learning evangelism from jesus

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J E R R A M B A R R S

JERRAM BARRS, a former staff member at English L’Abri, is the founder and resident scholar of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theologi-cal Seminary, where he also teaches apologetics and outreach as professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture. His books include Crossway’s The Heart of Evangelism and Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible.

“ This is not a book about evangelistic technique but about doing evangelism bib-lically. There is a difference! Jerram Barrs shows us that Jesus had no wooden formula that he followed but rather was about engaging people in the depths of their being. As a result, this is an unusually wise guide to doing evangelism. The great truths of the gospel shine forth undiminished while at the same time the recesses of the human heart are explored with real insight.”

David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“ I can think of no other living educator who better embodies the gospel’s tough love combined with its unconditional acceptance of fl awed people than Jerram Barrs. In this wonderfully moving account of Jesus’ approach to evangelism, Barrs shows us the ways in which the Lord’s message penetrates deep into the human heart, uncovering its darkest secrets while always defending the dignity of its owner.”

William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary

“ The fruit of Jerram Barrs’s years of evangelistic experience comes to expression here for our benefi t as he traces Jesus’ interaction in the Gospels with various individuals and groups.”

David Clyde Jones, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary

“ In his practical, biblical, and winsome style, Jerram Barrs challenges us to hum-bly share good news with our friends who are far from God.”

Darrin Patrick, Founding Pastor, The Journey Church, St. Louis, Missouri

U.S. $15.99

Learning Evangelism from Jesus

Copyright © 2009 by Jerram Barrs

Published by Crossway Books a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Josh Dennis

Cover photo: The Riverside Church, New York City

First printing 2009

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a pub-lishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are from The Holy Bible: New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked AT are the author’s translation.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0318-4

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-1193-6

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-1194-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBarrs, Jerram. Learning evangelism from Jesus / Jerram Barrs. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4335-0318-4 (tpb) 1. Evangelistic work—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. N.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.BS2545.E82B38 2009269'.2—dc22 2008035821

V P 1 8 1 7 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 11 1 0 0 9

1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 11 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LearningEvanJesus.03184.i04.indd 6 3/26/09 2:35 PM

CONTENTS

1 The Christian’s Calling to the World 11

2 Caught in the Act 21

3 The Woman of Samaria 35

4 Jesus and the Bible Teacher 53

5 A Wealthy Young Leader of the Church 69

6 An Unusual Dinner Invitation 83

7 The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin: Parables for 101 a Mixed Gathering

8 The Two Lost Sons: The Good, the Bad, 117 and the Ugly

9 The “Sinful Woman” and the “Righteous Man” 131

10 Revealing the Pharisee’s Heart 149

11 Religious and Moral Traditionalists: The Problem of 163 Rules and Traditions

12 Faith among the Canaanites 179

13 The Faith of the Centurion: An Officer and 193 a Gentleman

14 A Night Visitor 205

15 The Shrewd Manager: Money, Money, Money 219

16 Not the Most Comfortable Guest! 233

Conclusion 249

Study Guide 253

Notes 269

General Index 273

Scripture Index 279


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JESUS AND THE

BIBLE TEACHER

Our last chapter looked at an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman that was very fruitful, in that it led to many conver-sions. Our next encounter does not have a similar outcome, though it is a portion of Scripture that is probably even better known than John’s account of the woman at the well. In this chapter we turn to a very familiar passage, an account in the Gospels of one of Jesus’ confrontations with “a lawyer” (esv), “an expert in the Law” (niv)—or as we might put it today—“a Bible teacher,” for this man was a leading Bible scholar of his day. Luke’s story of this meeting contains Jesus’ exposition of the second great commandment, or what it means to love one’s neighbor. In addition, in the course of his conversation with this Bible teacher, Jesus tells one of his best-known parables, in fact one of the best-known stories in the world—the parable of the Good Samaritan.

