2 Chronicles 28:8-15/Galatians 3:15-22/St Luke 10:23-37
Confirmation of Matt Arkenberg
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
He thought he was crafty, clever. He tried to put the Lord our God to the test. Satan attempted the same in the wilderness. He failed. The Lord does not take kindly to being tested. But the lawyer thought himself something. And he was looking for knowledge. He wanted to see if Jesus met his standards; if Jesus knew what he did. You know the type, the one who asks a question in class just show how smart they think they are.
Consider the ridiculousness of the lawyer’s question, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The question shows more than he meant. He thought he was clever, but actually it displayed his ignorance.
Its absurd, What must I do to inherit? What if I asked, “What must I do to inherit the crown of England?” There are two options: to be an offspring of the royal bloodline of Great Britain. Or go to war and overthrow the crown. That is how an inheritance is passed. You can’t do anything to earn it. And since I don’t have the proper blood, the kingdom must change hands by violence.
But there is another problem with this question. Not only can we not gain inheritance by merit, but the underside of the idea of eternal life is crawling with maggots. If we do not inherit the kingdom of heaven the only other option is the inheritance of our proper birthright from our father the devil. Flesh gives birth to flesh (Jn 3:6). We are all conceived and born sinful and under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. This is the imprisonment under the Law. It does not give life. This truth Matt will confirm momentarily. Each of you catechumens have confessed likewise.
On top of this, our Lord does not take kindly to testing. He turns the question back to the lawyer, What is written in the Law? The lawyer wants to know what to do. The Law tells you what to do and not do. And to his credit, the lawyer answers correctly: Love God and neighbor perfectly, without fail. That’s it! Love God and man. The summation of the Law. You learned that in catechism class.
But the maggots are here. Our Lord says, Do this and you will live. Now this is fierce condemnation. For who would dare say, “I’ve don it! I’ve loved God and my neighbor perfectly, all the time, one hundred percent.”
Test the Lord and wind up condemned. Do this and you will live is a dire threat. For the inverse is also the case, Do it not and you will die. And the lawyer has not done this. He hasn’t kept the Law. You have not kept the Law. Though you think yourself clever and able to hide any major transgressions. No man since the fall of Adam has kept the Law perfectly. That is except One - the GodMan, Jesus Christ.
But because no one has done this, no one should live. For the Law cannot give life! Every loophole you attempt to find, just binds you tighter. With every clever trick you only snare yourself. And so you do what Adam attempted to do in the garden, what Aaron attempted to do at the mountain, what the lawyer attempted to do with Jesus. You seek to justify yourself. This is the natural condition of fallen man - self-justification. Who is my neighbor?
And every Sunday school kid knows the answer. Everyone! Everyone is your neighbor. Ha! You’re it. And again you’re dead. You’re supposed to love all men as yourself. That’s what the Law demands. No exceptions, no replays. The beggar on the street. The thief who stole your identity. The man who murdered your family. Everyone.
And we loose. We have nothing left. No boast to make, no referee to blame, boss to rag on, prof to complain about. It is your fault. Your own most grievous fault. Because if everyone is your neighbor and you must love them all as yourself, which is exactly what the Law demands, than there is no hope. Do you see? There is no comfort in the Law. It cannot give life. Only death. The maggots are always there. We go to hell, just as we deserve. Our birthright, more worthless than a bowl of soup, is shown.
But did you notice: Jesus did not answer the lawyer’s question. The Sunday school kids know it is everyone, but Jesus won’t say it. Instead, He tells a parable and asks a question of His own. And the answer to His question is not “everyone.” His question is changed from the active to the passive. The student of the Law wanted to know what I must do. The Law is always concerned with I. But Jesus asks, Who was a neighbor unto the man? Not everyone. Only One.
This is the Divine Passive. God is the actor. He is the One who had compassion. Christ Jesus is the Good Samaritan who had mercy on all you men left beaten and bloodied, half dead in the ditch of sin. The priest and the Levite are powerless. They are on their way to Temple and don’t want to make themselves unclean. The Law cannot give life. It cannot save.
But the mercy and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ is the power unto salvation. He knew the cost and went into the ditch for you. He stepped into your filth and refuse, was infected your disease and it killed Him. He made Himself unclean so that you might receive His righteousness and purity. For He pours on the oil of His forgiveness for all your sins and gives you the wine of His Eucharist. He binds up your wounds and salves your conscience. He places you on His animal while He shoulders the burden. And He brings you to the inn of His Church where He pays for everything and promises to come back on the day after tomorrow, the third day.
Which of these three, do you suppose, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He wants the lawyer to say it. For this is the true purpose of the Law, to kill us, to crucify us, and to drive us to Christ, the One who shows mercy.
