It can be a painful thing to have your inadequacies exposed, especially if you don't realize they're there. For some people, that's technically called marriage. But it isn't, as painful as that can be, it can save you from a lot of pain and heartache.

10:11 That revelation can save you from a lot of heartache further down the line. And according to Luke, the reason why we have this parable of the Good Samaritan is because it is a story of Jesus holding up a mirror to this man's own sense of his ability to keep the law and the behavioral code that God had laid down in the Old Testament and thereby merit eternal life through that. Luke tells us in verse 25 that this began when on one occasion an expert of the law stood up to test Jesus. And he said, teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now like many of the rabbis at this time, Jesus often sat to teach. And in order to show respect, if you wanted to ask a question, often what students would do is stand up and ask a particular question. And that's what this guy does. But Luke tells us that he's not asking it out of genuine interest.

11:01 He's not looking for Jesus to enlighten him in anything. He stands up to ask a question out of a test. And it wasn't just anybody who stood up to ask a question. Luke's very deliberate to tell us that the person who asked this question was an expert in the law. Now, when we think of law, we think of QC or Supreme Court judge or something like that. But the law that Luke is referring to in this passage is the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, the religious law that God had given to Moses to govern the people's spiritual and moral life and help them to be clear about what God expected from their worship and their behavior. So this guy is an expert in religious law, Regis Professor of Torah at the University of Jerusalem, something like that. And he stands up to ask Jesus this question, but the question is a test, as questions often are.

11:52 Because the same questions that can reveal what you know can also very quickly reveal what you don't know. They can reveal your inconsistencies. They can reveal your lack of logic. And it appears that that's exactly what this professor's looking to do with this question. Questions are dangerous at times, particularly if you don't know the answer. And it seems that this professor thinks, well, Jesus is able to look impressive to a bunch of peasant Galileans. But now he's playing with the big boys. Now he's talking to people who really know their subject matter.

12:24 So let's see how he does. and he asks this question, and despite the suspect motives, it's a brilliant question. Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He asks life's most important and ultimate question. Is there more to life than this? Is death really the end, or is there something beyond? And if God does exist, and heaven does exist, how do I get there? For us, that might sound like a a little bit abstract or a bit too philosophical a question.

12:57 But for many people, that is a question that perennially burns in their hearts and in their minds. Is there more to life than this? Is eternal life real? And if it is, what do I need to do in order to make sure that I experience it? This is asked time and time again, And it's an important question for people today as it was back then. Because if it's there, you want to know. And so all that comes after this passage, including the parable of the Good Samaritan, is a response to this ultimate question posed to Jesus. How can I have eternal life?

13:40 What do I need to do in order to procure and guarantee that for myself? And what is the relationship between God's standard laid down in the law and my ability to keep it for me to experience eternal life? and amazingly Jesus doesn't give a direct answer. He responds in verse 26 with a question of his own by saying what is written in the law? How do you read it? Jesus answers the man's question with a question not because he's trying to be a politician and not because he's not interested in giving an answer but because he's not prepared to play the game that this man clearly wants to play. He knows he's talking to an expert in the law. He knows that this guy's thought about this for his whole career.

14:23 And so he turns to him and he says, well, you're the expert. You're the guy who's published on this stuff. So tell me what you think. How do you understand what the law says about this kind of stuff? And the man in verse 27 gives a brilliant response. He takes two passages from the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19, and he sums up all that the law required of a person in order to gain eternal life. And it's this, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, with all of your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. It's an incredible answer.

15:01 It's an answer that Jesus himself gave to this question in Matthew 22 when he was asked about what was the greatest commandment. Jesus said the law and the prophets, It's everything that God has laid down for you to live by is summed up in this. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Clearly, this guy knew his stuff. Luke wasn't kidding when he said he was an expert in the law. He gets it. And so Jesus replies to him in verse 28 and says this, you've answered correctly, so do this and you'll live. But therein lies the challenge.

