Page 96 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

hundreds of people in these cities, yet they would not believe in Him. The seventy-two returned with
great joy declaring that they were even able to cast out demons in Christ’s name.

During this time in Judea Jesus was asked by a scribe who was a student of the law how a person could
be saved. This scribe was testing Jesus in hopes he could find inconsistencies in His teachings. Jesus
answered his question with a question, often called the Socratic Method. Jesus asked the Scribe a
question who answered it correctly: “Love God and love your neighbor”. Jesus responded in sharing a
parable specifically to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Having
just come through Samaria, he recalled the
animosity Jews and Samaritans felt for one
another. The parable shared how a man was
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, a distance
of 25 kilometers or about 15.5 miles. In Jesus’ time
the Jericho-Jerusalem road was notorious for its
danger and difficulty. It took about 8 hours to
cover the distance of 15 miles with a change of
elevation of 3400 feet or 1060 meters. There
were many switchbacks and hiding places for
thieves so normally people traveled in groups for
personal protection (see picture to left). In the
story, a Jewish man, we presume, was traveling down the path when he was attacked by robbers and
badly beaten to the point of death. A priest and a Levite, both who knew and studies the Law, passed by
sharing no compassion. Finally, a Samaritan, the least likely to show compassion, came to the man,
dressed his wounds with wine and oil, put the man on his animal to take him to an inn for a time of
healing.

Jesus was drawing a strong contrast between those who knew the Law but did not heed the Law, and
those who obeyed the Law in showing mercy. Jesus was telling the scribe to live the Law out in his life.
It is the same message of James who said that faith without works is a dead and unreal faith.

From this location, Jesus and the disciples came to a
village called Bethany where they stayed with Mary,
Martha, and Lazarus. This home would become
very strategic to Jesus during the week of His
passion and He seemed to be preparing for that
final week. Bethany lies on the backside of the Mount of
Olives, about 1.25 miles due east from Jerusalem or
about a 40-minute walk (see map to the right)

While on this journey, Jesus prayed in a certain place.
His discipled had observed Him numerous times praying and learned from the Master. It was at this
time that His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus not only did so but gave them
illustrations about why their heavenly Father desires to answer their prayers.

During Jesus’ Judean ministry, the Gospel writers share with us the bulk of Jesus’ teachings. Luke is 24
chapters long, yet the Judean ministry begins in chapter 9 to the end of the book. So, while the Gospel

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