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Following Jesus · Part Four · Message Fifty-Nine
Go and Do Likewise
The kingdom Jesus announces crosses inherited boundaries: those whose names are written in heaven are called to become neighbors through costly, practical mercy, even when the person in need lies outside their preferred circle.
Part Four · The Road to Jerusalem
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Lesson overview
Jesus sends seventy-two disciples ahead of him with an urgent announcement: God’s kingdom has come near.
They travel dependently, receive hospitality without discrimination, heal the sick, and offer peace. Acceptance or rejection of their message is ultimately acceptance or rejection of Jesus and the Father who sent him. When they return delighted by spiritual power, Jesus redirects their joy from what they can do to the grace that their names are written in heaven.
Luke then places an expert in the law before Jesus. The man correctly joins Deuteronomy’s command to love God with Leviticus’s command to love one’s neighbor, but his attempt to justify himself produces the limiting question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers with a story in which respected religious travelers pass a wounded man while a Samaritan—the identity least likely to win the lawyer’s approval—sees, has compassion, interrupts his journey, tends the wounds, provides transportation, pays for continued care, and promises to return. Jesus does not help the lawyer draw a boundary around the people he must love. He reverses the question and commands him to become the neighbor who shows mercy.
The kingdom Jesus announces crosses inherited boundaries: those whose names are written in heaven are called to become neighbors through costly, practical mercy, even when the person in need lies outside their preferred circle.
Seventy-two sent ahead of the King
Jesus commissions pairs of messengers for an urgent, dependent mission to places he intends to visit.
The disciples are to receive what is offered, remain with their hosts, heal the sick, and announce God’s approaching reign.
The warning to unreceptive towns and the woes over Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum show that greater revelation brings greater accountability.
The one who showed mercy to him. Then Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
Luke 10:37
The question meant to limit love
The returning messengers celebrate authority over demons; Jesus points them to salvation, rejoices in the Spirit, and blesses those who see the kingdom arriving.
An expert tests Jesus about eternal life, correctly summarizes the law, and then asks who counts as his neighbor in an effort to justify himself.
The dangerous descent from Jerusalem to Jericho sets the scene; a priest and a Levite see the victim but continue on, with their motives deliberately left unstated.
Become the neighbor
The unexpected traveler binds wounds, uses his own provisions and animal, pays for lodging, and takes responsibility for further care.
Jesus replaces a boundary-seeking question with a mercy-seeking one and sends the hearer to embody the same costly love.
Read, trace, and live the teaching.
This lesson belongs within the whole Gospel story. Read the principal passage slowly, follow the supporting texts in their own contexts, and notice how the words and works of Jesus reveal the kingdom he brings.
Read the passage
Luke 10:1–37
Trace the promise
Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Leviticus 19:17–18, 33–34; Isaiah 29:13–24
See the Gospel connection
Luke 9:51–56; Luke 10:1–24; Luke 10:25–37; John 4:4–42; Romans 5:1–11
Follow the truth
James 2:1–17; 1 John 3:16–18
Scripture guide
Read the whole teaching in context.
These are the principal passages developed in this message and the texts that clarify its place within the mission of Jesus.
The passage in context
Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Leviticus 19:17–18, 33–34; Isaiah 29:13–24
Promise and preparation
Luke 9:51–56; Luke 10:1–24
The Gospel’s witness
Luke 10:25–37; John 4:4–42; Romans 5:1–11
Life under the King
James 2:1–17; 1 John 3:16–18