Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 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 given the right answer; do this, and you will live."
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, 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 while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
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This reading found in Luke 10 is very similar to (if not the same) event told in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and even Luke 18. In Luke 18:18, the Greek text translates literally into English to say, “Kai asked one certain himself ruler , Teacher good , what having done , life eternal will I inherit ?” Here, Luke 10:25 has Greek text that literally translates into English saying, “Kai behold , a certain lawyer stood up , testing himself , saying , Teacher , what having done , life eternal will I inherit ?”
As can readily be seen from this comparison of two events (as told in Luke’s Gospel), both indicate it was “a certain” [meaning one known to Jesus and others who followed him, therefore a known Jew] man of importance [either a “ruler” of the Temple and/or a lawyer of either the Pharisee or Sadducee sect], who referred to Jesus as “Teacher” [with that word capitalized both times] and asked Jesus the exact same question about “inheriting eternal life.” Because Luke relates the memories of Mother Mary, which were told to him as divine revelations of truth, I see how the same story could have been told twice, with the point of this exposure in Luke’s tenth chapter being less about chronology and more about the parable Jesus was led to tell. Neither of the other three recollections [each divinely inspired] tell of this.
When this view is seen, with the event actually taking place at a time when Jesus had gone to the region beyond the Jordan, to wait out the winter before returning to Jerusalem for the Passover [his final one personally attended], the value of his parable (in Mother Mary’s memories] meets the flow of thoughts recited in Luke’s chapter ten. Following the commission of seventy [only told in Luke], Jesus expressing “woe” upon those who reject the purpose of his sending out intern saints and the joyful return of those commissioned, Jesus offered a prayer of thanksgiving [as can be found a similar prayer in the accompanying reading from Colossians 1], before Mary recalled this parable of the “Good Samaritan.” This parable answers the question about “inheriting eternal life,” which presents the ‘red herring’ of a “neighbor,” which still today has people (supposedly of faith) who ask, “Who is my neighbor?” Those who ask that question are those to find woe, because they cannot give thanks for having found that “neighbor” within their own souls.
Whereas the two other similar statements of this event [Matthew and Mark] say “a certain one” came to Jesus [“heis” indicating an “individual”], Luke 18 is the only source that says “a certain ruler” or “a certain member of the assembly of elders” [from “archōn”]. Here, in Luke 10, we are told specifically that “a lawyer certain” [“nomikos,” indicating “one learned in the Law”], which would undoubtedly be a qualification for “a certain one,” who would be a member of the assembly of elders. To my mind, this “certain one” who fits both is Nicodemus, who John wrote was “a man of the Pharisees” [ “lawyers”], who was “a ruler of the Jews” [using “archōn,” meaning “a member of the assembly of elders”]. As a named follower (supposedly) of Jesus, his presence beyond the Jordan, to question Jesus, would not be seen as strange. However, it points out that his being unnamed becomes a signal that this “certain one” was not truly a follower of Jesus, as he was sent as a spy by the Sanhedrin, to whom he was an important part [being a young rich man].
Because Luke identifies this “certain … ruler” as “a lawyer,” Jesus here responds by asking this “certain man,” “Within the law what has been written ?” Adding, “How read you ?” This says the “ruler” [member of the assembly of elders] was recognized as one who claimed to know Mosaic Law. Similarly, in the other three versions of this event, in Matthew he wrote that Jesus responded, “keep the commandments,” while in both Mark and Luke (18) Jesus said, “these commandments you know”. Each of those responses implies that this “certain one” is knowledgeable of the Law, as more than a simple Jew. It implies this “one” take pride in his ability to understand the meaning. This is why Luke here places focus on that knowledge, by Jesus asking specifically, “Within the law what is written?” and “how do you read [the law]?”
In this first question posed by Jesus, the Greek word “En” is capitalized, such that the question goes well beyond a simple question asking “in the law what is written.” A lower-case “en” would be Jesus asking what the “certain lawyer” had memorized, from the surface Hebrew. The capitalization [which is not shown in the first word of the second question, “how” [from “pōs”] is then a divinely elevated word that must be read as Yahweh speaking through the Son, asking an official “lawyer” to answer, “how do you discern that written in the divine scrolls, so it has deeper meaning that the surface value?” The follow-up question, as to “how,” then asks, “by what spiritual assistance do you make these discernments of Scripture?”
