But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the next day when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you. Which now of these three, think you, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do you likewise.

Note: An old National Geographic feature on the Samaritan Passover (likely the one mentioned by Ron in this study) can be found here.

And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room to store my crops? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have prepared? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give you. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give to him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

What an interesting request. One would think prayer is simple and one would not need to be taught. But it seems obvious that these were not praying men when Jesus called them. It wasn’t that prayer was unknown, because the Pharisees prayed, often in public. And the disciples knew that prayer was important to Jesus.

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

What is most remarkable about this prayer is its brevity. In almost any reading, it lasts less than 30 seconds. It calls to mind something that Solomon said. We’ll find it in Ecclesiastes, the third chapter…

Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and many people of the city were with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the coffin: and they that bore him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto you, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen up among us; and, God has visited his people.

And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto him of their substance. And when many people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spoke by a parable[.]

Let’s do a little experiment here. I’m going to read this parable to you without comment. I want you to try to imagine yourself as a person who has never heard it before, had no frame of reference for it, and didn’t have a clue what Jesus was talking about here. The closest you’ve come to this is sowing a few seeds in the ground one time as a kid.

Listen to the parable; you have never heard it before. What do you conclude that Jesus was driving at? Let’s begin, then, in Luke chapter 8.

By the reckoning of some historians, when it comes to the gospel accounts, we have two eyewitnesses, a scribe, and one contemporary historian who was able to collect the stories and put them in order. It makes a very comprehensive set of documents. They make our job a little more difficult, but why should it be easy?

Now, I have made this point before, but I have to make it again right here. Some people (whose elevator doesn’t go to the top floor) think that contradictions in the gospel accounts invalidate them. Ironically, rather than invalidate them, they confirm them. Let me explain. For the testimony of witnesses to be valid, that testimony must be independent of the testimony of others. The existence of inconsistencies between witness accounts are important because they establish the independence of the sources.

There are also differences that arise from the purpose of the author. Luke says up front that his purpose is to set these things in order—seemingly, chronological order. Matthew and Mark, however, may have no such intent, and they may group messages and events to make a greater point. So don’t play the fool by nitpicking. Try rather to understand what the witnesses want us to get about Jesus and his work and his message. Now, instead of consulting the scholars first, let’s consult Luke himself…

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, […] the word of God came unto John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Now on to one of my favorite stories in all the Bible.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

I love this passage, because it underlines for me the reality of Jesus coming in the flesh. It underlines his utter dependence on Joseph and Mary. It underlines his complete vulnerability in the world. This is a really big event.