Apr 24
7
Old Testament Reading: Leviticus 18:1–5
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.’” (Leviticus 18:1–5, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 10:25-37
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’” (Luke 10:25–37, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
One of the questions I asked when beginning to study this text that is open before today is, what is the connection between this story about the lawyer who questioned Jesus to put him to the test, and the previous passage wherein Jesus prays to Father and gives thanks and then declares his disciples to be blesses to see what they have seen and to hear what they have heard?
By the way, I think it is right for the student of Holy Scripture to assume that the individual passages of Scripture do relate to each other and to attempt to identify the interconnectedness. Why did Luke choose to tell this story about the lawyer who put Jesus to the test? And why did Luke put this story in this place in his gospel? Perhaps you are thinking, it’s because the Spirit moved him to do it. And I agree with that. Or perhaps you are thinking, it’s because this thing happened at this time. And I agree with that too! But we should remember what John said at the end of his gospel: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, ESV). The point that I am making is that all of the gospel writers were selective. They do not tell us about everything that Jesus said and did. No, they highlight certain things. And, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they skillfully stitch these stories together to deliver a message. The history that we find in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is true history, but it is not presented in a bare or merely factual way. No, it is true history presented in such a way that it teaches the truth concerning Jesus Christ, his person, and his work. And so we need to read the gospels, not as mere chronological and factual accounts of Jesus’ life, but as theological documents – documents that teach – documents that seek to persuade. We should assume that the stories told are carefully chosen and strategically placed.
So, what is the connection between this story about the lawyer who questioned Jesus to put him to the test, and the previous passage? I think it is this. In the preceding passage, Jesus declared his disciples to be blessed. They were blessed to see what they saw and to hear what they heard. And if you remember, there was a double meaning in this. They were blessed to see what they saw and to hear what they heard in a physical sense. More than this, they were blessed spiritually to comprehend what they were seeing and hearing and to believe that Jesus is indeed Messiah, the Prophet, Priest, and King of God’s eternal kingdom, the Savior. Remember, this is what Jesus gave thanks to Father about. Back in Luke 10:21 we read, “In that same hour [Jesus] rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him’” (Luke 10:21–22, ESV).
We must recognize that in this passage, Jesus rejoiced over two things and made mention of two groups of people. He rejoiced, first of all, that the Father had “hidden” the truth concerning himself from the “wise and understanding”. I’m afraid that this is often overlooked. But it is stated very clearly in Luke 10:21 – “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding…’” And he rejoiced, secondly, that the Father had “revealed” the truth concerning himself to “little children”. So then, the two groups of people are, first, those who do not know the truth about the Father and the Son, and second, those who do know the truth about the Father and the Son.
Who are the “little children” who are blessed to have had the truth regarding the Father and Son revealed to them? They are the humble and lowly disciples of Jesus. By God’s grace, they are the ones blessed to see and hear Jesus truly. By God’s grace, they are those who recognize their need for Jesus and, forsaking all, follow after him.
And who are the “wise and understanding” who have the truth about the Father and Son hidden from them? In general, they are all who remain in their unbelief. They are those who are blinded by their sin and self-righteousness. It seems to me that Luke sets forth this lawyer as an example of one who is “wise and understanding” and yet blind. This lawyer was highly educated and held in high esteem and yet he was blind to the truth about Christ. He could not see that the only way to the Father was through faith in the Son. He was blind because he was filled with self-righteousness and pride.
*****
The Question Put To Jesus: What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?
In Luke 10:25 we read, “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” I have a few things to say about this verse:
First, it is important to know what a lawyer is. When you hear the word lawyer, you probably think of a person who is trained in the civil laws that govern our land. But the lawyer of Luke 10 was a person thoroughly trained in the law of Moses. This man was an expert in the law of Moses. He was an Old Testament scholar.
Two, the text says that he “stood up to put [Jesus] to the test.” This means he was seeking to trap Jesus. “He stood up…” I think it is right to imagine him standing up in pride. And “he put Jesus to the test…” The idea here is that he desired to catch Jesus in error so that he might condemn him (see Luke 4:12; 1Corinthains 10:9; Mark 4:7). There is nothing wrong with bringing questions to Jesus. But it seems the attitude of this man was all wrong. He did not come to Jesus humbly to submit to his word, but pridefully, hoping to prove him wrong.
