Matthew 18; Luke 10: “What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?”

The Good Samaritan by Dan Burr

This week’s lesson in the Come, Follow Me manual encourages us to notice how the Savior answered questions in unexpected ways. Here are some things I’ve learned from this week’s reading, grouped by the questions which prompted these teachings:

1. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Why would the disciples ask this? Presumably, they wanted to know how they could excel spiritually. Here is the Savior’s challenging reply: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-3).

The angel who appeared to King Benjamin taught the same principle. After explaining that little children are saved by Jesus Christ because they cannot sin, he added, “but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children.” He then listed several childlike qualities: “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him” (Mosiah 3:18-19).

When Jesus visited the American continent, He told the people that they must repent, become as a little child, and be baptized to inherit the kingdom of God. (See 3 Nephi 11:37-38.)

And Mormon later instructed his son Moroni to “teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children” (Moroni 8:10).

Here are two blog posts about emulating children:

• And Becometh as a Child – Mosiah 3:19
• As Their Little Children – Moroni 8:10

2. How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Peter knew that forgiveness was required. He just wanted to know how much. Jesus responded by emphasizing the enduring imperative of forgiveness: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).

God offers to heal us when we are wounded, but we have to want to be healed. (See Luke 18:41, John 5:6.) An unforgiving person hangs onto their wounds as evidence against their antagonist. They are therefore not willing to let God perform His healing work.

Here’s a blog post about this essential gospel principle:

• Forgiveness

3. Who is my neighbour?

The lawyer who questioned the Savior already understood the two great commandments: We must love God and love our neighbor. However, he apparently wanted to circumscribe the definition of “neighbor.” Luke says he did this “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29).

Jesus turned the tables on this question with the parable of the Good Samaritan. “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” He asked. “He that shewed mercy on him,” said the lawyer. “Go, and do thou likewise,” instructed the Savior (Luke 10:36-37). No restrictions, no limitations. We are to love everyone.

In the parable, the Good Samaritan took the wounded traveler to an inn. The Greek word for inn is pandocheion (πανδοχεῖον), a compound word which literally means “all-accepting” or “receptive to all.” Elder Gerrit W. Gong said, “Jesus Christ invites us to become, like Him, a good Samaritan, to make His Inn (His Church) a refuge for all from life’s bruises and storms” (“Room in the Inn,” General Conference, April 2021 (see footnote 2). Here is a blog post on that topic:

• Room in the Inn

4. Dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?

Martha was frustrated. Like her sister, Mary, she loved Jesus and was honored to have Him in their home. But unlike her sister, who sat at Jesus’ feet learning from Him, she was busy. There was much work to be done, and she became increasingly upset as she did more and more of the work alone. Finally, she voiced her displeasure, not to Mary but to Jesus: “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me” (Luke 10:40). I find the first part of the sentence to be most poignant. Like the disciples on the ship in the storm, we sometimes wonder whether the Savior even cares about what we are going through. (See Mark 4:38.)

He does care, and He began His response with a statement of empathy: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.” After acknowledging Martha’s concerns, He went on to validate Mary’s actions: “One thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).

By speaking positively about both sisters, Jesus modeled how to be a peacemaker. See the following blog post on this topic: Blessed Are the Peacemakers – 3 Nephi 12:9.

We can also learn from Martha’s experience. The Greek word for “cumbered,” perispao (περισπάω), means literally “pulled in all directions.” If we aren’t careful, we can become overstretched and overscheduled, crowding out time and energy that could otherwise be spent drawing closer to God and strengthening relationships with others. Here’s a blog post about avoiding that predicament:

• “Seek Not to Be Cumbered”

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