THE BIBLE TEACHER’S QUESTION

The expert in the law, or, as we shall call him in our reflections, “the Bible teacher,” has spent his life studying and teaching the Scriptures and is clearly confident of his knowledge. This man comes to Jesus with a question: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). What a great question! Wouldn’t we be pleased if someone, anyone, came to one of us with such a question? The man approaches Jesus as a fellow Bible teacher. This is the kind of question that an evangelist longs for and prays for. Imagine being a


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Sunday school teacher, or a speaker at a conference, and being asked such a wonderful question. Think of a neighbor or a workmate ask-ing such a question. How would we have answered? Wouldn’t we have jumped in quickly with an account of how to be saved and then urged this inquirer to follow us in a prayer of commitment?

But, do we notice as we read the record of Jesus’ response, that he never answers this man’s great question? Jesus does not tell this fellow scholar and teacher how he may inherit eternal life. This fail-ure of Jesus to answer the question leaves us with many of our own questions. How would we reply if someone were to come to us and ask this kind of question? Why does Jesus not answer this question? What are we being taught by the way that Jesus replies? What is going on here?

Luke helps our understanding by letting us know that the schol-ar’s question is not sincere; rather, he is testing Jesus. He is not coming to learn from Jesus. He is saying in effect, “Let’s see if you know the Scriptures; are you fit to teach the Word? Are you properly trained, like me?” He believed that he had gone to the best Bible school of the day, and he knew that Jesus had never been a student there, or at any other school with which he was familiar.

JESUS’ ANSWERING QUESTION

Jesus sees deep into this Bible teacher’s heart, he observes his insin-cerity, and he responds, not with a direct answer to the man’s great question, but with a question of his own: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” “The law” could refer to the Ten Commandments, to all the laws of Moses, to the five books of the Pentateuch, or to the whole Old Testament, the complete Word of God at the time. Here, Jesus is asking: “What does God’s Word teach about the way to inherit eternal life?” The scholar could have replied: “I asked first!” Or he could have felt ashamed of his heart’s attitude to Jesus, and said: “Teacher, forgive me for my insincerity, but I would indeed like to know what you think.”

However, he cannot resist showing off his knowledge, and so


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Jesus and the Bible Teacher

he gives his answer, demonstrating that he is not at all interested in learning from Jesus.

THE BIBLE TEACHER’S ANSWER

The answer of the scholar is a wonderful answer. He displays a deep knowl-edge of Scripture. He summarizes the whole law of God in his reply:

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. (Luke 10:27)

In fact, his summary of the law of God is the same as that which Jesus himself gave on another occasion (Mark 12:28–34). We might say that, theoretically, this is an accurate answer to the question. If any of us were to keep these commandments of loving God with our whole being, and of loving our neighbor as ourselves, we would indeed inherit eternal life.

However, God never intended to give his law as a prescription for attaining eternal life, for the Lord knew when he handed the law to his people that they were sinners who needed his forgiveness. The law is a gift of God’s grace to the people he already loves, the people he has already delivered from bondage to be his own. As such, as a gift of grace, the law gives a description of how God has designed human life to be lived, but certainly not a prescription for attaining life with God. In all the long years of the history of our race there is only one human being who has ever kept these two great commandments fully and truly—and that is Jesus himself.

JESUS’ REPLY

How will Jesus respond to this beautiful and accurate summary of the law? He could have given a brief exposition of his Father’s purpose in giving the law (similar to the paragraph above). However, Jesus knows that if he were to enter into an exposition of the purpose of the law, the Bible teacher would have been delighted, and he would have entered happily into a long debate about the law in which he could



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show off more of his knowledge. The Bible teacher’s desire is still to display his learning and, if possible, to prove Jesus’ inadequacy, either in Biblical knowledge or in debate. Because Jesus sees the motives of his heart, he does not go the route the Bible teacher is intent on pur-suing. Instead Jesus commends the teacher for his answer: “You have answered correctly.” However, Jesus adds a stinger to his words of commendation: “Do this and you will live.”