Three, the question he asked is of utmost importance: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Stated differently, what must I do to be right with God? What must I do to be accepted by God? What must I do to enter heaven and escape hell? I cannot think of a more important question for a person to ask. No doubt, this is a question that all people should be supremely concerned with. And, as you probably know, this question is of utmost importance theologically. As a pastor, if I want to find out if someone truly understands the gospel and has a solid grasp of the core doctrines of the Christian faith, one of the first questions I would ask is this: what must a person do to inherit eternal life? What the person says in response to this question will be very revealing. Although this lawyer lacked true faith, and though he was blinded to the truth regarding the Father and the Son, he was no dummy. He knew how to get to the heart of things. He knew how to get to the root of a matter. His motives were all wrong, but his question was well chosen as he sought to press Jesus and to get to the heart of his theology: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
*****
A Wise Answer From Jesus: What Is Written In The Law? How Do You Read It?
Jesus’ answer is found in verse 26: “He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’” Notice a few things about Jesus’ response:
One, his response was very wise. Instead of walking into the trap that was set for him, he turned the situation around by asking the man his opinion.
Two, notice that Jesus did not avoid the question altogether, but answered it somewhat when he replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” In other words, by answering the man’s question in this way, he acknowledged that the answer is found in the law of Moses. When the expert in the law of Moses asked Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life?, he may have expected Jesus to set aside, disregard, or disrespect the law of Moses, and to trap him in this. But Jesus did no such thing. Instead, Jesus honored the Old Testament Scriptures and submitted to them as authoritative when he answered as he did. It’s as if Jesus replied to the man like this: What must you do to inherit eternal life? Let’s go to the Scriptures. Let’s go to the law of Moses to find out. You are a lawyer. You are an expert. How do you read it? This was Jesus’ reply.
*****
A Correct But Hopeless Answer From The Lawyer: Obey God’s Law To Inherit Eternal Life
It is in verse 27 that we find the lawyer’s reply to Jesus: “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
This should sound familiar to you. Matthew and Mark both tell a story in their gospels about another lawyer approaching Jesus to test him. The question that lawyer asked was a little different than the one asked by the lawyer here in Luke 10. In Matthew 22:35 we read, “And one of them, a lawyer, asked [Jesus] a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:35–40, ESV).
So, when Jesus was asked to identify the greatest commandment in the law, he identified Deuteronomy 6:5 as the greatest commandment and Leviticus 19:18 as the second greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18, ESV). Jesus used these two commandments to sum up the entire law of God. He identified these two as the greatest because “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:35–40, ESV). It is not hard to see how this is so.
The command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…” summarizes the first four of the Ten Commandments. More than this, it is what some of the civil and all of the ceremonial laws given to Israel through Moses were based upon. What does God’s law require of us? It requires us to love God with all that we are. We are to worship him alone as God. We are not to worship with graven images. We are not to take his name in vain. We are to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. These are the first four of the Ten Commandments. They all have to do with the proper worship of God. They are a summary of God’s ever-abiding and unchanging moral law. And to worship God truly, we must worship him from the heart and in the whole of life. The command of Deuteronomy 6:5 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, is the essence of the first four of the Ten Commandments. And as I have said, it was to this foundation – the foundation of the first and greatest commandment, and the first four of the Ten Commandments – that many of civil and ceremonial laws of the Old Mosaic covenant were added (see Romans 5:20). The ceremonial laws were about Old Covenant Israel’s worship at the temple, animal sacrifices, the priesthood, and the observance of festivals, new moons, and the special sabbath days associated with them (see Colossians 2:16). All of these positive, ceremonial laws were rooted in or based upon the first four of the Ten Commandments, and the one commandment at the heart of them: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5, ESV).
The command of Leviticus 19:18 to “love your neighbor as yourself” was used by Christ to summarize the last six of the Ten Commandments: Honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet. These are the last six of the Ten Commandments. They are a summary of God’s ever-abiding and unchanging moral law. What are they about? Love for one’s neighbor. And it was to this foundation that many of the civil laws given to Old Covenant Israel were added – laws having to do with civil penalties for crimes committed against persons – crimes such as adultery, murder, bearing false witness, and theft. The last six of the Ten Commandments and the many civil laws added to Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant could all be boiled down to the command of Leviticus 19:18: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
This was the teaching of Jesus. The commands, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” are the essence of God’s law. This is why Christ said, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40, ESV).
So then, what did the lawyer of Luke 10 mean when he answered his own question, What must a person do to inherit eternal life?, by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27, ESV). What he meant was, eternal life must be earned by obeying all of God’s commandments.
