LESSON XI.—SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1900.
By Editor
25 "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Him, 26 saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest 27 thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 28 strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 29 And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, 30 and thou shalt live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus made answer 31 and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, which both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by 32 chance a certain priest was going down that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And in like 33 manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, 34 he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of 35 him. And on the morrow he took out twopence, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay 36 thee. Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor 37 unto him that fell among the robbers? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." Golden Text: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Lev. 19:18. (1) Who tried to confound the Saviour in His teachings? What vital question did he ask the Saviour? V. 25. Note 1. (2) How did the Saviour reply to the lawyer's question? V. 26. (3) What answer did the lawyer make? V. 27. (4) What did the Saviour say in reference to the lawyer's answer? What would the doing of this bring to the doer? V. 28. Note 2. (5) What other question did the lawyer ask? What was his reason for asking it? V. 29. Note 3. (6) Did Jesus give a direct answer to this question? What method did He take to answer the lawyer? What different individuals are brought into the narrative? V. 30-33. (7) What befell the man who was journeying to Jericho? What did the robbers do to him? In what condition did they leave him? V. 30. (8) Who came along that way soon after? Seeing the man in this condition, what did the priest do? V. 31. (9) Who else came that way? After looking on the man, what did he do? V. 32. (10) What other person happened to be journeying that way? How was he affected by what he beheld? V. 33. Note 4. (11) How did the Samaritan treat the wounded man? What did he do with him? How did he further show his compassion on the man? V. 34. (12) What provision did the Samaritan make for the wounded man's further needs? V. 35. (13) What question did the Saviour ask after finishing the narrative? V. 36. (14) What reply did the lawyer give? What practical application did Jesus make of the illustration? Show how this answered the lawyer's first question. V. 37. Note 5. Who is represented by "a certain man"? Who are the "robbers"? What does the man's treatment represent? Who are represented by "a certain priest" and "a Levite"? Who by the good Samaritan? What is represented by dressing the wounds and caring for the man? What by the further provision made for the man? Note 6. 1. What shall I do?—The priests and rabbis had thought to entangle Christ by having the lawyer ask this question; but He required the answer from the one who asked the question. The Jews had been accusing Jesus of lightly regarding the law of God given from Sinai; but Christ turns the question of salvation, of eternal life, upon the keeping of God's commandments. And these things are written "for our learning." 2. This do, and thou shalt live.—"He presented the law as a divine unity, and in this lesson taught that it is not possible to keep one precept and break another; for the same principle runs through them all. Man's destiny will be determined by his obedience to the whole law. Supreme love to God and impartial love to man are the principles to be wrought out in the life."—Desire of Ages. The lawyer had pointed out the way, as shown in the scripture. It remained now for him to walk according to the light he had.153. Desiring to justify himself.—Jesus did not say that this lawyer was living up to the principles he had stated. He left that for the lawyer's own conscience to decide, and his conscience plainly told him that he was not. "The lawyer found himself a law-breaker. He was convicted under Christ's searching words. The righteousness of the law, which he claimed to understand, he had not practised. He had not manifested love toward his fellow-man. Repentance was demanded; but instead of repenting, he tried to justify himself. Rather than acknowledge the truth, he sought to show how difficult of fulfilment the commandment is. Thus he hoped both to parry conviction, and to vindicate himself in the eyes of the people." But there stood the Saviour's word, and stands to this day, "This do, and thou shalt live." 4. A certain Samaritan.—"The Samaritans were half heathen, a mixed race of Jews and Gentiles, accepting only the five books of Moses as their Bible, erroneous in some points of doctrine, and greatly despised by the priests and Levites. 'The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.' Note in this connection the noble spirit which Christ showed in this picture of a Samaritan, for it was but a short time before this that He had Himself been rejected by Samaritans in such an ungracious way that the disciples wished to invoke fire from heaven upon them. Moreover, it required great moral courage to thus exalt a Samaritan before Jews."—Peloubet. "This was no imaginary scene, but an actual occurrence, which was known to be exactly as represented. The priest and the Levite who had passed by on the other side were in the company that listened to Christ's words." The work that the priest and Levite ought to have done was the work which Christ described as His own when He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." 5. He that showed mercy.—"Thus the question, 'Who is my neighbor?' is forever answered. Our neighbor is every person who needs our help; every soul who is wounded and bruised by the adversary; every one who is the property of God."—Desire of Ages. 6. "In the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus gave a picture of Himself and His mission. Man had been deceived, bruised, robbed, and ruined by Satan, and left to perish; but the Saviour had compassion on our helpless condition. He left His glory to come to our rescue. He found us ready to die, and He undertook our case. He healed our wounds. He covered us with His robe of righteousness. He opened to us a refuge of safety, and made complete provision for us at His own charges. . . . Never should we pass by one suffering soul without seeking to impart to him of the comfort wherewith we are comforted of God."—Desire of Ages.