You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. (ESV)

The question that prompted The Parable of the Good Samaritan was a follow-up to the original question posed by a Teacher of the Mosaic Law (lawyer in ESV). The original question is found in Lk. 10.25: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” To this, Jesus countered to ask the lawyer’s view from the scriptures what that entailed. The lawyer recited part of the Shema, specifically, Dt. 6.5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This quoted section summarizes The Decalogue, the 10 Commandments as love for God and love for other humans. This quote and summary by the lawyer Jesus affirms: “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Returning to the lawyer’s initial question, which was: “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?,” we see the lawyer clearly used the term “eternal” (aionias) for his question to Jesus. Lev. 18.5 promises life also for keeping the commands and statutes, and presumably, refers to eternal life also as the parallel of Jesus’ words in Lk. 10.25-28.

The Two Natures of Christ

Most faithful theologians recognize that Jesus had two natures, human and divine. The Logos (divinity) was from the beginning (eternity) as Jn.1.1 affirms. The human Jesus probably did not rely on His divinity to ensure His resurrection. Instead, Jesus kept the Law perfectly (Jn. 8.46 in the context of vss. 34-47). Therefore, it seems justified to view Jesus’ fulfillment of righteousness, as the obedience which Adam lacked, and Jesus fulfilled, so as to win justification of all who are His.