Jesus and the Lawyer

I think lawyers have gotten a bad rap. I considered becoming one when I was 18. There are unethical folks in every profession. But, lawyers are interesting because they are thinkers. They look at words on a page or listen to another person's argument and make very quick judgments and responses that seek to avoid entrapment. They are good at creating pathways that lead to some beneficial resolution for the one they represent. They know that if they can help others get what they want, they can get what they want. But, that doesn't mean that all lawyers care nothing about the law. They see the law as foundational for life. Where would we be without rules? But rules have to be interpreted and applied justly in each situation. So with this in mind in Luke 10:25ff we have such a lawyer who comes to Jesus with a question. This question was a test to see if Jesus was a qualified rabbi. I Thess.5:21 tells us to examine everything. That's what lawyers do.

The question was a good one, in fact, a very fundamental one, and one that Jesus was extremely interested in. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" This wasn't about healing or eating grain on the Sabbath. This was about eternal life. Jesus was a pretty good lawyer Himself so he responds with two questions: "What is written in the Law?" and "How does it read to you?"  Isn't this what is important? This lawyer surely would appreciate that Jesus is not offering some opinion but is going to their point of agreement, the Law, God's revealed will through Moses. It is so important that when we discuss questions of a spiritual nature we all have a common source of authority. This is what Jesus sought. The second question is as important, i.e. once we have agreed on the text of Scripture that answers our question we still must read it and interpret it in a way that will leads to the correct understanding. It is not just "what" we read, but "how" we read it that matters. We all bring something to a text that colors the way we see it. Jesus knew this attorney was biased. That was no great revelation. We all are. The lawyer answers the first question and Jesus agrees with him that he has selected the text that gives the right answer. The key to eternal life is our love for God and one another, our neighbor.

But, then Jesus moves on to the next question, "how do you read this?" The word that stuck out for the attorney was the word "neighbor." A lot hinged on how one defines this word. Most Jews traditionally define the word to mean a fellow Jew. If I can limit my obligation to loving folks who are like me and have the same background I have, then my task is made easier. This though was the point of contention between how Jesus read the Law and how this lawyer read the Law. The lawyer wanted to "justify himself," meaning he wanted to show that by keeping these two commandments as he defined them that he was in possession of eternal life, and really didn't need to follow Jesus. If one could have eternal life by keeping the two greatest commandments of the Law, then why did they need Jesus? The parable that Jesus tells (The Good Samaritan) was not told to merely define the word "neighbor" but to show the lawyer that he needed Jesus to both rightly interpret the Law and thereby hold this lawyer accountable, but by doing so to cause this lawyer to recognize that he was a law breaker in need of forgiveness for being too narrow in his interpretation of "neighbor." Jesus was not merely answering a question. He was convicting a lawyer of sin and his need for a savior. I don't know about you but I am impressed with Jesus' skill.