*****
A Shocking Reply From Jesus: You Have Answered Correctly; Do This, And You Will Live
Jesus’ reply is found in verse 28. He answered the lawyer saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (Luke 10:28, ESV).
Jesus’ reply will probably shock a person who knows the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ is that, although eternal life cannot be obtained through obedience to the law, it can be received by God’s grace, as a gift, through faith in Christ alone. This is what Paul teaches in Galatians 2:16, saying, “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16, ESV). Paul could not have been more clear. Salvation, justification, or eternal life cannot be earned through law-keeping but must be received as a gift by trusting in Jesus. Notice how Paul managed to say this three times in one verse! And we know that this was the teaching of Jesus too. Take, for example, John 3:13-16. There we hear Jesus say, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:13–16, ESV). So then, according to these passages, eternal life comes to those who turn from their sins and trust in Jesus. Eternal life cannot be earned through law-keeping. Why then would Jesus tell this lawyer that he had answered correctly when he said that to inherit eternal life one must love God with all of the heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself? There are four really good reasons for Jesus’ reply:
One, the lawyer was not technically wrong. In theory, if someone were to keep God’s law purely from a heart of love, perfectly in thought, word, and deed, and perpetually from the very beginning of their life to the very end, they would stand right before God and merit eternal life. This is why Jesus replied to the lawyer, saying, “You have answered correctly; do this…” – love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself – keep God’s law purely, perfectly, and perpetually – “and you will live.”
Listen to these passages that speak of obedience to the law of God as a path to life. In Leviticus 18:5, God says, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD”. In Nehemiah 9:29, the prophet speaks to God, saying, “And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them… In Ezekiel 20:11 it is God who speaks concerning his people, saying, “I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.” And in Romans 10:5 Paul says, “For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.”
This lawyer was not wrong. Technically, theoretically, or hypothetically, if a person were to keep God’s law purely from a heart of love, perfectly in thought, word, and deed, and perpetually from the very beginning of their life to the very end, they would inherit eternal life.
Two, Jesus replied to the lawyer saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”, to avoid the false charge of being against the law of Moses. Jesus is not against Moses. Moses stood with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, remember? Moses was supremely interested in Jesus and in his work. Jesus is not against Moses. And neither is Jesus against the law of Moses. This is what Christ plainly said as recorded in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17, ESV). In other words, Christ did not come to oppose, cast down, or trash the law of Moses and the prophets who applied the law of Moses to the people, but to fulfill them. Did Christ do away with the law of Moses? In some ways, yes. But he did not do away with the law of Moses by opposing it or casting it down to the ground. No, the law of Moses has passed away because Christ fulfilled it. He fulfilled the moral laws of Moses by living in obedience to them. He fulfilled the ceremonial and symbolical portions of the law of Moses because they pointed forward to him and his work of redemption. The civil laws given to Old Covenant Israel have been fulfilled and have passed away too because Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. The point is that: Jesus was not opposed to the law of Moses, as some accused him of being. He was, however, opposed to the misinterpretation and misuse of the law of Moses, as we will soon see. And this is one reason he answered this lawyer in the way that he did – to avoid misunderstandings and false accusations. Christ did not cast down the law, he upheld it.
Three, Jesus replied to the lawyer who thought he could earn eternal life through obedience to the law of Moses, saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”, so that the law would condemn him and thus show him his need for the Savior.
In the garden, before sin entered the world, Adam was invited to inherit eternal life by keeping God’s law personally, perfectly, and perpetually. Adam was upright and pure, and so he possessed the ability to do this. As you know, Adam failed to inherit eternal life when he willingly sinned against God. After Adam’s fall into sin, God’s law continues to function in three ways: One, as a rule of life and as light to our feet. God’s law shows us how we ought to live. Two, by God’s common grace the moral law is also used by God to curb or restrain evil in the world generally. And three, the law is used by God to show men and women their sin and their need for a Savior. So, after the fall of man into sin, God’s moral law has these uses: it functions as light to our feet, a curb to restaurant evil, and a disciplinarian to show us our sins and our need for a redeemer. When Christ approved of the lawyer’s answer and said, do this and live, Christ used the law to condemn the lawyer. It’s as if Christ said, you are correct. Pure, exact, perfect, and perpetual obedience to God’s law will lead to life. Go and do it. Love God with all that you are. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do this. Do it personally from a heart filled with perfect love. Do it entirely. Do it exactly. And do it perpetually. In fact, I hope you have done it from the start! If you haven’t, you are already a lawbreaker – a sinner. Go for it, lawyer. Use the law as a means to inherit life eternal. See how it goes for you. If this lawyer knew anything about God’s law, what it truly requires, and what it truly forbids, then he would very quickly see, that the law could not give him life, it could only condemn.