AVOIDING THE CHALLENGE

Jesus’ answer to him implies that if he were to obey the two great commandments perfectly, then he would in truth inherit eternal life. So, how does the Bible teacher respond at this point? He should have said something like this: “I know that the Word of God teaches these two great commandments as summarizing the whole duty of every man and woman. And, I hope that at least to some small degree, I have tried to keep these laws, but I am unable. My heart is so often cold toward God; and I am afraid that I do not love my neighbor as I love myself. Neither I, nor anyone I know, ever perfectly keeps these laws. Jesus, please tell me what to do.” If he had answered in this way, we may be sure that Jesus would have answered his initial question: “How do I inherit eternal life?”

Instead of being open and honest and acknowledging his sin and need, the Bible teacher tries to justify himself. Perhaps he also hopes to gain some time, as Jesus’ words are not at all what he is expect-ing. Jesus’ reply unsettles him and rocks him back a little. The Bible teacher hopes to get back to demonstrating his knowledge, so he asks the question, “And who is my neighbor?” His desire is that he can engage Jesus in a comfortable and technical discussion as to how exactly “my neighbor” is to be defined.

JESUS TELLS A STORY

Again, Jesus refuses to play the intellectual games the Bible teacher desires. Instead of giving a direct answer to his question about “my neighbor,” Jesus answers by telling him a story. The story does of course answer the teacher’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” and


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it answers many other questions as well. Jesus’ story is the one we know as the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), one of the best-known and best-loved stories in the world.

UNDERSTANDING PARABLES

How are we to read parables? We can begin to answer this ques-tion by looking at what Jesus himself has to say about his use of parables. (His answer is given briefly in Luke 8:8–10; Mark 4:9–13; and more fully in Matt. 13:9–17, 34–35.) Jesus declares that the parables reveal the “good news” of the kingdom to those with open ears and hearts, people who are eager to hear his message; but the parables are “bad news” for those whose ears and hearts are closed to his message of salvation, revealing only judgment. Parables have two opposite effects, depending on the hearer. To some they are a rich treasury of truth; to others they are an offense.

How is this possible that a story can work in such contrary ways? At one level most of the parables seem to be simple stories, often drawn from everyday life. This is part of the reason why they are a word of judgment for some. The Pharisees and teachers of the law desire to parade their learning before Jesus and to engage with him at the level of sophisticated theological and ethical discussion. Jesus, most of the time, resists their attempts to engage him at this level, as he sees that this would simply cater to their arrogance, their idolatrous love of learning, and their desire for endless disputation without ever coming to a heartfelt commitment to the practice of the truth. Jesus refuses to play their game, and instead tells stories to the theological heavyweights to throw them off balance. Their ten-dency is to dismiss his teaching as naïve stories, better suited for the “common-folk” and ignorant sinners. In their minds, Jesus the story teller is just a crowd pleaser.

But Jesus’ stories are rarely as simple or as straightforward as they seem. In fact, they do communicate profound theological and moral truths, and often they do answer the testing questions that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law bring to Jesus. This is true of the parable of the Good Samaritan. However, when Jesus does answer



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their questions, his answer is not straightforward. It is hidden within the parable, in a manner that is much more challenging personally than a straightforward reply would be.

Parables can be very simple, or they may work on as many as four levels, as can be seen in chart 4.1.

CHART 4.1: THE FOUR LEVELS OF A PARABLELevel one: A marvelous story that captures the imagination of the listenerLevel two: A story that teaches moral behaviorLevel three: A story that reveals something about the kingdom of GodLevel four: A story that reveals something about Jesus himself

The parable of the Good Samaritan works on all these levels. It is a marvelous, unforgettable story. It certainly teaches us about how we are to live. It reveals much about the kingdom of God. And it teaches us about Jesus. But what is this particular story teaching our Bible teacher—and us?

