If that is the case, I would ask if any one of us has ever loved God this way, that is, with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole strength, and our whole mind. No, there is no one like this. There is no one who loves God with his whole heart, his whole soul, his whole strength, and his whole mind. No one can say that he loves his neighbor as himself. There is no such person. Since there is no such person, no one would obtain eternal life. We need to understand why the Lord Jesus said that we should love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole strength, and our whole mind. Thank the Lord that the Bible is indeed the revelation of God. There is absolutely no mistake in it. This is the reason I love to read the Bible. If this passage beginning from Luke 10:25 ended with verse 28, the truths of the Bible would contradict one another. If that were the case, man would have to love God with his whole heart, his whole soul, his whole strength, and his whole mind. None of these four "whole's" could be missing. But if that were the case, no one could ever be saved. Thank the Lord that after verse 28 there are many more verses. Let us read on.

It is fortunate that this man was quite bothersome. "But he, wanting to justify himself." He asked this question for no other reason than to justify himself. He said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Since the Lord said that he had to love the Lord his God with his whole heart, his whole soul, his whole strength, and his whole mind and to love his neighbor as himself, it would have been awkward for him to ask who God was. Did he, a lawyer, not know who his own God was? It would also have been hard for him to ask who he was, for of all the men in the world, only philosophers do not know who they are. With nothing else to ask, he asked who his neighbor was. He seemed to say, "You are saying that I have to love my neighbor as myself, but who is my neighbor?" From verse 30 on, the Lord told him who his neighbor was. He began to tell him a story.

This story is one of the most common and familiar stories in the church. It would be good for us to read it together: "Jesus, taking up the question, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who having both stripped him and beat him, went away, leaving him half dead. And by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. And likewise also a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a certain Samaritan, who was journeying, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion; and he came to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine on them. And placing him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him; and whatever you spend in addition to this, when I return, I will repay you. Which of these three, does it seem to you, has become a neighbor to him who fell into the hands of the robbers?"