And Jesus says, You go and do likewise. Does that mean we are to go and find people in ditched and help them? Yes. That we are to go and love all men as ourselves? Yes. That is the Law and it is the way of life in Christ the fulfillment of the Law. But it cannot give life. For God gave His inheritance to Abraham by the promise. If Jesus’s statement, Go and do likewise, is meant to return us to the Law, than we are right back where we started. The worms crawl back in and we’re dead.
But this is not the primary meaning. If it were, if Jesus is merely admonishing the lawyer and us to be nice and try harder, to not judge and help people, than the parable serves no purpose other than teaching the Law, sharpening that instrument of death. And sadly, this is how many Christians understand this parable. That’s how we get “Good Samaritan Laws.” But all this does it further condemn us. It makes Christ into a new Moses and the lawyer is dead in his trespasses. And so are we.
But the promise if made concerning the Seed, who is Christ, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Go and do likewise means, “Go and be neighbored by the One who shows mercy. Go and receive the divine mercy of Jesus your Good Samaritan.” As Jesus says elsewhere, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. Go and learn what this means (Mt 9:13).
For the truth is that the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. The King gives up His crown in death and bestows it as inheritance upon you in the birthright of Holy Baptism. You are covered with His holy, precious Blood. And your bloodline now runs through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, making you are a rightful heir of heaven. The crown has changed hands by war. God in our Flesh surrendered to death in order to empty death and crush the serpent and make you His.
Blessed are your eyes that see what you see and your ears that hear what you hear. For the parable is not about the Law, but about mercy. Not about what you must do, but about what has been done for you and to you. You have received everything - forgiveness, life, salvation, grace, mercy, peace, joy, the kingdom, Christ Himself - all for free. Not by merit or work! You are an heir of eternal life.
How then ought you to live? Go and do likewise. Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful (Lk 6:36). Go and do as has been done to you and for you. Learn from the chief men of Ephraim and the others: care for the neighbor whom Christ has put into your midst - whether it be your spouse, your children, your roommate, your parents. Do so not as though to merit eternal life - that could never be! But as one to whom mercy and forgiveness have been bestowed for free; thus do you freely give as you have been given, bringing forth the fruits of faith according to the wisdom and mercy of God our Father, to whom be glory, power, and honor together with Jesus + Christ His Son, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
Confirmation of Matt Arkenberg
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
He thought he was crafty, clever. He tried to put the Lord our God to the test. Satan attempted the same in the wilderness. He failed. The Lord does not take kindly to being tested. But the lawyer thought himself something. And he was looking for knowledge. He wanted to see if Jesus met his standards; if Jesus knew what he did. You know the type, the one who asks a question in class just show how smart they think they are.
Consider the ridiculousness of the lawyer’s question, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The question shows more than he meant. He thought he was clever, but actually it displayed his ignorance.
Its absurd, What must I do to inherit? What if I asked, “What must I do to inherit the crown of England?” There are two options: to be an offspring of the royal bloodline of Great Britain. Or go to war and overthrow the crown. That is how an inheritance is passed. You can’t do anything to earn it. And since I don’t have the proper blood, the kingdom must change hands by violence.
But there is another problem with this question. Not only can we not gain inheritance by merit, but the underside of the idea of eternal life is crawling with maggots. If we do not inherit the kingdom of heaven the only other option is the inheritance of our proper birthright from our father the devil. Flesh gives birth to flesh (Jn 3:6). We are all conceived and born sinful and under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. This is the imprisonment under the Law. It does not give life. This truth Matt will confirm momentarily. Each of you catechumens have confessed likewise.
On top of this, our Lord does not take kindly to testing. He turns the question back to the lawyer, What is written in the Law? The lawyer wants to know what to do. The Law tells you what to do and not do. And to his credit, the lawyer answers correctly: Love God and neighbor perfectly, without fail. That’s it! Love God and man. The summation of the Law. You learned that in catechism class.
But the maggots are here. Our Lord says, Do this and you will live. Now this is fierce condemnation. For who would dare say, “I’ve don it! I’ve loved God and my neighbor perfectly, all the time, one hundred percent.”
Test the Lord and wind up condemned. Do this and you will live is a dire threat. For the inverse is also the case, Do it not and you will die. And the lawyer has not done this. He hasn’t kept the Law. You have not kept the Law. Though you think yourself clever and able to hide any major transgressions. No man since the fall of Adam has kept the Law perfectly. That is except One - the GodMan, Jesus Christ.