THE PARABLE’S LESSONS FOR THE BIBLE TEACHER

A Theological Put-Down

Jesus’ story is first of all a theological put-down. Jesus refuses to engage in the kind of theological game the teacher desires—a game where each player in turn shows off his knowledge, verbal acuity, and dexterity, and then the cleverest is declared the winner of the debate. Instead of a debate, the Bible teacher hears (in his mind) a children’s story.

What Is True Love for My Neighbor?

The story is teaching the lawyer, and us, the answer to the questions “What does it mean to love one’s neighbor as oneself?” and “How does one keep the second great commandment?” Jesus’ answer to this question is very challenging. The parable teaches that true love for one’s neighbor requires the sacrifice of time, money, energy, convenience, and even safety—in other words, the sacrifice of oneself—for another. This is the kind of love that the Samaritan shows for the man who fell among thieves. He endangers himself by stopping to care for the robbed and


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wounded man. He puts the man on his animal, and so he himself has to walk. He uses what he has to care for the man. He spends a considerable amount of time and money to ensure that the man recovers. This is love for one’s neighbor: spending on others the time, energy, money, service, and sacrifice that one would spend on oneself. Jesus is challenging the Bible teacher: “Think, before you so lightly declare God’s command-ments. It is easy enough to say that God’s law requires us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, it is another matter altogether to put this into practice.”

Who Is My Neighbor?

The story is answering for the Bible teacher, and for us, the question that he has actually asked and about which he has every intention of parading his knowledge. The question is, of course, “Who is my neigh-bor?” Jesus’ reply to his question is, once more, very challenging. My neighbor, whom God demands that I love, is not just my spouse, my children, my family, and my close friends—people for whom I care. My neighbor is anyone in need of my help, perhaps even an enemy. The Old Testament law itself is clear about this (Ex. 23:4–5; Deut. 22:1–4). Jesus adds an extra challenge for the teacher: “For you, a Jew, ‘your neighbor’ includes a needy Samaritan, just as in my story, a needy Jew is the neighbor of the Samaritan.” Like the Bible teacher, we all like to restrict the scope of God’s commandments to make them more man-ageable. Jesus exposes this as self-justifying hypocrisy.

Knowing and Doing

The story is pushing the Bible teacher, and us, to think about the rela-tionship between “knowing the truth” and “doing the truth.” People who know God’s Word well may not necessarily be people who are obeying that Word. Even those who are called by God to be scholars and teachers of the law may not be practicing what they preach. The priest and Levite, examples of those God appointed, are not obedi-ent to the law in Jesus’ story. Expert knowledge does not necessarily lead to living the law of love. Again, this is an indirect challenge to the Bible teacher. He has come to Jesus to test him and to prove how



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knowledgeable he is. Jesus tells him that teachers will be judged with greater strictness (see James 3:1). In effect, Jesus says to him, “Stop parading your knowledge of Scripture until you have started practic-ing what you know.”

Revealing the Prejudices of the Heart

The story is intended to make the Bible teacher, and us, examine the prejudices that dwell within our hearts. The Samaritans (as we saw in our last chapter) were regarded as unclean, immoral, and hereti-cal by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But Jesus’ parable suggests that a despised Samaritan is fulfilling God’s law, when the leaders of Judaism are not.

Jesus uses the most difficult example possible for his story to make it scandalous to the scholar. The one obedient to God’s law is the one least expected! To get some idea of the power and offense of this example, we need to ask ourselves, “Whom would I least like to find as the hero of this story?” (A gay rights activist; a left-wing politi-cian; a right-wing politician; a wealthy businessman; a liberal lawyer . . . you fill in the blank.)

A FINAL QUESTION AND ONE LAST CHALLENGE

Jesus finishes the story with another question: “Which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of thieves?” The teacher cannot bring himself to say, “The Samaritan” and so he replies, “The one who had mercy on him.” The encounter between the two comes to an end, probably very much to the scholar’s relief, with Jesus’ parting words, “Go and do likewise.” Jesus challenges him to bring his practice of truth up to the level of his knowledge.