Such a question should return one to the first meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, when Jesus told this young rich member of the assembly of elders, “if not a certain one is born from above [anew] , not he is able to see this kingdom of this of God .” That lesson gives the answer to this question now posed, about “what having done , life eternal will I inherit”. In the first encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus asked Nicodemus, “You are the teacher of this of Israel , kai these things not know ?” Now, in Luke, were are asked to remember that and realize this “certain lawyer was testing Jesus [“himself”] as well as his own soul [“himself”] by asking Jesus what he needed to do to “see this kingdom of this of God”. The test was to see if Jesus would give the same answer as three years before, with a spy from the “assembly of elders” plotting to eliminate Jesus as a problem for them.
When the capitalized “En” is read as a divinely elevated word of meaning, one should then hear Jesus asking the “lawyer,” “how are you born from above [anew], so your mind can discern divine Scripture [the law] divinely?” Jesus knew [through the Father within his soul] that this “certain lawyer” still had not been resurrected Spiritually, simply because he was asking, “what having done , life eternal will I inherit ?” Had he “done” self-sacrificing in complete submission to Yahweh, then the “kingdom of this of God” would have exposed the truth of “the law” to him; so, he would have known the answer to his question, which is his complete repentance for “having done” nothing to teach the truth to other Jews prior to the total submission of his soul to Yahweh [making him become "a certain one' known as His and of His Kingdom]. The truth of “being born from above [anew]” would be known that the self-identity of a man like Nicodemus would die figuratively, so in his soul could be raised [being born from above], becoming a once lost soul then in divine union with the Son of Yahweh – Adam-Jesus.
This must be understood when reading this selection from Luke 10. If one is reading without any concept of what “being born from above” means, then one is just as dumb of a stump as Nicodemus was [and all the assembly of elders were], according to divinely discerning the truth of “spiritual matters. When Jesus asked this “certain lawyer,” “how do you read the law to see its true intent,” the truth of that statement says, “If you keep the Law separate from you – not Within – then you can never read the truth of its words. To understand the truth, so your soul will gain eternal life, the Law must be etched upon the walls of your heart [and soul], so your brain is bypassed … because of an internal “neighbor”.”
This truth is stated by this “certain lawyer,” as being, “You shall Love Lord this God of you with of the whole of this of heart of yourself , kai within to all to this soul of yourself , kai within to complete to this to power of yourself , kai within to everything to this to mind of yourself kai This neighbor of yourself like as of yourself .”
This series of important [“kai” usage] statements is less about what is clearly written in the Torah and more about Jesus telling this “certain lawyer.” The fact that this “certain lawyer” spoke these words, in this way recorded by Luke, says his soul was controlled by the mind of Jesus to give the “correct” answer. Jesus would later speak those words before to a gathering of Pharisees, who asked him, “What is the most important law?” [Matthew 23], so the answer given by this “certain lawyer” was well beyond his brain’s ability to discern Scripture and give this detailed answer. This should be seen as the “certain lawyer” speaking as did Peter at times – well beyond his mental abilities. This says both spoke the truth, because the mind of Jesus [his spirit within their souls, temporarily whispering the truth to their brains] was influencing their spoken words.
The truth that of this answer given to “a certain lawyer,” which says, “You have to marry your soul to Yahweh and be “born anew” as the soul of Jesus within your soul. Then, that soul of Jesus will become one’s Lord and one then will know the love of God, through a most divine Baptism by His Spirit. Everything about one’s soul-body then will be sacrifice to Him, so He will become one’s Master, with one’s soul His servant.”
Clearly, if the “certain lawyer” knew this was written in Scripture, he would never have asked the question about inheriting eternal life.
