The Gospel of Luke gives us the famous parable of the Good Samaritan as Jesus’ response to a devious lawyer.

The lawyer, whose mission it was to “test” the Lord, asked him how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus answers the lawyer with a question (which in fact is something lawyers usually do), and asked him what he thinks, based on the law?

The lawyer responds that you shall love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27.

The Lord tells him he is correct, and to do so to be saved.

The Lawyer, trying to justify himself, then asks the Lord who his neighbor is, and Jesus proceeds to narrate the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Without going into the details and significance of the parable, we can learn a lot just from the interaction of the lawyer and Jesus. The lawyer’s intentions are made clear by the Apostle Luke. He wanted to “test” God, and “justify himself.” Just like the lawyer, we also live our lives testing God with our wickedness, and we try to justify ourselves by making excuses.

It is no secret that we sin, and it is no secret we often sugarcoat what we know to be a sin, in order to make ourselves feel better about it, or “justify” ourselves. We know the commandments, just like the lawyer knew the law, yet we still choose to engage in matters that do not please God.

For example, we know that we must forgive. Yet many times we choose not to do so and we justify it because the other person has hurt us. But we know the law, and we know God says “I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” Luke 6:27. Yet, we “test” God by not forgiving, and we “justify” ourselves by convincing ourselves it is ok because the other person hates us.

Another example is lying and gossip. We know we shouldn’t talk about others, or lie, but we do all the time. We know God says to “Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.” Psalm 34:13. Yet, we “test” God by gossip, and we “justify” ourselves by thinking it’s just joking, or harmless “white” lies.

Testing God and justifying ourselves is a viscous cycle we engage in. Let’s not be like the lawyer, who although knew the law, and knew the commandments, failed by trying to make himself righteous before God.