What lessons are we to draw from Jesus’ conversation with this Bible scholar?

LEARNING FROM JESUS: LESSONS FOR EVANGELISM

Evangelism Takes Time

Evangelism is often a slow process. We earlier observed that Jesus never answered the man’s question about how to inherit eternal life,


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even though it is such a wonderful question. Jesus was content, on this occasion, to send this man away without the message of the gospel. Instead of the good news of salvation, Jesus leaves this teacher with some issues to ponder in his heart.

For us, the challenge is, do we believe that God is the one who saves? Do we truly acknowledge that he is the one who does the hard labor? One practical step that will help us to grasp this truth more deeply is this: we should learn to ask people questions about what the Lord has done to bring them to faith in himself. It is especially impor-tant to ask such a question when we are involved in leading someone to faith. If we ask someone what the Lord has done to bring them to salvation, the reply will almost always reveal a series of events and experiences, often spanning many years, which reveal the Lord’s hand at work in the person’s life. This will demonstrate to us how small a part we have played in the great work that the Lord has done. Do we see that we are simply servants in his field, servants who have each been assigned a particular task?1

Do we trust the Lord enough to send someone away without tell-ing the person how to inherit eternal life? Do we recognize that many of those we meet are not yet ready to hear the gospel, just as this man was not ready? We will find out one day whether he came back to Jesus later, humbled and ready at last to learn from Jesus. We can be confi-dent that Jesus was eager to communicate the truth to him, despite his closed heart and arrogant mind, for the Lord took considerable effort to try to talk to him and to get him to begin to think in a better way. However, he was not yet ready to hear the gospel.

All of us have family members, friends, or workmates who are not yet at the point where it would be appropriate to tell them how to inherit eternal life. If we have any non-Christians whom we know well, we also know that it is not wise, sensible, or right to try to call them to faith in Jesus every time we see them. We will soon lose any possibility of talking to people at all if we insist on requiring them to hear the gospel, and then demand a response to it, every time we talk.



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Asking Questions

We need to learn to ask questions that will help us to understand what is in a person’s heart and mind. This is what Jesus does with this man, and we find him taking this approach repeatedly in his discussions with people.

Paul Weston has assembled figures of the number of questions Jesus asked during evangelistic conversations.2 The results of his cal-culations can be seen in chart 4.2.

CHART 4.2: JESUS’ QUESTIONS DURING EVANGELISTIC CONVERSATIONS

Book Questions asked by JesusMatthew 94Mark 59Luke 82John 49

The point is very simple: one of Jesus’ primary means of communica-tion to unbelievers was asking good questions.

Francis Schaeffer used to say that if he had only one hour with someone, he would spend 55 minutes asking them questions, and 5 minutes trying to say something that would speak to their situa-tion once he understood a little more about what was going on in their heart and mind.3 Questions, however, are not to be regarded as part of Jesus’ “sales technique.” Nor were they a sales technique for Francis Schaeffer; and they must not be such for us. Rather, our questions must arise from a relationship that has integrity. Jesus asks people questions because he wants to know them, and because he desires that people come to know him. They are not a way to avoid spending time or effort or to side-step the need for relationship, as if we could say, “Here is a sure-fire method to quickly communicate the gospel, bring someone to faith, and then pass on to the next person.”

What is needed is genuine love and concern for the person we are talking to, the readiness to ask questions because we truly desire to


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know the person, and prayer for the discernment of the Holy Spirit about what questions to ask, and what— and how much—we should try to communicate. Jesus, we remember, spoke only the words the Father gave him to say, and this should be our desire. Will we eagerly pray that the Lord will give us his questions to ask, whenever we meet people?