15:44 Have you got what it takes to do this? Jesus, in essence, says to this man, you've got the theory right. You've absolutely captured what God requires of a person if they're going to experience eternal life. So all you need to do now is do it. What do I need to do in order to inherit eternal life? That was your question. What do I do? Here's what you do.

16:09 You love the Lord your God perfectly, continually, without flaw, with all that you are, your heart, your soul, your strength, your mind, without failure. And then always without failure, love your neighbor as much as yourself. That's all you've got to do. This question, this encounter begins with the lawyer trying to test Jesus. But now the tides have turned and that Jesus is laying down the challenge to the expert in the law. As long as you can do those things, you'll be fine when it comes to eternal life. Perhaps you're getting a sense of the sarcasm that was probably dripping from Jesus' lips when he said this. Because as clear as the criteria for achieving eternal life is, and they're both agreed on it, it's a standard that anyone, let alone somebody who's intelligent as this man would know that they simply could not fulfill even for a day in their whole life.

17:11 In other words Jesus is not saying to this man do it and live because he actually believes that this man has the capacity to do it. He's saying it because this is the only way that this man will realize in trying to do it that he doesn't have the capacity to do it. He doesn't have what it takes and sometimes we do that with our kids. I want to do this. No you'll able to do that. No, I really want to do this. No, you're not going to be able to do it. I really want to do it.

17:37 Okay, have a go. Because you telling them straight is not going to get through. So they will have to learn through experience that they don't have the ability to do it. Jesus is doing the exact same thing. Go ahead. If you really want, this is, we're agreed. This is what the law requires. Go for it.

17:59 But the reality is that the only plausible response that anyone who actually understands what the law requires of a person to do, as this man does, the only honest response of somebody, if that's the standard, is to say, Lord, who could possibly do this? Jesus raises the same type of standard to the disciples later on in Luke's gospel, and they turn around and say, Lord, if that's what required, who could possibly be saved? Nobody can live up to this. And that's the point. If this is really what is required to inherit eternal life, who could get it? That's the response that this man should give. But unbelievably, unbelievably in his own intelligence, this expert in the law doesn't do that. He doubles down in verse 29.

18:55 And he says this, but he, wanting to justify himself, asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? He clearly gets the challenge that Jesus gives in verse 28. He clearly realizes that despite all his intelligence and understanding of the law, it's impossible for him to achieve this standard. But rather than humbly acknowledge that and ask if there's some other way, he doubles down and tries to justify himself by attempting to do something that often academics, including theologians, sometimes try to do in order to justify themselves. And that is to reimagine or to reinterpret what certain terms mean in a way that changes the moral standards surrounding them. If you can redefine or reframe what the meaning of terms in God's law actually mean, whether it's marriage or gender or baby or even neighbor, then you can justify certain behavior related to those things that you might not have been able to justify otherwise. That's the power of language to frame ethics. And so he retorts in verse 29, Yeah, but who is my neighbor?

20:11 Let's define neighbor. And interestingly, his focus is on the second part of the challenge. He doesn't go for the love the Lord your God with absolutely everything. He goes for the easier part, if it is easier, and says, okay, let's define what we actually mean by neighbor, because if possibly we can narrow this down, then it might actually be achievable. And in response, Jesus tells him the parable of the Good Samaritan. In verse 30 to 35. He tells him a story in response to the question, who is my neighbor? But notice this.

20:51 The story doesn't answer the question, who is my neighbor? Because the Good Samaritan is not a story about telling you who qualifies as neighbor. It's a story about what it actually means to be a neighbor to others. Jesus tells a story about a man who's going down the 17 mile journey from Jerusalem to Jericho they all would have known that road and how dangerous it was and this man is ambushed by robbers and they strip him of his clothes they beat him to a pulp and they leave him for dead we're not told who this man is we're not told what he was doing in Jerusalem so for anybody who's going to come across him they're going to have no way of telling who he is because in the Middle East at this time, there's often really two ways that people would identify who and what you were. Dialect, but this guy's beaten so senseless he can't speak. And clothing was often an identifier, but this guy's stripped naked because clothing held value, so the robbers took it. So whoever comes across him, they have no sense of responsibility towards him based on who or what he is.

