Scholars Know the Heart-of-the-Matter but the Good Samaritans Know about the Matter-of-the-Heart

Luke 10:25-37

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

• Scholars know the heart-of-the-matter, but the answer is a matter-of-the heart.
• Scholars seek to be blameless by asking closed-end questions.
• There are many people who are taking a beating in our communities today.
• Leaders of the churches are turning their heads to the beaten down populations.
• The detested good Samaritans have compassion for those who are beaten down.
• Christ calls us to be like the good Samaritan.

Scholars know the heart-of-the-matter, but the answer is a matter-of-the heart. “And behold, a certain teacher in the law stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 10:25 This question is like a teacher in a classroom asking test questions of their students. The teacher is looking for the one right answer that matches what the written word of the book says. However, when that question was asked, the correct answer hadn’t been written in the books yet, which is that the way to eternal life is by coming to Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. That answer would result in an “F” grade and expulsion from school for blasphemy. Jesus responded by asking the professor, “He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” Luke 10:26 The teacher responded to Jesus with the typical “heart-of-the-matter” answer, “So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 It’s one thing to know the right answers, but to actually live by the answers we give is on another level, as Jesus said, “And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” Luke 10:28

Scholars seek to be blameless by asking closed-end questions. “But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29 He wanted Jesus to give him an explicit and distinct answer. According to the schoolbooks, the Jewish people were Holy and set apart from everyone else around them. To love a “neighbor as yourself” would be one of those “interesting” educational debates. Did that mean to love outsiders the same as a Jewish person or was it stating the obvious that all Jewish people should be loved the same from house to house. For Jesus to tell the teacher to love whoever they come across would be very contentious and would be a flunking response. Today, the society of those who live by the mark of the beast despise and reject those who are not part of their social network. They only love each other and that is their explicit and distinct definition of a “neighbor.” The whosoever, as spoken by Christ, is not in their vocabulary. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we treat other people with respect and free of any type of contempt towards them. Our neighbors are the people whom God created and sent His Son to die for. Jesus shares a parable with the law professor to drive home the point;

There are many people who are taking a beating in our communities today. “Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Luke 10:30 The best part about this story is that the identity of the robbed and beaten man is not given. He just represents anybody in need of emergency care, and many in our cities around the nation are in need of dire help. People are laying on the streets everywhere, living in homelessness, and the condition of migrants at the border is horrendous. Not to mention that substance abuse is so horrendous that they are found dying everywhere in public places. At the same time, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been taken out of society and there is no freedom to spread His testimony. People choose to live by the mark of the beast, and they have no compassion outside their own social network.

Leaders of the churches are turning their heads to the beaten down populations. “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” Luke 10:31 All priests were Levites and all Levites had duties in the churches, but the priests were like the head over the other Levites. The priest is like the top leaders of the churches of today. The top leader of the church saw the robbed and beaten man and walked on the other side to avoid him. The leaders of the churches govern by the mark of the beast and are not helpful to those who are not part of the community of the mark of the beast. They turn their heads when they see the followers of Jesus Christ being beat down, the Holy Spirit kicked around, Jesus being kicked to the gutter, and God being mocked. “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.” Luke 10:32 The ministers follow the rules of the top leaders of the churches, as the Levite followed the example of the priest.

The detested good Samaritans have compassion for those who are beaten down. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.” Luke 10:33 Samaritans were ostracized by the Jews, which means they were spoken against by the Levites and their priests. This is like decent, caring, and compassionate individuals being cut off by church leadership, the ministers, and the congregation. The good Samaritans are people whom Jesus approves of because they are doing the will of God in His Spirit. “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” Luke 10:34 The good Samaritans want to heal those who are robbed beaten down and hurting within communities. They want to bring the saving blood of Jesus Christ to them while saturating them in the Holy Spirit, then to take them to a place where they can be cared for. “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’” Luke 10:35 The followers of Jesus Christ are willing to use their own possessions and money to bring healing to others. Unfortunately, those who live for Jesus have little amounts of money and possessions. When the digital currency comes in full force, there will be no individual charity from person to person. The government of the mark of the beast is killing the compassion of the Holy Spirit, discarding the teachings of the Bible, and setting themselves up as God.

Christ calls us to be like the good Samaritan. “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” Luke 10:36 We know the Levite and the priest had no compassion to help the man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. The same as we know that the churches of today have no compassion for those beaten down in this world. They have formed a partnership with the community who embraces humanism which is empowered by the mark of the beast. They believe in the type of help that agencies are able to give but reject the help that comes through the Deity of Jesus Christ. Community leaders and the churches are opening the door to the digital currency, embracing the agenda of the global government, and being guided by the mark of the beast. If the community leaders were asked what the merciful thing to do for the suffering in the world, it’s obvious they would reply with words of humanism that sounds churchy. They would reply like the professor of law did, “And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Luke 10:37a. Unfortunately, the only thing they really care about is their institutionalized world based on the government of the mark of the beast. To follow the commands of Jesus Christ is to have a heart of compassion, not a heart filled with the thoughts and feelings of the thing that has power over physiology. We are to be like the good Samaritan who cares for people from a heart filled with the compassion of God through Jesus Christ, “Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37b.

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11