The word about loving God with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourself is not to help us to inherit eternal life. It is only to show us the kind of persons we are. If you have never heard a word about loving God, you would not know how important it is to love God. If you have never heard anything about loving your neighbor, you would not know how important it is to love your neighbor. Once you have heard the word about loving your neighbor, you will realize that you have never loved your neighbor. Actually, the words in the law such as loving God, loving the neighbors, not coveting or killing, are there only to expose our sinfulness. They show us our condition. The end of the law, as James has said, is simply to serve as a mirror. It shows you who you are. You do not know what your face looks like. But if you look in a mirror, you see what you look like. Formerly, you did not know that you do not love God. Now you know. Not only is there no love with the whole heart, whole soul, whole strength, and whole mind, there is not any love for God at all. Not only is there no love for God, there is not even love for one's neighbor. You have been robbed by the robbers already. Yet you still do not know what has happened. With the law, you know. You were beaten by the robbers, left half dead, and stripped of your garments, and you did not even know it. Now you know. What then did the priests and the Levites do? They came to say: "My friend, do you not know that you have been beaten by the robbers? Do you not know that your garments have been stripped off? Do you not know that you are half dead?"

After a while, another one came. This was the good Samaritan. "But a certain Samaritan, who was journeying, came upon him." Unlike the other two, this one came journeying. The priest came by coincidence. The Levite also came by coincidence. But the Samaritan came journeying. He came purposely to save him. "And when he saw him, he was moved with compassion." He had love, and he had compassion. At the same time, he had oil and wine with him. Hence, he could heal the one beaten by the robbers. Who is this Samaritan? John 4:9 tells us that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. Everyone mentioned in this story was a Jew. The one beaten up by the robbers was a Jew. The priest was a Jew. The Levite was a Jew. What do the Jews represent? And what does the Samaritan represent? The Jews represent us human beings. What about the Samaritan? The Samaritans have no dealings with the Jews. They do not mix in with the Jews. They are apart from the Jews and above the Jews. We know that this One is the Lord Jesus. One day when the Lord Jesus was on earth, a group of Jews criticized the Lord Jesus and reviled Him with two very strong statements, saying that He was a Samaritan and one who had a demon (John 8:48). Please notice that in Jesus' answer He said that He did not have a demon. The Jews said that He was a Samaritan and had a demon. The Lord denied that He had a demon but did not deny that He was a Samaritan. Hence, the Samaritan here refers to the Lord Jesus. John shows us that in type He is a Samaritan.