In this, following the “kai” that follows “to mind of yourself [your soul]” is a capitalized “Ton,” which translates as “This.” The capitalization divinely elevates the meaning of “This,” so it is important [“kai”] to see as “to mind of your soul” as being “This neighbor,” where “This” is the one standing before the “certain lawyer” – Jesus. This long and involved statement about what one should be led by, from the law, comes from the “born from above” presence of the soul of Jesus – “This neighbor” standing in front of you. Because Jesus was “This,” not being the source of God’s love within the heart, soul, power and mind of this “certain lawyer,” that lack of “This” meant there was yet to be an “inheritance of eternal life” for his soul-flesh to bank on.
When Jesus heard the divinely inspired truth come from the mouth of this “certain lawyer,” Jesus then told him that was the “correct” answer, where the adverb “Correctly” is capitalized [“Orthōs”]. That word (in the lower-case) means “rightly” (Strong’s), with its “proper” usage being: “straight (without deviation); correctly ("rightly") because conforming to the proper norm (standard).” Because this answer certainly had nothing to do with “conforming to the norm” of that taught by Jerusalem’s Temple teachers, the divinely elevated meaning says the “certain lawyer” answered “Correctly,” with divine assistance [Spiritual possession making him give the “right” answer”]. When Jesus then told the “certain lawyer,” “this do” (what he just said), adding importantly [“kai”], “you will live” – answering his question about “life eternal” – the “certain lawyer” had a lump appear in his throat. He had just spoken the words saying, “This neighbor of yourself,” meaning that must be the focus of everything Scripture says, guiding one to act accordingly. The problem was then that the “certain lawyer” did not know who his “neighbor” was; so, he asked Jesus, “Kai [major importance from a capitalized “kai”] “certain one exists of myself neighbor ?” He wanted to know who he needed to love with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind … so he could inherit life eternal.
To answer this question, Jesus told the parable known as “The Good Samaritan.” To go over the details of this metaphoric story, I recommend you buy my book “Explaining the Parables: From the Gospel of Luke.” I wrote about three parables and one aside relative to those, and the same conclusion still applies. Now, I will simply go over the highlights that should be seen.
First, the two men that avoided a beaten down and robbed Jew were priests of the Temple. One was a high-ranking official [a member of the assembly of elders] and the other was an assistant priest, who was not a Levite, as the Hasmonean Dynasty and the Herodians were forbidden from being Levites. They were therefore in a position of favor or debt owed to the high priest at the time of their assignments. The Samaritan is considered to be worse than a Gentile to one of the members of the assembly of elders in Jerusalem, while still possessing a ‘half-blood’ relationship to the religion that stems from the Torah. The point is not to be so much the literal naming of a “Samaritan,” as the divinely elevated meaning behind the ‘name’ “Samaritan” is “One of the Watch Keepers.” Thus, the “neighbor” is the “One Who Keeps Watch” over one’s soul-body and returns it to strength.
When the “certain lawyer” had said, “This neighbor,” where the written capitalized word “Ton” was a direct pointing to Jesus, “This neighbor” actually says, “This near, nearby,” from the meaning of “plēsion.” (Strong’s) We assume the word should translate as “neighbor,” because (like the bewildered “certain lawyer”), those who hear this parable cannot fathom what “This near” or “This nearby” means. Because the quest is for “life eternal,” a soul is all that can achieve that reward, IF [a ‘big if’] one’s soul has lived by the Law. Since it is an impossibility for a lone soul in a body of flesh to achieve that perfection, the soul must receive a Baptism of Spirit [to be made pure] and then have resurrected within the host soul (a sinner soul washed clean of past sins) the soul of Yahweh’s Son – the “Yahweh elohim” of Genesis 2, which is the soul of Adam, which was made by Yahweh to Save lost souls [where "Jesus" is a name meaning "YAH Saves"].
