The Self-Justified One Needing A Loving Neighbor
THE SELF-JUSTIFIED ONE NEEDING A LOVING NEIGHBOR
In verse 36 the Man-Savior went on to ask the lawyer, "Which of these three, does it seem to you, has become a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?" The self-justified lawyer thought that he could love another as his neighbor (v. 29). Under the blindness of self-justification, he did not know that he himself needed a neighbor, the Man-Savior, to love him.
In verse 37 the lawyer answered, "The one who showed mercy to him." Then Jesus said to him, "You go and do likewise." The Greek words ren dered, "the one who showed mercy to him" may also be translated, "the one who dealt mercifully with him." The self-justified one was helped to know that he needed a loving neighbor (like the good Samaritan, who was a figure of the Man- Savior) to love him, not a neighbor to be loved by him. The Savior intended to unveil to him through this story that he was condemned to death under the law, unable to take care of him self, needless to say love others, and that the Man-Savior was the One who would love him and render him full salvation.