The Good Samaritan
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Good morning everyone! My name is Eric and I am one of the pastors here at Abide Church. Last week Adam kicked off our new series on the parables of Jesus. Today I am continuing the series with the parable of the Good Samaritan. I am really excited about this story, it is a fairly misrepresented parable. This morning we will pray that God will give us eyes to see and hearts to receive a deeper level of truth. We will need the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts and open our ears, so let’s begin by praying, asking the Lord to speak:
Prayer:
Father, you are so good to us. You have given us your word, everything we need for life and Godliness. Please open the ears of your people, soften their hearts, and give them eyes to see your radical love. May we make much of Your Son Jesus as we humbly approach your word. Help us lean on your wisdom, not resisting your truth with our self-righteousness. You provide all we need.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
The term Good Samaritan is one you might be familiar with. It is a common term in our modern society. I am actually going to begin with a story I read this week from CBN News.
“An Arizona man's simple act of kindness sounds like a story coming right out of the Bible. David Lee Witherspoon Jr. was leaving his job at a food pantry in Phoenix, Arizona when he suddenly saw a man crawling on all fours on the blazing pavement.
He immediately ran to the man and asked him what was wrong. The man explained that he had become homeless and didn't have any shoes to protect his feet from the searing ground. Arizona temperatures climb well over one hundred degrees during summertime and can easily burn one's feet.
Witherspoon quickly grabbed a spare pair of shoes and a water bottle from his car and then bent down to carefully wash the man's feet before slipping on his new pair of shoes. Witherspoon says he keeps multiple pairs of shoes in his car so he can switch them out between his job at the office of Phoenix Veteran Affairs and the food pantry. While many are quick to call Witherspoon a hero, he says what he did was simple.
‘A lot of people give up on people now and that's the biggest problem," Witherspoon explained in the video below. "I mean, you don't have to… empty your wallet or anything like that; just a simple, kind act.’”
This man’s kind act is certainly admirable, but does it truly capture the heart and meaning behind the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan? Is the Story of the Good Samaritan about a simple kind act? Or is it being willing to “Empty your wallet?” The secular world will commonly take the story of the Good Samaritan and flatten it out. Which is what we should expect based on what pastor Adam said last week, the season of Jesus’ ministry when he taught in parables was a judgment. It was meant to conceal truth from hard hearts and reveal truth to His disciples. That is the core reason that this parable, in the secular world, is nothing more than a demonstration of simple kindness. But we as believers have ears to hear, and we will be able to feel the impact of this story on a deeper level because we have the Holy Spirit, we are born again.
Pastor Joe Bellanti says:
The parable of the Good Samaritan runs deeper than a call to social action. It is more than simply an ethical call to help the poor and needy among us.
The parable of the Good Samaritan runs deeper than a call to social action. It is more than simply an ethical call to help the poor and needy among us.
I am really excited to dive deep into this story and unpack the beautiful truth the Lord has for us!
Before we get to the parable itself, we need to look at the context surrounding it. Open your bibles to Luke Chapter 10, we will start in verse 25.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test…
This interaction takes place between Jesus and a lawyer. What the text means by “lawyer” is an expert in the law of God, the old testament scriptures. This man was one of the scribes or Pharisees that we are so familiar with. He is a well educated man, an expert in knowledge based on the highest standards. Here is verse 25 we see him attempting to put Jesus to the test. This reveals to us that the nature of this interaction is hostile. The questions he asks are not coming from a place of curiosity, they are an attempt to entrap Jesus. To make him look foolish and prove Him wrong.
The first question the religious leader asks is: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replies not with a direct answer, but with a question of his own: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
Jesus is basically saying, you know the scriptures and the commands of God, what do they have to say? And how do you interpret them?
Interestingly enough, the scribe actually has the correct answer. He says: “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 answer is a combination of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Jesus teaches the same thing in Matthew 22. He says that “on these two commands depends all the Law and the Prophets” That is to say that all of the old testament can be summed up in these two commands, Love God and Love neighbor.
Jesus responds to the scribe’s answer by saying: “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Pretty straight forward, right? If you can pull that off perfectly you’re good to go, you will be right before God. But the scribe’s response tips us off that he felt the pressure, because this is what he says next in verse 29:
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
To even understand where this question is coming from, you need to understand a common habit the religious leaders had. They would create “fine print” in the laws of God to tailor them to fit their own standard of righteousness. One perfect example, is that the social and religious system of this day had really narrowed the classification of “neighbor.” The religious leaders had specified the qualification of being a neighbor to a select group. It mostly consisted of their fellow scribes and Pharisees, and maybe the people you live in close proximity with. The Jews, and especially the religious leaders, had plenty of enemies, and their attitude toward them was hatred, not love. Even others in the Jewish system would commonly be considered “less than” and second rate.