Adam’s soul was reincarnated in flesh, as Jesus, from the divine plan of Yahweh. To have a resurrected soul within one’s host soul, there are then twin souls together, as one. The soul of the Adam-Jesus Son becomes the Lord over one’s host soul and its flesh, so it never again returns to a sinful way of existence. This is when one becomes a Saint and serves Yahweh “in the name of Jesus – as a Christ" [one Anointed by Yahweh’s Spirit in divine marriage]. This is the “neighbor” that brings total submission to Yahweh and His “love” [the capitalized “Agapēseis” of verse 27], which is the presence of Jesus’ soul within. The soul of Adam-Jesus IS YAHWEH”S LOVE. The Commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself" means to possess the LOVE of Yahweh (the soul of Adam-Jesus) WITHIN one's soul, so the new LORD WITHIN is "This nearby neighbor" guiding YOUR SOUL (a soul is a self).
The problem so-called ‘Christianity’ faces today [growing bigger over the past many centuries] is the same problem faced by the ‘so-called’ Jews that thought they were God’s gift to humanity. The trick question posed by "a certain man" [Nicky] was to have Jesus say something to the effect that was contrary to "Being a Jew means eternal life is guaranteed, as long as you memorize the Law" ... and make a ton of money by showing how salvation is based on net worth, measured in things.
Everyone goes around thinking they only have to be born into a religion, or be sprinkled with some water by a hired hand in a robe [or dunked in an industrial pool or country pond by someone with rolled up pants and sleeves] and ‘presto-chango’ – some duplication of the young rich member of some religion’s assembly of professionals is running around telling Jesus what to do, trying to test him as to the promises Yahweh made long ago.
Everyone is a Nicodemus, who thinks he or she can teach about spiritual matters, when none of them understand “being born from above [anew].” No one can fathom that his or her soul is destined for death-judgment-and reincarnation [or worse] because there is absolutely zero @inheritance@ of life eternal!!! Every soul in a body of pending death must @earn@ his or her way to that reward. To begin to do the work demanded [the Acts of the Apostles] to start down that path to Salvation, one must have a total understanding of who your personal neighbor is.
This is where all the liberal and conservative pastors and priests begin to act like he or she is some kind of god, where he or she can go around making promises, while also casting out some condemnations here and there. People want to read Jesus speaking of “love” – “Agapēseis” in this case – and go to town thinking [a syndrome of Big Brain Disease] that “love’ is that widely varying gamut of human emotions that make he, she, and/or it want to mate like wild monkeys, while getting angry at anyone who tells them he, she, and/or it is an idiot. The LOVE OF GOD is His Son, whom He personally handcrafted on the seventh day, as written in Genesis 2.
If one has not found self-sacrifice and self-identity submission [the figurative killing of one’s soul-flesh – use a crucifix if that works], so one’s soul can become A CHRIST – “Anointed” by Yahweh [that’s what the word means!!!] and then become the soul-womb of Yahweh’s newly wed (Spiritually) wife-soul and be where Yahweh has His Son’s soul resurrected [tell Yahweh how much you do not believe He can make more than one Jesus, if your soul is so brave!!!] IN YOUR OWN SUBMISSIVE SOUL. If that has not happened to YOUR SOUL SO THAT PERSONAL EXPERIECE BECOMES THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR FAITH, then you have absolutely no clue what GOD’S LOVE is.
Every companion reading to this one in Luke speaks of terms that modern Christians do not know, nor do they wish to learn. Those words are “Yahweh” – the name one’s soul must take in divine union – “elohim” – the life eternal that Yahweh placed in His Son Adam (same soul as Jesus) – “Christ” – the Spirit of Yahweh’s Baptism that erases all past sins – and “Lord” – the placement of Jesus soul in one’s soul [a wife of Yahweh], so the soul of Jesus becomes the “Lord” over one’s soul-flesh … as one’s NEIGHBOR within. One must be able to see how all readings set aside for this fifth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10] lead one to understand this lesson of “love one another with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, as one must love that most divine soul so “nearby” it is one with you.**
Stop being some political activist that promotes seeing the whole wide world as like it is Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. No one can save your soul but you; and, for you to begin to do that, you best fall in LOVE with Yahweh and become “in the name Jesus” – His Son reborn in you, as your Lord (your soul's neighbor). When you stop playing little-g god, you can see how your trying to teach about spiritual matters, when not reborn from above [anew] is most futile.