I’m not sure what happened to this lawyer. Did he ever come to his senses? Did he ever come to see that he had not and could not keep God’s law and thus merit eternal life? Did he ever come to see that he needed a Savior and that Jesus is that Savior? We don’t know. But we do see evidence in our passage that the lawyer understood the problem with using God’s law as a way to inherit eternal life. In verse 29, the lawyer answered Jesus again. The text says, “But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”
When the text says that the lawyer desired to justify himself, it means, he wanted to prove himself to be morally upright and guiltless. As I have just said, here is evidence that the lawyer was aware of the problem. He could see that if there was any hope for him to inherit eternal life through the keeping of God’s, the requirements of God’s law would have to be reduced to a bare minimum. The lawyer cound see the problem, but in his pride, he still desired to justify himself – that is, he still desired to be right before God through his own keeping of God’s law – and so he asked, “And who is my neighbor?” in other words, who exactly am I obligated to love as myself? His thought was if I could reduce this group of people down to include a very small number of people – family, close friends, those who look and think just like me, those who share my ethnicity and religion – then maybe I could manage. The parable of the good Samaritan that Jesus responded with should have shattered all hopes in this man regarding his being justified through law-keeping, for here in this parable Jesus expands the definition of neighbor to the maximum. We will consider that parable in detail next Sunday, Lord willing.
For now, I want you to see, that this is what legalists who think that they can be justified through law-keeping will do. They will reduce God’s law to require and forbid as little as possible. More than this, they imagine that God’s law is truly kept when it is kept externally and formally. Jesus’ view on the law was very different. For example, Jesus taught that command, you shall not commit adultery forbids lust in the heart. And the command, you shall not murder forbids hatred in the heart. The legalist will look at God’s law and say, You shall have no other gods before me? Check. I go to church every Sunday. No graven images? Check. I don’t have any idols in my house. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain? Check. I don’t God’s name as a swear word. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy? Check. Again, I’m in church every Sunday. Honor father and mother, no murder, no adultery, no stealing, no bearing false witness. Check, check, check, check, check. No covetousness? Well, let’s not worry about that one. It seems kind of small compared to the others. But Jesus knew better. He knew that these laws were not truly kept unless they were kept from the heart. This is what the commands, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, reveal. Notice that the word “love” is present in both? The essence of God’s law is love. To keep God’s law truly, it must be kept purely from the heart. And to be justified by the law one must be kept in its entirety, perfectly, and perpetually.
This lawyer was wise in the eyes of the world. He was highly educated and held in high esteem by the people. But he was a fool before God. He was blind as it pertains to the way to the Father through the Son. He knew many things about the law of Moses. He had probably memorized most of it. But he did not understand the law, what it truly requires and forbids.
Our children have probably received better training. If they have been catechized, they have learned what sin is. Q. 17: What is sin? A: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. And with the help of Baptist Catechism questions 44-86 they have learned all about God’s moral law, what it truly requires, and what it forbids. And so they know how to respond to question Q. 87: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? A: No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but daily break them in thought, word, or deed. They also know the answer to Q. 89: What doth every sin deserve? A: Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and in that which is to come. And in this way they are prepared to understand their need for Jesus. Q. 90 of our catechism asks, What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin? A: To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. Whether or not our children believe this and trust in Christ for the salvation of their souls is another question. But I am confident that our children, if they have been catechized, have had their feet set down on a firmer foundation than this highly educated lawyer who thought he could justify himself before God through law-keeping, and thus inherit life eternal.
Why did Jesus respond to this lawyer’s appeal to the law as a potential pathway to life eternal by saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”? It was to use the law to condemn him and to show him his need for a Savior.
You see, the problem is not with the law. The problem is with man. What is the law except a rule or standard for righteousness? Does the law have the power to bring us to God? Yes, hypothetically. As I have said, if someone keeps the law purely from the heart, perfectly in thought word and deed, and perpetual all the days of their life, they would stand before God righteous. But “no mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but daily break them in thought, word, or deed.” The problem is not with the law but with the condition of man. And now that man has fallen, his condition is truly miserable.