So this question he is asking is really an attempt to limit his responsibility for “loving his neighbor” to a small group of close counterparts who he believes he loves according to the law.
It would be I like saying in a mocking tone: “I’ve got this whole ‘love my neighbor’ thing down, unless you’re going to change the definition for neighbor”
Jesus knows this, and his response is the parable of the Good Samaritan.
I am going to start by reading the whole story, then we will break it down. It will probably be easier to understand that way.
Read it with me starting in verse 30:
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
Let me paint the picture of this journey… Traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was not like taking a stroll through Howard Amon Park. This was a rugged trail that descended over 3000 feet in 17 miles. In many places it is a cliffside hike with lots of ideal hiding places for an ambush. It was a hotspot for robbers to attack people.
In the story an unknown man is attacked by robbers. The race and religious affiliation of the man are left out intentionally, he is just some guy that is attacked on this crazy trail. The robbers take everything from him including his clothes. Not only that, they beat him half to death. He is laying their on the side of the trail, no clothes, no provisions, and really no hope of making it out of this.
BUT, the story takes a hopeful turn:
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
Surely a priest will stop and do the right thing! He knows the law, he knows he must be kind to those around him.
But no… A glimmer of hope, then a sad turn of events… Remember the scribe in all of this. A priest is a Jewish figure, and the scribe knows that of all people a priest would know that love for God and neighbor is to show kindness and compassion to strangers. Instead he passes by on the other side. Completely disregarding the wellbeing of this helpless man.
Next to pass by is a Levite:
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
A Levite would have also know the law. He would also know that obedience to God is to show compassion. Yet, instead of stopping to help this man he also passes by on the other side of the road.
Two men, educated in the law of God, pass by this helpless man. Showing no compassion or love.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
This would have been a SHOCKING twist in the story. It really cannot be overstated how much Jews and Samaritans hated one another. Samaritans were seen as worse than pagans. They were descendants of Jews who intermarried with pagans after the Assyrians forced most of the population of Israel’s Northern Kingdom into exile in 722BC.
This a quote from John MacAurther describing their relationship:
“In Jesus’ time, animosity between Jews and Samaritans was especially fierce. The depth of the Jews’ contempt for their wayward cousins is seen not only in how they avoided traveling through Samaria, but perhaps even more in how they spoke about the Samaritans. At one point some exasperated Jewish leaders, losing a public debate with Jesus but trying desperately to discredit Him, spat out the worst insult they could imagine: ‘Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’”
“In Jesus’ time, animosity between Jews and Samaritans was especially fierce. The depth of the Jews’ contempt for their wayward cousins is seen not only in how they avoided traveling through Samaria, but perhaps even more in how they spoke about the Samaritans. At one point some exasperated Jewish leaders, losing a public debate with Jesus but trying desperately to discredit Him, spat out the worst insult they could imagine: ‘Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’”
The worst insult you could possibly think of was to call someone a demon possessed Samaritan…
So up to this point we have two men representing the Jewish establishment who pass by on the other side of the rode, showing no love for God or their neighbor. Then this Samaritan passes by, and HE is the one who shows compassion.
Read verse 34:
34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
The Samaritan man goes over, kneels down, assesses the wounded man’s condition, and treats him. Likely tearing his own clothes when he “bound up his wounds,” and using his oil and wine to sooth the man and tend to his injuries. He sets him on his own animal because there is no way he could walk on his own. He brings him all the way down the rest of this trail to an Inn where he proceeds to take care of this man even more!
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
Two denarii would have been about a days wages, and the equivalent of about a month of lodging at the Inn. And not only does he pay the wounded man’s room rate for a month, he also tells the innkeeper to take care of him after he’s gone. “Whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back,” he says. This is really above and beyond. Innkeepers aren’t the most trustworthy people, he is opening himself up to extortion and risking his own money for the wellbeing of the wounded man. The Samaritan is showing radical, complete, and lavish love for his neighbor.
