From his debtors the moneylender did not receive repayment-he received love. In verse 42 the Lord Jesus asked Simon which of the debtors would love the moneylender more as a result of having been forgiven by him. This indicates that love to the Savior is the issue, not the cause, of His forgiveness. When we experience the Lord’s gracious forgiveness, we respond with love for Him. However, our love may differ in degree, depending on how much we have experienced His forgiveness. This was the reason for the Lord’s word to Simon in verse 47: “To whom little is forgiven, he loves little.” The woman’s loving much was a proof that her many sins had been forgiven; Simon’s loving little testified that he had been forgiven only a little.
Concerning the experience and enjoyment of Christ as a moneylender, we need to pay attention to the three matters of faith, love, and peace. The Lord’s word about love in verse 42 indicates clearly that love is the issue of forgiveness, that love comes after forgiveness instead of preceding it. The cause of the forgiveness of sins is faith. This is why the Lord Jesus eventually said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (v. 50). It was the woman’s faith that had saved her. Her sins were forgiven not because of her love but because of her faith. Therefore, faith comes before forgiveness, and love follows faith. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, our faith becomes the cause of the Lord’s forgiveness of our sins. Then as a result of having our sins forgiven, we begin to love the Lord. As we love Him, this love issues in peace. Then we may walk in peace, which means to live in peace, to have a life of peace. Thus, when we believe in the Lord, we love Him and live a life of peace. This is the Christian life.
In the parable of the good Samaritan (10:25-37) Christ is portrayed as a compassionate Samaritan saving the wounded. The Samaritan in this parable signifies the Man-Savior, who apparently was a layman of low estate. He was despised and slandered as a low and mean Samaritan (John 8:48; 4:9) by the self-exalted and self-justified Pharisees.
This Samaritan took care of the fallen and law-stricken sinner with compassion (Luke 10:30-33). Verse 30 says, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who having both stripped him and beaten him, went away, leaving him half dead.” Jerusalem means “foundation of peace” (cf. Heb. 7:2), and Jericho was a city of curse (Josh. 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34). The words going down indicate falling from the city of the foundation of peace to the city of curse. The man in this parable was taking the way of such a fall. The “robbers” signify the legalistic teachers of the Judaic law (John 10:1), who used the law (1 Cor. 15:56) to rob the lawkeepers. The word stripped signifies the stripping caused by the Judaistic teachers’ misuse of the law. The Greek word translated beaten literally means “laid blows on.” This beating signifies the killing by the law (Rom. 7:9-10). Furthermore, the robbers’ leaving the man half dead signifies the Judaistic teachers’ leaving the lawkeeper in a dead condition (Rom. 7:11, 13).
Luke 10:33 speaks of the compassion of a certain Samaritan who saw the man who had fallen among robbers. “But a certain Samaritan, who was journeying, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.” This Samaritan signifies that the Man-Savior, in His lost-one-seeking and sinner-saving ministry journey (19:10), came down to the place where the wounded victim of the Judaizing robbers was in his miserable and dying condition. When He saw him, He was moved with compassion in His humanity with His divinity. It is important to note that 10:33 speaks not of mercy but of compassion. Compassion is more inward than mercy, issuing from one’s tender, inward feeling.
Verses 34 and 35 describe the Samaritan’s actions in rendering to the stripped and beaten one tender healing and saving care, fully meeting his urgent need. All the aspects of the good Samaritan’s care for the dying one portray the Man-Savior in His merciful, tender, and bountiful care, in His humanity with His divinity, for a sinner condemned under law, showing to the uttermost His high standard of morality in His saving grace.
“He came to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine on them” (v. 34a). The binding up of the wounds indicates that He healed him. Pouring oil and wine on the man’s wounds signifies giving Him the Holy Spirit and the divine life. When the Man-Savior came to us, He poured His Spirit and His divine life on our wounds. The Holy Spirit and the divine life are initial gifts received by all the believers (1 Cor. 1:7). Both of these gifts have been given to us for our healing. From the time we were saved, we have surely experienced the healing of the Holy Spirit with the divine life. The Spirit is the soothing oil, and the divine life is the element that cheers us up through the Spirit.
Luke 10:34b says, “Placing him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him.” This indicates that He brought him to the church and took care of him through the church. Today the local church is an “inn” through which the Man-Savior takes care of us.
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