22:01 They can't respond to him based on, oh, he's one of us, or oh, I know him. Those markers aren't identifiable. All they can know is that here's a human being, helpless, vulnerable, within an inch of his life, who needs my help. And incredibly, Jesus goes on to say that help does come. Firstly, in the form of a priest in verse 31. Most likely this priest had been up in Jerusalem serving. Priests often did two week shifts up in the temple and then they would go back to where they live and get on with their life and their job and then they would go back up and serve. That's likely where this guy's been.

22:45 He's just finished two weeks serving in the temple. And yet, Jesus says, as he travels along the road, he sees this guy very clearly, but his response is to pass by on the other side. He gets as far away as he can and removes himself from the situation, leaving this guy to die. Amazingly, that's not this guy's only hope of rescue, because shortly thereafter, in verse 32, a Levite arrives. And incredibly, his response is exactly the same as the priest. He sees the man lying helpless, increasingly lifeless, and yet he too passes by on the other side. And when we remember that Jesus is telling this story in the context of gaining eternal life through our efforts in practicing and keeping the law, it is no accident that Jesus identifies these two as a priest and a Levite. Why?

23:43 Because for most people in Jesus' day, there was nobody who fulfilled and practiced the law more completely and more obviously than a priest and a Levite. When it came to practicing the law, they were the ones who could say, it's what we do. Their whole identity, their whole vocation was wrapped up in practicing the rituals and the ceremonies and the sacrifices and the practices that the law required in helping other people to do the same. That's what they've been doing up in Jerusalem. But they're not in the temple now. All the spiritual motions weren't there anymore. The spiritual surroundings weren't there. They were off duty.

24:29 There's absolutely no one around to observe them and to keep up appearances to. So the only thing that determines what they do is not the law because there's no one to see whether they are accountable to the law or not. They're on their own and they have a choice. And the law, though it's there, can't force you to behave in a way that you don't want to. That only comes from the heart. And so the question is, Not who does the law prescribe you to help. But are these individuals the kind of people on the inside who when there's no one around to see them, fulfill what the law commands.

25:18 That's what it means to fulfill the law. To live the way the law calls you to live, but to not need the law to force you to do it because it's coming out of the heart. And what comes out of their heart is that they don't have the ability to do it. When it comes to you on your own, what will you do? How will you behave? It's determined by your heart. It's from the inside out. And despite all their connection and reputation with fulfilling the law, when it comes to the issue of what will your heart do when it's your choice,

25:57 their heart can't fulfill the law at all. Jesus goes on in verse 33 to 35 to finish the story in a way that would blow the minds of his original listeners because he says that the next person who came along was a Samaritan. And when he saw the man, Jesus says he took pity or compassion on him. Now here's the thing. Pity or compassion is a condition of the heart. It's a character quality. It's not something that you can prescribe or force people to do through law.

26:38 You can force people or criminalize people for not being hospitable on the basis of law. You can force people to behave in certain hospitable or kind or compassionate ways through law. But you can't make them kind or considered or compassionate on the inside so that if the law wasn't there or there was nobody around to enforce the law, they would do it anyway. And that's what this guy does. This is coming out of his heart, amazingly. And most of us are aware, very aware that the hero of this story is the Samaritan. But just so you know, to the original hearers, there was no such thing as a good Samaritan. A good Samaritan was a dead Samaritan.

27:33 The Samaritans and the Jews hated each other. Earlier on in Luke's gospel, the Samaritans refused to show Jesus any hospitality because he was going to Jerusalem. There were huge tensions. And if there was one group of people who Jesus' audience would have considered to never show this guy hospitality, to never fulfill what the law required, especially if they didn't have to be forced to do it. It would have been the Samaritans. It would have been like saying, the next person who came along was a Nazi or a member of ISIS. And yet this Samaritan finds himself in the exact same scenario with the exact same choice and opportunity as the priest and the Levite. And despite the fact that he hasn't been at Jerusalem, he doesn't have the reputation of keeping the law, He does what the law requires because he has the spirit of the law inside him to do naturally and instinctively what God requires of him.