So Jesus asks the lawyer:
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
This is the final question Jesus asks, and He has completely changed the game. This changes the question completely, flipping it on its head. This is the ultimate shot to the scribes prideful, self-righteous, posture toward loving his neighbor. The scribe is now forced to answer according to what he knows is right, but with some level of resentment.
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The scribe couldn’t even bring himself to say “Samaritan.” But he admits that the Samaritan was the neighbor to injured man. Jesus has brought this interaction full circle. The scribe wanted to ask, “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus cuts straight to the heart. He reorients the questions entirely, He’s reorients the whole situation by asking NOT, “Who is my neighbor, BUT who’s neighbor am I?” It is no longer a question of “who qualifies to be my neighbor...” Instead it is, “am I a neighbor to those who are in need.”
Now this is a fantastic story, and it certainly demonstrates the Godly love we should have for our neighbor. But I want to focus in on the last phrase from our Lord. He says, “You go, and do likewise.” In essence, Jesus is saying that we must show the same love the Samaritan showed all the time. Not just sometimes, all the time. THIS is where we get to see the depth of the story as believers. It is not just a good dead here and there, but lavish love, similar to the love that the Samaritan showed. To get salvation would require PERFECT love toward God, with every part of ourself. It would require perfect love for our neighbor. ALL the time, with no qualifications, and your love would need to be perfect.
When Jesus says, “You go, and do likewise” He is proposing an impossible task. Because NO one loves like that. No one loves perfectly, no one loves that extensively all the time.
In the beginning of this sermon I said that this story get’s flattened out. The world may take this story and say “Okay, I know now that I must be kind to other and that is what’s right.” “I need to set aside my differences and be kind to those who are in need” “It is the good, moral way, to live my life.” But we can see something completely different. If Jesus said to you, “you go, and do likewise”, it would be a crushing blow! We know we can’t love like that… Only one person has ever loved perfectly, and that person is Jesus.
The good Samaritan is a demonstration of radical, Christ-like love. This story is a pointer for us, not just to good morals, but to Jesus who lived perfectly in all the ways that we fail every day. Who rescued us when there was no hope, bandaged up our wounds, restoring us, taking us in, and paying our full debt to his account? JESUS!
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So should we strive to be the same kind of neighbor the good Samaritan was? Yes. But NOT because we want to be good moral people… We should have that kind of love in our life because Jesus loved US the same way. Jesus has poured out the same love on you that we see demonstrated so beautifully in this story.
1 John 4 says exactly that:
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
We love our neighbor because God’s lavish love has been given to us through the sacrifice of His Son. We don’t need to look to this story as an example of moral living, we need to look to this story as an example of Jesus’ perfect love.
Secondly, we need to be careful we don’t fall into the same trap the religious leaders fell into. That is, loving people who serve our own interests. You all know exactly what I mean… There are people in our life that are easy to love. They are your close friends, they share similar interests, they might have similar status. These are the people in our life that are easy to be around, easy to love, and easy to call a neighbor.
There are also people in our life who are strangers, and they are nothing more than scenery or machinery to us. Right? The person who gives you your coffee or brings you your food is nothing more than a machine in our lives. Serving a function for us, but not a neighbor we should love. Or scenery, the countless people we pass by all the time. We have numerous opportunities to engage with these people in a meaningful, loving, way but we only see them as scenery along life’s path.
Or to take it a step further, what about the people in our life who are hard to love? They are different than we are, hard to be around, maybe you don’t see eye to eye on certain issues. We all know the kind of person I am talking about… Just plain difficult to have in your life, very difficult to show love toward.
Or even further than that, what about your enemies? These would be the people you are more inclined to hate than to love. Things like politics and world-views tend to put people in this category. You might a have distain, or even hatred, for this kind of person… Don’t get me wrong, I am sure you don’t express your hatred out loud… But in our hearts we know how deeply we tend to hate our enemies.
The Good Samaritan bears its weight on this issues as well. Scenery, machinery, difficult person, or even an enemy… This story helps us see they are ALL people we should be a neighbor too.
Read of Jesus love in Romans 5…
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We should be careful that we look to CHRIST’S love as our example. While we were still sinners he died for us. Someone might die for a righteous person, maaaayyybbeee sometimes for a good person, BUT JESUS DIED FOR US WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS! We were his enemies in every sense of the word. Jesus teaching in this parable is a pointer for us to his own perfect love, and a demonstration of how we can live our lives as an outflow of the love we have received. It is a beautiful picture of the gospel.
Worship team can come up, Let’s pray.
Communion…
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