The Innkeeper

You and I live on mission. We have a God given mission that is the same for all of us no matter what our “career” is and no matter how old we are. Our mission is to do the will of God and complete His mission. Go into the world and tell them about Jesus! We are to spread His kingdom. