not intended to be an allegorical representation of the mission of Christ, it is true to say that Christ is the perfect fulfilment of the command to love, which the good Samaritan illustrates.
There is a man who travelled that Jericho road, but in the opposite direction: toward Jerusalem, not away from it, and with a cross on his back. And from that cross the Story-teller himself repeats to us that old commandment of love. Only, because he is saying it, it has somehow now also become a new commandment. ‘Love one another,’ he says, ‘as I have loved you’ (see John 13:34). Moses could never have added that second clause, could he? Nor could the lawyer. But Jesus can. For he has turned the good Samaritan from fiction into fact. His is a love that does indeed break down the man-made barriers of race and tribe and class. His is a love that was not satisfied with mere passive goodwill, but insisted upon active, extravagant sacrificial service. ‘Love one another,’ he says, ‘as I have loved you. You can love that way, now; because, unlike Moses, I have not only brought you the command to love; I have brought you the power to love. My Spirit, poured out from heaven, will reproduce my love in your hearts. Go and do likewise.’
To those who, like this lawyer, think they can earn their ticket to heaven by good deeds, Jesus’ words are a challenge to face up to their true moral inadequacy. You don’t love like this; you can’t love like this. You don’t want to love like this. Stop fooling yourself.
But to those who have learnt that lesson, who have come to Christ in repentance and faith, confessing their failure and sin, the challenge of these final words comes afresh a second time and with even more force. ‘Go and do likewise,’ he says. ‘Prove the quality of the Spirit-filled life which I have given you. All will know you are my disciples if you love one another as I have loved you.’
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