Revealing the Secrets of the Heart

We need to try to help people understand themselves. This Bible teacher clearly did not understand his own heart; he had little self-knowledge. Jesus seeks to help him see his own motivations. Jesus asks specific questions in order to get this man thinking about why he approached Jesus as he did, and why he answered as he did. Jesus is encouraging him to go away with many self-searching questions in his heart: “Why did I ask that question about inheriting eternal life? Did I truly want to know what Jesus believes about this issue?” “What is my attitude toward people in need of my help? Have I ever loved anyone in the manner of ‘the one who showed mercy’ to the one who fell among thieves?” “Why could I not say: ‘the Samaritan,’ when Jesus asked me that question?” “How deep is my own obedience to the commandments I know so well?”

Most people we meet are in such a position, with very little self-knowledge, and also with all sorts of ways of concealing from them-selves the true nature of what is going on in the deepest recesses of their being. As the prophet Jeremiah says, the heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). None of us know ourselves very well. Here we have to be very gentle and gracious with people, for as soon as we think about the motives of the heart and lack of self-awareness, we see our own problems very clearly. Even so, this task is basic in communicating God’s truth to people. Calvin says that any true knowledge of oneself will lead to the knowledge of God. So, can we help people toward self-understanding as Jesus does? Asking this question reveals very powerfully our great need to pray for wisdom and grace as we talk to people.



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An Indirect Approach

Jesus does not always confront people head-on. In a later chapter we will look at an encounter where he does confront someone directly. Our example of this will be Nicodemus, but Nicodemus was a true seeker. Here, however, where the man is further from the kingdom of God, Jesus does not come at this scholar with a full frontal attack. Also known as “direct evangelism,” this method can raise a person’s pride, create antagonism in the heart, and drive him or her further away from the truth if the ground of the person’s heart is unprepared. A straight proclamation and a challenge to faith and repentance can have the effect of raising barriers against the gospel by giving people answers to questions they are not yet ready to ask. Such directness can burn the ground, rather than helping prepare it to become ready soil for the seed of the Word. Instead, Jesus asks questions and tells stories so that he may say things that are difficult for people to hear as direct statements, and so that he can begin to move their heart toward the truth.

The story, which is indirect, is subversive and powerful. A story engages the imagination, the will, and the emotions much more fully than a full frontal assault, precisely because it is indirect. One obvi-ous reason for this is that people are reluctant to know God; they are disobedient to his commands, prideful, and resistant to direct communication as a result. For example, think of the parable that Nathan tells David in order to reveal David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:1–6).

But there is an additional issue here, besides the problem of “sin.” God has made us in his image, not just with minds, but as people with creative imaginations, emotions, and passionate wills. We may even say that the two primary ways children learn virtue are (1) by example, by seeing virtue modeled by their parents and others who are close; and (2) by stories that touch their imagination. A fine story, like the good samaritan, appeals to the whole of our humanity as God’s image bearers, rendering it hard to forget. A story stays in the mind of the hearer long after it is told, working to turn the hearer’s world upside down.


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In the case of Jesus and the Bible teacher, the story is intended to exercise the scholar’s imagination, will, emotions, and mind: “Why did he use a Samaritan as his example? Am I like the priest and Levite in that story? Have I ever helped a stranger in need? Have I ever loved anyone to the same degree that I love myself? Do I obey the commandments of God in a deep way? Will my knowledge of the law be sufficient for me to inherit eternal life? What ought I to have said to Jesus, instead of the arrogant things I did say? Can I bring myself to go back to him, humble myself before him, and ask him different questions?”

Questions and stories work together like this, long after they are heard, because they engage a person so fully. Consider C. S. Lewis. He is, perhaps, the most effective apologist of this past century, partly because he was such a fine storyteller. The Chronicles of Narnia are read by millions of children who, after meeting Aslan, the great lion, and falling in love with him, are prepared to love Christ when they hear about him—perhaps years later. In a similar fashion, Lewis’s science-fiction trilogy, particularly the second book, Perelandra, pre-pares many adult readers to find the true account of our world and human life in the biblical story.

