The Right Answer

Luke 10:25-37
Jesus is questioned by a lawyer as to how to inherit eternal life.  Jesus turns the question back on him, asking him what the law says.  Jesus knows this man is a lawyer and therefore knows the law, so surely he would know what the law says in regards to inheriting eternal life.  And sure enough, this man does know the right answer, and Jesus congratulates him for possessing such knowledge.  But the man probes further, wanting to justify himself in Jesus' eyes, most likely out of pride.  After telling this man a parable, once again Jesus asks him a question and once again the man answers correctly.  That is now twice that this man has been able to answers Jesus' questions correctly, and yet the meaning and application of his correct answers seem to allude him.  He is the example of ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding (Isaiah 6:9).  He knows all the right answers and can align himself, intellectually, with Jesus' theology and yet he had missed it completely.  The first command that this man gives is to love God, then others.  But when he questions Jesus, he focuses on justifying the second command, probably thinking he has mastered the first command to love God supremely and foremost.  But it is in trying to justify the second that he evidences he has missed the first.  It is clear that our love and compassion for others is an overflow, an extension of our love for God first (I Thessalonians 4:9; I John 4:7, 12).  So if we are confused as to how to love our neighbor, is it not because we have not first loved God?  He is eager to justify his position to love his neighbor, not because he truly desires and understands these commands, but because, unbeknownst to him, he lacks true understanding in both regards.  His theology and answers hit the bulls-eye but his life missed it completely.  And a correct theology, backed up by an incorrect life is deception of the utmost.  We have a great example in the following story of Martha and Mary in vs. 38-42.  Jesus has come to Martha's house at her invitation and she immediately begins to serve those in attendance.  However, her sister Mary first sits at Jesus' feet, listening and learning from him, while ignoring the serving that is overwhelming Martha.  When she implores Jesus to correct this, he actually corrects her.  Mary has chosen to be with Jesus, which is far greater than serving.  What Mary has chosen is eternal, and what Martha has chosen is not.  It is not that serving others is not eternal, but it is that serving others before spending time with Jesus is to miss the fulfillment of the commands; they are taken out of order and when this occurs, they both crumble, neither making it to eternity.  Jesus makes it clear here that we cannot and should not try to serve others and love our neighbors until we first sit at Jesus' feet, learning from him and loving him.  Our loyalty is to him, then to others.  Both this lawyer and Martha "knew" that serving others is crucial, they both knew the right answers, but both were deceived in their application of these truths, of their reality.  We too, like these two, could answer all of Jesus' questions with pinpoint accuracy, probably even using scripture to prove our point, all the while having their true understanding and life-changing presence completely absent from our lives.  This is why today a majority of our serving is useless.  It does not stem from our time with Jesus.  We too want to "justify" our positions, as this lawyer did.  We want to do as little as possible, with the least amount of time and inconvenience, but still love our neighbors as ourselves.  What can we barely get by with?  Our lack of serving and compassion and love do not stem from a misunderstanding of who our neighbor is, but from our misunderstanding of who Jesus is.  Like this lawyer, we have the right answers and know the commands and yet have missed them completely, still trying to justify our position.  We are ready to jump to the second command, thinking we have mastered the first, all the while missing both.  We must stop trying to justify who our neighbor is and admit that the only reason we ask this question is because we have missed loving God first.  If we truly loved God first, we would not need lessons and tips on how to love others.  It is not our neighbor who we do not love, but God.