The Good Samaritan: Lessons in Love

Introduction:

This morning we are going to be looking at one of the most well known parables in all of the Bible. It’s riveled in popularity only by the parable of the prodigal son. This is both a good thing and a negative. It’s good because the message of this parable has quite literally changed the course of human history. I think it is hard to overstate the impact the lesson this parable has had in our world.

However, it’s also a negative because familiarity often leads to indifference. So, before we read the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37, you can turn there now, if you are using a chair bible it is found on page 869, before we read this familiar parable we are going to ask the Lord for help.

Help that he would show us the meaning of the text, that the familiarity of the text would breed love for His Word not indifference, and that we would have the humility and trust in our Lord to put ourselves under the authority of it’s message.

Would you pray with me:

Luke 10:25–37 (ESV)

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?” 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.”

In these verses we find a lawyer of the Mosaic Law question Jesus. This lawyer was probably an expert in Old Testamant law, although that’s not what they would have called that. And this expert in the law asks Jesus a simple question, “Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Now Jesus responds to questions how he almost always responds to questions with another question. He asks the lawyer, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” Essentially Jesus is asking the lawyer to summarize the law. What are the main points.

The lawyer being an expert in the law responds by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This is a fantastic answer. It practically identical to how Jesus answered a similar question.

Jesus responds by congratulating the man. He says, “you have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

Jesus has just given the man the key to eternal life. “Love God with everything you have and your neighbor as yourself and you will live.” It’s the key to eternal life… or is it.

We see that the lawyer is not satisfied with Jesus’s response because Luke 10:29 says“But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

That’s a fair question don’t you think. Loving God makes sense but who is this neighbor I am supposed to love like myself. Is it my next door neighbor, the people that live on my block, my co-workers, the people in my synagogue or church? Who do I have to love like myself.

And so Jesus jumps into the parable of the Good Samaritan with the goal of showing the lawyer who his neighbor is and what it looks like to love someone like yourself.

So this morning we are going to draw out six lessons in love from the good samaritan and then see if we can figure out what the real point Jesus was trying to make with this parable.

Let’s read from the text again Luke 10:30-35

Luke 10:30–35 ESV

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.’

1. He loved across lines

The first and maybe most obvious lesson in love we learn from the Samaritan is that he loved across lines. It’s been widely noted and taught how much the Jews hated the Samaritan. The Samaritan’s were considered a half-breed by the Jews.

When the Assyrian army came and destroyed Israel they took many of the Israelites away and forced them into exile. Then the sent Assyrians in to inter marry with the remaining Israelites. The descendants of these inter-marriages were called Samaritans. These Samaritans not only intermixed their blood but they mixed their religions together. Taking things from the Assyrian religions and mixing it with Judaism.

To the Jews the Samaritans were like the very first Frankenstein's monster. Horrible creatures who were less than human. Jews used to walk miles and miles out of their way to avoid ever having to come in contact with these horrible people. They didn’t even want to see them because to see a Samaritan was to be reminded of their impurity and Israels failure and destruction.

It was a racist ideology that was evil to its core. But was at the same time so imbedded into the Jewish mindest that they didn’t even feel shame for their behavior. Why would they feel shame for hating someone who was less than human they thought.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus made the good man in the story a Samaritan? I think in part it’s to show that we are to love across ethnic and even religious lines. That we aren’t supposed to only love those who look like us or think like us or behave like us. We are to love everyone.

And yet that same conclusion could have been drawn if Jesus had made the beaten man a Samaritan and the good man a Jew. Instead of the parable of the Good Samaritan it could be the parable of the Good Jew. Which would have made way more sense considering the person asking Jesus the question was a Jew. Jesus could have been showing the lawyer exactly what God expects from His people. You are supposed to love everyone. Because everyone is your neighbor even the Samaritan. Jesus could have made the Jew the main character in the story.

That would have made a lot more sense especially if the goal of the parable was strictly to motivate the lawyer to love everyone. But that’s not what Jesus was doing. In fact, Jesus intentionally made the main character in the story someone that the Jew would inherently not relate too. We all want to be the hero in our story. The lawyer was no different. So instead, Jesus made the hero in the story someone that the lawyer would not connect with. So who was the lawyer in the story?

He wasn’t the Samaritan. Was he the priest or the Levite? Maybe? He was a lawyer of the mosaic law after all. He was a part of the religious elite. But Jesus could have easily said a lawyer passed by on the other side of the road if he wanted the lawyer to relate to one of those characters. So I don’t think that’s it.

Was he one of the robbers? No, that wouldn’t make any sense either. Instead this is what I think Jesus wanted the man to do. Jesus wanted him to understand that he was the man beaten and left on the side of the road. That he was left for dead with no help to save himself. That just like the Priest and Levite passed him by so too would religion because a religion centered around self-effort had no ability to help a dying man. That it didn’t matter how hard you tried to love God and your neighbor you had no ability to save yourself. He wanted the man to know that he was dying in desperate need for help.

But then came the Samaritan. A man despised and rejected by the Jews. A man who with no concern for his own well-being risked his life to save the dying jew. A man who not only saved the man but went above and beyond and carried him to the inn where he could have rest and told the inn keeper whatever the man needs he can have from my account.

Does that sound like anyone to you? Don’t you see that you are not meant to be the main character of this story. You, just like the lawyer, are not the Good Samaritan. Isn’t it clear now? It’s Jesus, Jesus is the true and better Good Samaritan.

A man who as Isaiah 53 so famously said was despised and rejected by men. While the Good Samaritan risked his life to save the dying man. Jesus gave his life to save the man dead in their trespasses and sins. While the good Samaritan carried the man to the inn where he could have rest and told the innkeeper that whatever he needs it can come out of my account.

Jesus doesn’t carry us to some innkeeper he carries us home to the Father and makes us one of the Fathers sons or daughters where we can experience eternal rest in the arms of the Father. And he tells the Father whatever righteousness is needed for him to be her he can have it from my account.

And now we have reached the main point of this parable.

We love like the Good Samaritan by looking to the true and better, Good Samaritan - Jesus.

Our love for our neighbor doesn’t comes from a desire to justify oneself. But strictly our of love for others.