Law before Gospel

Many people need to hear the law before they are ready to hear the gospel. This is the situation for the Bible teacher. He is not at the point where his heart is ready to hear how he can be saved. When he comes to Jesus, his heart is proud, and he is confident he is serving God well. As long as this is the state of his heart, the gospel cannot be heard.

This is true for many people we meet, and, indeed, for many people in our churches. We think we are living decent lives. We feel that God could not possibly judge us. Many of us have little idea of what God’s law truly demands of us, for we try to get to the gospel without teaching the law. Consequently, there is often very little sense of sin. We all, like this Bible teacher, need to hear the law clearly first, and to be told to go and keep that law, so that we might discover that such a command is impossible. Then we will be ready to come back



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humbled, and we will be prepared to hear the good news of the gospel of forgiveness. This is, in effect, what Jesus says to the Bible teacher: “Go and keep the law you think you know so well, and then come back to tell me you have tried and you have failed.” For this man, there was no gospel yet.

Where Is the Gospel?

Is there any gospel of good news present in the story of this encounter between the Bible teacher and Jesus? There are several answers to this question. Clearly there is no direct presentation of the good news of forgiveness, grace, and mercy of God in Christ. However, grace and mercy are present in Christ himself—in the time, energy, and careful reflection he gives to this man who came to him “to test him.” The Bible teacher did not deserve such care and kindness from Jesus, but he received it. So it must be with us. In all our conversations with peo-ple, they need to see in our words, in our manner, and in the beauty of our lives some small reflection of the grace of Christ. This man went away knowing that Jesus would take time for him in the future and would be eager and kind if he were to come to him with a more humble attitude. What about us—are we living and communicating grace and kindness in our interactions with people?

We should also note that the story of the good samaritan that Jesus tells is itself a gracious story, a story of amazing love. That is one of the reasons it is such a well-known story, for it is a tale that warms the heart. In addition, Christians throughout the history of the church have seen Christ in the Good Samaritan. Admiring and loving the Samaritan is like admiring and loving Aslan (the beloved lion from The Chronicles of Narnia)—a preparation for Christ.

We need to ask ourselves this question, when we find ourselves dealing with a person like the Bible teacher in Luke 10: are there indirect ways in which the message of grace can be communicated, if we judge that it is not yet the time to make a direct presentation of the good news of God’s love in Christ?


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JERRAM BARRS, a former staff member at English L’Abri, is the founder and resident scholar of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theologi-cal Seminary, where he also teaches apologetics and outreach as professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture. His books include Crossway’s The Heart of Evangelism and Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible.

“ This is not a book about evangelistic technique but about doing evangelism bib-lically. There is a difference! Jerram Barrs shows us that Jesus had no wooden formula that he followed but rather was about engaging people in the depths of their being. As a result, this is an unusually wise guide to doing evangelism. The great truths of the gospel shine forth undiminished while at the same time the recesses of the human heart are explored with real insight.”

David F. Wells, Distinguished Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“ I can think of no other living educator who better embodies the gospel’s tough love combined with its unconditional acceptance of fl awed people than Jerram Barrs. In this wonderfully moving account of Jesus’ approach to evangelism, Barrs shows us the ways in which the Lord’s message penetrates deep into the human heart, uncovering its darkest secrets while always defending the dignity of its owner.”

William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary

“ The fruit of Jerram Barrs’s years of evangelistic experience comes to expression here for our benefi t as he traces Jesus’ interaction in the Gospels with various individuals and groups.”

David Clyde Jones, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Covenant Theological Seminary

“ In his practical, biblical, and winsome style, Jerram Barrs challenges us to hum-bly share good news with our friends who are far from God.”

Darrin Patrick, Founding Pastor, The Journey Church, St. Louis, Missouri

U.S. $15.99

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