Welcome. Today we’re going to be talking about none other than the parable of the Good Samaritan. There have been hospitals named after the Good Samaritan, along with laws that encourage passer-bys to stop and help when someone is in need. We are going to review this story of a good deed well done, and take away a lesson or two that we can apply to our own lives.

 

            We are going to be working from the text found in Luke 10:25-37. The first thing we can note is that a lawyer stands up to ask the question that brings Christ to tell the parable. A lawyer in this context would be someone that is well studied in the law of Moses. The lawyer seeks to ‘test’ Jesus as we see in verse 25. In fact, the King James Version renders the word as ‘tempted’.

 

            This would seem to indicate that the lawyer was trying to trick Jesus into saying something that could be used against Him. This was a common situation throughout the teachings of Jesus. They were always trying to get Jesus to incriminate Himself. The lawyer stood, which may have been to call attention to himself. His question, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” may well have been asked not for any sincere reason, but instead as a form of entrapment.

 

            Jesus answers him by reversing the question and therefore the test saying “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” The man answers with the legal answer (Luk 10:27)  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus tells him that he is indeed correct to basically quote Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.

 

            The lawyer presses the point, not letting it go by asking just who his neighbor actually is. This question is what leads Jesus to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan. Let’s go ahead and review the parable. (Luk 10:30)  And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luk 10:31)  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (Luk 10:32)  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. (Luk 10:33)  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, (Luk 10:34)  And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (Luk 10:35)  And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (Luk 10:36)  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? (Luk 10:37)  And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

 

            So the trip the man is taking is from Jerusalem to Jericho, a journey of about 20 miles or so. This route was known as the ‘Way of Blood’ because it was an exceedingly dangerous trip. Bandits and thieves apparently infested this road, and our man has the bad fortune to run into some of these evil men.

 

            He is beaten and wounded badly in some manner, and all of his possessions are taken from him, including most of his clothes. He is left for dead in the ditch.

 

            The first passerby comes by and does nothing. We are told that this man is a priest. This means the man represents both the cultural and religious establishments which you would think would be kind and gentle, but instead leaves the wounded man alone.

 

            The second passerby is a Levite, another religious elite, and once again the wounded man is passed by and ignored. There is no compassion shown by those that are from the religious establishments.

 

            Next comes along the Samaritan. Now this fellow, he sees the wounded man and is moved to help him. Now what is interesting is the fact that the Jews hated the Samaritans so that would be more than enough of a motivation for the Samaritan to pass the wounded man by.

 

            The Samaritan applies oil and wine to the man’s wounds, which was the first-aid procedures of the time, even if they do sound odd to us nowadays. Then he puts the man on his own mount, which we can assume means that the Samaritan basically sacrificed his ride and walked to the inn.

 

            So the Samaritan brought the wounded man to an inn. I personally think this might be because the wounded is out of it enough that he’s not able to basically tell the Samaritan where he lives, leaving the Samaritan no choice but to take him somewhere he would be looked after: an inn.

 

            The Samaritan gives the innkeeper two denarii which was two days’ salary to take care of the man, promising to check in with the inn the next time he was in town and cover any further expenses required to take care of the wounded man. Think about that, this would be the equivalent of giving a couple hundred dollars or more up to take care of a complete stranger. How many of us would be willing to do that? Giving someone a ride, sure, but spending money on a stranger? I don’t think all that many people would be willing to do that.

 

            So Jesus asks the question: who was the man’s true neighbor? The men of his own country and of his own religion that passed him by without a second look, or the man of a hated people that stopped and took care of him? Obviously the Samaritan was the true neighbor of the wounded man.

 

            The lawyer comes to this same answer, and Jesus tells him to do the same as the Samaritan, to look out for people and to show mercy to all. Jesus is calling attention to the idea of us loving our neighbor as ourselves.

 

            We can learn who our neighbors are by paying attention to this parable. When we think about neighbors some people think of those that are of the same race as they are. Racism has caused many a person to walk on the opposite side of the street when they come across someone in need that is not of the same race.

 

            But Jesus blasts this practice to oblivion in this parable by His usage of a Samaritan being the helpful one. The Samaritan was of a different race, nationality, and religion than the Jew. There was also animosity between the two groups as we can see in (Joh 4:9)  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. This did not matter to the Samaritan, who saw someone in need and decided to help out regardless.

 

            So it is for us as Christians. We should be (Rom 12:13)  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Also check this verse out: (Gal 6:10)  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. We should do good to those that are also believers, but we’re commanded to help out everyone that has a need. Our neighbor, therefore, is anyone we can help!

 

            Another interesting thing about this parable is that it shows a separation of religion from neighborliness. The first two people that passed the wounded man should have been the first to help him, but they did not. They should have both been influenced by their religion to help instead of ignoring the man.

 

            These two men would have done well to remember (Deu 10:17)  For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: (Deu 10:18)  He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

 

            But because they did not, they proved themselves to be hypocritical. They failed to practice what they preached, so to speak, and showed how shallow their faith truly was.

 

            We need to be mindful of such things so that we don’t fall into the same trap of ignoring the wounded man and proving our faith to be baseless. (Jas 1:22)  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. We’ve been told to love our neighbors and take care of each other. Therefore we now know better, and have no excuse not to put that command into action.

 

            When it comes to compassion we need to be willing to cross all barriers of race, gender, religion, and any other social stigma that we might face. We need to also be willing to face risks if needed in our acts of compassion. The Samaritan faced danger to help the wounded man. What if the bandits were still around? What if different thieves fell on him while he was helping the Jew? These are just some of the risks that the Samaritan faced.

 

            (Luk 6:30)  Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. This is telling us to help those that need it and ask it of us, and even if they take our stuff we’re not to even push the issue. We’re to give what we can whenever others have need. We need to have faith in God that He will take care of us when we give freely.

 

            We also need to be willing to be ‘put out’ so to speak, when it comes to helping others. Don’t just keep walking by because you are busy, be willing to set aside your schedule to help someone that needs it. The Samaritan was on a journey when he came across the wounded man. He probably had business to attend to, things he needed to do but he still stopped to render aid. We need to be willing to do the same.

 

            (Mat 5:41)  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Or in other words, if he asks for one mile, go with him two. The first mile might be out of compulsion, but the second mile is to be out of love.

 

            We must also be willing to sacrifice for compassion. The Samaritan gave not only his time but also some of his provisions as in the wine and the oil. He used some of his own goods to take care of the wounded man. The Samaritan also set up an open ended agreement with the innkeeper, offering to pay for anything more than the wounded man needed, even though he had already paid two days’ wages.

 

            If we truly sacrifice for compassion and follow the example of the good Samaritan, we will be truly following the commands of God. The good Samaritan parable challenges us to rise to a higher level of love and compassion. It tells us that we need to have an expanded definition of who our neighbors are. We are to include any and all that we can help.  We are also challenged to expand our definition of compassion.

 

            The question now becomes who are we? Are we the Levite or the priest? Or are we more, are we the Samaritan that stops and renders aid and shows the true love that God commands us to show?

 

            Be the Samaritan. Do what Jesus commanded of us: Go, and do thou likewise. Until next time, God bless.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized | . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.