But because no one has done this, no one should live. For the Law cannot give life! Every loophole you attempt to find, just binds you tighter. With every clever trick you only snare yourself. And so you do what Adam attempted to do in the garden, what Aaron attempted to do at the mountain, what the lawyer attempted to do with Jesus. You seek to justify yourself. This is the natural condition of fallen man - self-justification. Who is my neighbor?
And every Sunday school kid knows the answer. Everyone! Everyone is your neighbor. Ha! You’re it. And again you’re dead. You’re supposed to love all men as yourself. That’s what the Law demands. No exceptions, no replays. The beggar on the street. The thief who stole your identity. The man who murdered your family. Everyone.
And we loose. We have nothing left. No boast to make, no referee to blame, boss to rag on, prof to complain about. It is your fault. Your own most grievous fault. Because if everyone is your neighbor and you must love them all as yourself, which is exactly what the Law demands, than there is no hope. Do you see? There is no comfort in the Law. It cannot give life. Only death. The maggots are always there. We go to hell, just as we deserve. Our birthright, more worthless than a bowl of soup, is shown.
But did you notice: Jesus did not answer the lawyer’s question. The Sunday school kids know it is everyone, but Jesus won’t say it. Instead, He tells a parable and asks a question of His own. And the answer to His question is not “everyone.” His question is changed from the active to the passive. The student of the Law wanted to know what I must do. The Law is always concerned with I. But Jesus asks, Who was a neighbor unto the man? Not everyone. Only One.
This is the Divine Passive. God is the actor. He is the One who had compassion. Christ Jesus is the Good Samaritan who had mercy on all you men left beaten and bloodied, half dead in the ditch of sin. The priest and the Levite are powerless. They are on their way to Temple and don’t want to make themselves unclean. The Law cannot give life. It cannot save.
But the mercy and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ is the power unto salvation. He knew the cost and went into the ditch for you. He stepped into your filth and refuse, was infected your disease and it killed Him. He made Himself unclean so that you might receive His righteousness and purity. For He pours on the oil of His forgiveness for all your sins and gives you the wine of His Eucharist. He binds up your wounds and salves your conscience. He places you on His animal while He shoulders the burden. And He brings you to the inn of His Church where He pays for everything and promises to come back on the day after tomorrow, the third day.
Which of these three, do you suppose, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He wants the lawyer to say it. For this is the true purpose of the Law, to kill us, to crucify us, and to drive us to Christ, the One who shows mercy.
And Jesus says, You go and do likewise. Does that mean we are to go and find people in ditched and help them? Yes. That we are to go and love all men as ourselves? Yes. That is the Law and it is the way of life in Christ the fulfillment of the Law. But it cannot give life. For God gave His inheritance to Abraham by the promise. If Jesus’s statement, Go and do likewise, is meant to return us to the Law, than we are right back where we started. The worms crawl back in and we’re dead.
But this is not the primary meaning. If it were, if Jesus is merely admonishing the lawyer and us to be nice and try harder, to not judge and help people, than the parable serves no purpose other than teaching the Law, sharpening that instrument of death. And sadly, this is how many Christians understand this parable. That’s how we get “Good Samaritan Laws.” But all this does it further condemn us. It makes Christ into a new Moses and the lawyer is dead in his trespasses. And so are we.
But the promise if made concerning the Seed, who is Christ, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Go and do likewise means, “Go and be neighbored by the One who shows mercy. Go and receive the divine mercy of Jesus your Good Samaritan.” As Jesus says elsewhere, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. Go and learn what this means (Mt 9:13).
For the truth is that the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. The King gives up His crown in death and bestows it as inheritance upon you in the birthright of Holy Baptism. You are covered with His holy, precious Blood. And your bloodline now runs through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, making you are a rightful heir of heaven. The crown has changed hands by war. God in our Flesh surrendered to death in order to empty death and crush the serpent and make you His.
Blessed are your eyes that see what you see and your ears that hear what you hear. For the parable is not about the Law, but about mercy. Not about what you must do, but about what has been done for you and to you. You have received everything - forgiveness, life, salvation, grace, mercy, peace, joy, the kingdom, Christ Himself - all for free. Not by merit or work! You are an heir of eternal life.
How then ought you to live? Go and do likewise. Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful (Lk 6:36). Go and do as has been done to you and for you. Learn from the chief men of Ephraim and the others: care for the neighbor whom Christ has put into your midst - whether it be your spouse, your children, your roommate, your parents. Do so not as though to merit eternal life - that could never be! But as one to whom mercy and forgiveness have been bestowed for free; thus do you freely give as you have been given, bringing forth the fruits of faith according to the wisdom and mercy of God our Father, to whom be glory, power, and honor together with Jesus + Christ His Son, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
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