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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.
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.
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
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