Men and women are born into this world with Adam’s guilt imputed to them. In other words, we are born into this world under the broken Covenant of Works. The blessings of that Covenant are gone. Only the curses remain. And we know that the wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). Furthermore, men and women are born into this world with corrupted natures. Our minds are darkened. Our wills are bent away from God and toward evil so that we do not freely choose to do what is good, but what is evil. As I have said, man’s condition is now by nature miserable. Add to this the fact that we all commit sins personally. This begins from a very young age. It is no wonder that Paul the Apostle says that we are by nature children of wrath (see Ephesians 2:3).
And so I ask you, is it possible for an ordinary person to inherit eternal life by keeping the law of Moses? No! But the problem is not with the law. The problem is with man. Man cannot keep the law because we are born into this world guilty in Adam and with natures that are fallen and corrupt. And therefore, we are not, in our natural and sinful state, able to keep God’s law but daily break it in thought, word, and deed. This is why Jesus answered the lawyer as he did. It was to show that the law of Moses was good, but that men are bad. The law cannot give us life because we are not able to keep it. To use the language of Paul found in Romans 8, the law is now a “law of sin and death”. The law is not able to bring life to us because it has been, “weakened by the flesh”. And this is why Christ came. He came to deliver us from the curse of the law through his obedient life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. He came so that it might be said, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1–4, ESV).
This brings us to the fourth reason for Jesus’ positive reply. Why would Jesus respond to the lawyer who thought eternal life could be inherited through law-keeping, saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”? Was it not to leave room for himself to inherit eternal life in this way? When Jesus affirmed the law’s ability to confer life, this did not mean that the lawyer would be able to inherit life eternal in this way. But Jesus would walk this path. He would “do this and live”. He is the one who personally, purely, perfectly, and perpetually loved the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus is the one who personally, purely, perfectly, and perpetually loved his neighbor as himself. Jesus obeyed God’s moral law in thought, word, and deed. And given that he was born, lived, and died under the Old Mosaic Covenant, he kept the civil and ceremonial laws of that covenant too. This he did to fulfill all righteousness. Indeed, Christ “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV).
This is why Christ entered into life eternal. He was raised from the dead and ascended to the Father in glory because he kept God’s law perfectly and perpetually. Jesus Christ did not obtain eternal life by the grace of God and through faith. No! He earned it through law-keeping. And how was he able to do this? One, he was not born with Adam’s guilt. He was born of a virgin. Two, his human nature was not corrupted, therefore, but was pure from the moment of conception. His mind was not darkened. His will was not twisted. His affections were not disordered. He was born as Adam was in the beginning – upright and pure. Three, the person of Jesus is the person of the eternal Son of God, and he cannot sin. Four, his human nature was anointed by the Holy Spirit beyond measure to strengthen and uphold him. This is why our catechism answers the question “Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?” By saying, “No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but daily break them in thought, word, or deed.” The word mere is inserted to make room for Jesus. He is a true man, but he is no mere man. He is the one man who was virgin born. He is the person of the eternal Son of God incarnate.
Jesus Christ replied to the lawyer, saying, “you have answered correctly, [keep God’s law] and live” because this was the very path that he would walk. He kept God’s law purely, perfectly, and perpetually, and thus inherited eternal life. In fact, Christ did more than this. He did not only earn eternal life for himself by his personal obedience. He earned eternal life for others too. This he did by laying down his life as a substitute for sinners. He lived a sinless life. He did have to pay the price of death, therefore. There was no reason for the wrath of God to fall on him. And yet he died. The wrath of God was poured out upon him. But this was to atone for the sins of those given to him by the Father in eternity.
*****
Conclusion
The humble, lowly, and uneducated disciples of Jesus could see this. They knew that they were sinners. They knew they could not justify themselves. They knew they needed a Savior to deliver them. They knew that to come to the Father they must go through the Son. They were the “little children” to whom the Father graciously revealed these things. But this lawyer was the epitome of the “wise and understanding” from whom these truths were hidden.
Friends, which path will you choose? Will you, like this lawyer, seek to justify yourself before God by your own good works and obedience to God’s law? Or will you humbly acknowledge your need, turn from your sin, and trust in the one who has kept God’s perfectly, has atoned for the sins of many, and has inherited eternal life, not only for himself, before all who are united to him by faith? I pray that God would give you the wisdom to see your great need and to follow after Jesus.