28:35 And because it's coming from the heart, look how extravagant his love is. He stops to care, getting blood and mess all over himself. He tears his own clothes to provide bandages and wastes his expensive oil and wine on this man's wounds to cleanse and soothe them. He puts this guy on his own donkey, which means he now has to walk the rest of his way. He takes this guy to an inn, which would have been in a Jewish city or Jewish town, which would have endangered him as a Samaritan walking in there and staying in there. And then he offers to pay all of the excess medical expenses, even though he's not there to see whether the expenses are actually legitimate or not. And innkeepers did not have a good reputation for honesty. He's prepared to do all of those things.

29:19 miles beyond any standard of social care that the law required. Why? Why is he able to do all that? Because when love and compassion are truly the condition of your heart, there is no boundary on how far love can go. You don't ask, who is my neighbor? And what can I get away with in terms of my responsibility? What am I contractually obliged to treat them as? when it's love, when it's the heart, you can be radically committed to the good of other people, even if it costs you everything.

30:01 And Jesus's point is this, this is what it means to have eternal life. It means that you have a heart, not that asks who is my neighbor, but a heart that has the condition of being neighborly and truly loves others as you love yourself, even if there's no one around to see. And so Jesus concludes by asking our expert one last stinging question. Which of these do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into robbers? Not who was the neighbor. Who proved to be the neighbor? Jesus has completely flipped the original question. And the point of this parable is to help this man see that the question, who is my neighbor, is the wrong question if eternal life is what you're after.

30:53 When it comes to wanting to know how we can receive eternal life, the issue is not, tell me who qualifies or doesn't qualify. Tell me what my legal responsibility is towards them. It's this. Where can I get a heart and an interior and a mind and a character that has this kind of qualities, that loves God and loves other people as much as I love myself because it doesn't come naturally. Jesus didn't ask which of these did neighborly things. He asked which proved to be a neighbor. The issue is about being. And so many other religions, when it comes to the pursuit of eternal life, the focus is on what do I think, what do I need to believe, what I need to agree with intellectually, or it's on how do I need to behave, what I need to do, how often do I need to do it, where do I need to go?

31:46 Christianity is radically different. It doesn't say that the thinking and the behavior doesn't matter, but it says that the starting point isn't what you think or what you do, it's who you are, and the radical changes on the inside and all of the thinking and behavior becomes a response to what's happened in your being. You got to become something totally different. It's the butterfly. And the man answers Jesus' question, the one who had mercy on him. He can't even bring himself to say the Samaritan, such as his cultural prejudice. And Jesus then lays down the gauntlet again and says, okay, if it's still about doing, go and do likewise. But the whole point is to bring this man to the place where he says it's not possible.

32:39 Ken Bailey, who was a scholar who researched this parable for years, said this. He says, on hearing the story, this man has a chance to see that he cannot justify himself. That is to earn eternal life. Because he is challenged by Jesus to do something that is completely beyond his capacity. Human beings don't love like this all the time. he came to test and undermine Jesus and yet through this parable Jesus has undermined him and at least his ability his confidence to measure up behaviorally to what the law required that's the point of this parable to get this guy to realize that he does not have what it takes and you don't have to be an expert in the law or Jesus to realize it here's what one of the most vocal critics of Christianity of the last 20 years have said about this. This is Christopher Hitchens, one of the four horsemen of the so-called new atheism in his book, which is a diatribe against belief in God.

33:44 He says this, and God is not great. He takes what Jesus says and he says, Jesus, Jesus's order to love thy neighbor is mild but stern. It's a reminder of one's duties to others. But the order to love thy neighbor as thyself is too extreme, too strenuous to be obeyed, as is the hard to interpret instruction to love others as I have loved you. Here's what he says, human beings are not constituted as to care for others as much as they care for themselves. The thing simply can't be done as any intelligent creator would well understand from studying his own design. Urging humans to be superhumans is the urging of a terrible self-abasement at their repeated and inevitable failure to keep the rules. He gets it.

