The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Intro: {Pray}

This morning we continue in our series The Parables of Jesus. I pray that this series has been insightful and helpful to you.

It is needed for each of us to gain personal revelation of the kingdom of God. Without personal revelation and encounter we are left with head knowledge. Head knowledge will sound good in a conversation, but it will lack conviction.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you saw someone in need and thought someone needs to do something about this?

Maybe it was a single mom at the grocery store struggling to pay for groceries, seeing the kid in your child’s class who doesn’t have school supplies, or the person on the street without shelter or protection.

The question I ask is how do we respond when we are confronted with the realities of a fallen world? Do we turn a blind eye? Or maybe look from a distance? Or do we engage?

In today’s parable, Jesus defines the role of the believer in relation to the world around them. Luke 10:25-37.

Turn with me to the book of Luke 10:25-37. This week we are going to look at the parable of the good samaritan. Let’s begin by reading it together and then we will break it down.

Luke 10:25-29 “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””

Luke 10:30-37 “Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise”

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Submit:

The setting of this parable begins with a lawyer testing Jesus through a question. Note that the lawyers also known as scribes were the official theologians and interpreters of the law in the time of Christ. Their work was to relate the Mosaic Law to life.

The initial question proposed by the lawyer was “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus as the master theologian answers by answering his question with a question. What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?

The lawyers response was correct as he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.

You shall love the lord your god with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells him he has answered rightly. Go and do it and you will live.

Before we look at who Jesus defines as our neighbor lets pause to understand what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.

To love with all our heart means spiritually we have an undivided heart. With our soul we express love to him voluntarily through our emotions, with our strength in the way we serve him, and with our mind through the maturing of the intellect by gaining knowledge and understanding.

Following Jesus’s response the lawyer asks another question “Who is my neighbor?”. This question is deeper than wanting a simple clarification. They scripture says He wanted to justify himself. Essentially, had he done enough? Jesus knew how impossible this was for fallen man, but the man did not know it. He had the right answer but the wrong interpretation.

Jesus’ reply tells the scribe that he has given a scripturally proper answer, but then goes on to tell him that this kind of love requires more than an emotional feeling; it would also include “practicing what he preached.”

The scribe being an educated man realized that he could not possibly keep that law, nor would he have necessarily wanted to. There would always be people in his life that he could not love. Thus, he tries to limit the law’s command by limiting its parameters.

To clarify the interpretation Jesus shares a parable.

We saw that within the parable are four characters.

The man who was robbed and nearly beaten to death.

The Priest.

The Levite.

The Good Samaritan.

The three people who pass by the robbed and beaten man are contrasted by Jesus.

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Apply:

The first character Jesus introduces into His story after the beaten man is the priest. He give no explanation of the man accept that He showed no love or compassion for the man by failing to help him. Even to the degree that He made it a point to pass by on the opposite side of the road without looking so as to not get involved in the matter.

Think about it, if there was anyone who would have known God’s law of love, it would have been the priest. By nature of his position, he was to be a person of compassion, desiring to help others. The priest represents the temple ministry, the services of sacrifice, and the law of moses —the law of the covenant. Although a spiritual leader, there was no feeling of mercy in the heart of the priest. He simply passed by more concerned with his religious service than the man who was in desperate need.

The second character Jesus shares in his story is the levite. Like the priest, the levite also ignores the desperate need of the wounded man. He does pause for a moment to at least look at the man, but also shows no mercy or compassion. He simply walks back to the other side of the road and passes him by.

The levite also served in temple worship along with the priest. Once again this person as a spiritual leader should have known to show compassion, but did not do it.

The final character Jesus shares is the good samaritan. The intriguing thing about Jesus use of this individual in the story is that he would have been the least likely to have shown compassion to the man. Samaritans were considered a low class of people by the Jews since they had intermarried and did not keep all the law. The Jews would have nothing to do with them.

Jesus doesn’t share if the wounded man was Jew or gentile, but only that it made no difference to the samaritan. He didn’t ask what religion he was nor was he concerned by race. He simply saw a person in need of assistance and he assisted him.

This man goes above and beyond what is required. He dresses the man’s wounds, disinfects, and attempts to sooth the pain. He puts the man on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. Then at his own personal expense he pays the innkeeper, and tells him to care for the man. If any extra expense were incurred he would cover them on his return trip.

Jesus final question to the lawyer was which of the three do you think was the neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? The lawyers response was him who showed mercy. Jesus tells him to go and do likewise.

If there is one thing I have learned about the kingdom it is this.

God allows you to see certain brokenness struggles and trials so that you can become an answer in their time of need.

When you see needs that no one else seems to see its time to pay attention.

You may not be in a position to meet all the needs you see, but the rhythm we need to learn is this: pause and ask the Lord what do want me to do?

If that question scares you let me give you a glimpse of how it plays out in my life. I see needs all the time. What I do is simply pause to ask the Lord what He wants me to do. Sometimes he instructs me to feed someone, or go to them and ask if I can pray for them. Other times the Lord had me purchase items for people, or give monetarily in specific ways as He directs.

Other times he tells me to do nothing.Don’t let that shock you. Listen, Jesus is Lord. He knows what people need and what they don’t. He knows when something will be a blessing or a curse in someones life. He is the one who meets the needs of people sometimes its through you, sometimes its not.

We simply offer our availability to the Lord and follow His direction. It’s his decision whether or not he will use us in that moment.

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Closing:

The kingdom of God is sacrificial in nature. God consistently asks us to serve people who can offer us nothing in return.

As I said last week, serving Jesus is more than a prayer to get to heaven. It’s about getting the nature of heaven into you. The Love of God embodied in the life of a believer is evident and observable.

Genuine love for God is always seen in our love demonstrated towards people. 1 John 4:20

This is why I shared 1 John 4:20 last week which says, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

The love of God evident and active in our lives is the indicator of true relationship with Him. 1 John 4:7-8.

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

The Moral of the Parable Jesus gives is that any person in need is our neighbor. Loving our neighbor as ourself is to show practical mercy and help in a time of need. James 2:15-18.

James 2:15-18 “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

As believers we are expected to express our faith and love by our works. Without them we are nothing more than a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. My prayer today is that we would walk in the fullness of God’s love!

Altar:

This morning I don’t know where you see yourself in this story. The hurt man in need of help. Needing the rescue of salvation. This morning we don’t want to walk past you. Romans 10:13 says, “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”” If that is you lift your hand this morning.

For others are you the Priest or the Levite in the story? Love God, but lack compassion and love for people. If that is you I want you to pause and repent before the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you walk with compassion and love.

Maybe you are the good samaritan. Ask the Lord to expand your vision. To see the ones that no one else see’s.

Let’s Pray!

Holy Spirit help us shift our perspectives where needed.

Salvation.