LUKE 10:25
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying,
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Here we meet Jesus and one of the lawyers of His day. The latter wanted to set a trap for Jesus; and with that in mind he put to Jesus the question cited above, a question which he himself considered very difficult and dangerous to answer.
When Jesus answered very directly by referring to that which was written in the law, the man apparently became disconcerted for a moment. He, an expert in the law, put a difficult question to an untrained rabbi, and Jesus replied by showing him that he, the expert in legal matters, did not know the law.
But the lawyer within him came to the rescue. Jesus had mentioned the word “neighbor.” This was a much-debated concept among the learned of that day. Accordingly he seized upon the word and asked Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?”
How he resembles us!
We are all lawyers, born lawyers, eminent lawyers! Notice even little children. They cannot talk well as yet, but how they can excuse and defend themselves when they have done something wrong! And we adults, even though we are not exceptionally gifted, all do have one gift, namely that of defending ourselves. Listen to our speeches in defense of ourselves! Notice how we bring out all the mitigating circumstances—fully as capably as any attorney in court.
And not only before our conversion. We Christians, too, carry on a persistent defense of ourselves. Nor do we do it only before others. How seldom we meet a person who acknowledges his mistakes without attempting to excuse himself.
But we try to excuse ourselves before God also. To make immediate acknowledgement of our sins, without excusing ourselves before God, involves us in a great struggle every day.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 