34:38 He got further than the expert in the law. The problem is he thinks that that means the whole thing is bogus when it's not. Because here's the thing. If the only hope is to make humans something other than they naturally are, then the question is, is that possible? And that brings us back to the very beginning and the logical contradiction in the first question that this man asked. Because he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life. But here's the thing. You don't have to be an expert in the law to understand that inheriting something is precisely not about what you do.

35:26 You don't inherit something on the basis of what you have done. You inherit something on the basis of what you are. So if eternal life is about inheriting something, then the issue is not what do I do? The issue is what must I become? There's going to be a need for a transformation at the deepest part of my being. And that is precisely where Jesus is trying to get this man to. That's what Christopher Hitchens realizes his need. And do you know what?

36:00 There was another expert in the law who realized the exact same thing. His name was Paul. And he knew the law probably as well as this man did. and he was committed to trying to keep it as much as this man was. But he found himself getting to the point where he realized, I simply can't do it. What I want to do, I don't end up doing. What I don't want to do, what the law tells me not to do, I find myself not being able to do it. I just can't do it.

36:30 And he came to the conclusion that there must be some other way to find eternal life. There must be some other way to be made right with God. And then he said in the book of Romans, he said, I realize that no one will be declared righteous in God's sight. In other words, inherit eternal life by keeping or working things that the law requires. All that the law does is increase my consciousness of my inability to do it. But, and this is where he gets further in Christopher Hitchens, there is a way to be made right with God that doesn't require my ability to measure up to all that the law requires. And it's a rightness with God that comes simply through faith in Jesus Christ. Because the only one who was the truly good Samaritan, the only one who lived and met this standard, the one who found us, we are not the Samaritans in this story.

37:31 That's not the point. The point is this, we're the guy on the brink of death who can do nothing. And religion and the representatives of religion can at best pass by but offer no real help. But there is a good Samaritan who doesn't pass by on the other side but comes and gets involved and takes on the mess and the responsibility of our healing and our restoration. right to the point where he leaves us for a time to continue his work, and then he will come back and he will receive us. That's the only way that this is going to be possible. C.S. Lewis discovered that when he told a story in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

38:28 He tells a story about a young boy whose character and behavior is repulsive. His name is Eustace. And eventually, it's a fantasy novel, Eustace's internal character and the ugliness of it becomes represented in that he becomes a dragon. And the dragon is simply representative of his character on the inside. And eventually, Eustace meets Aslan, who's the Christ figure in these stories. And Aslan tells him to follow him and leads him to a well of living water. And tells him to get in. But the only way he can get in is to take off the dragon.

39:14 To remove the ugliness, to remove the scales, to remove how much he doesn't measure up as a boy, because this pool is only for boys. And Eustace tries and tries and tries to remove the scales, to remove the ugliness, but he cannot do it. And eventually Aslan turns to him and says, Eustace, you're going to have to let me do it. And Lewis says, the very first tear that Aslan made to remove the dragon made it so deep that it got right to his heart. But it changed him from the inside out. And Lewis finishes by saying this. You know, it would have been really nice and fairly true to say that Eustace from that time forward was a different boy. To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy.

40:07 He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of the time, no one noticed. Why? Because the cure had begun. This is the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan, to tell us that we don't have the ability to inherit eternal life by doing religious things or by trying our damnedest to be the kind of person that we think God wants us to be. The only hope is to trust in a Good Samaritan, the only Good Samaritan, who can change us from the inside out so that we are empowered by his life to love God and to love others in a way that we otherwise could not. Let's pray.

41:00 Father, thanks for an opportunity just to consider your word. Thank you for this incredible parable. Thank you for, Lord, just what you've given us to think about this morning. Pray that we would be people who lay down striving, who lay down the futile attempt to make ourselves right before God based on our own efforts. And they accept that there's only one who's ever achieved this standard, but he's achieved it in our place so that if we receive his life, we too can become new. And all of our behavior, all of our radical loving, All of our ability to be neighbor comes from not what we can do, but from who he has made us to be. Help us, we pray in Jesus' name.

41:56 Amen. Amen.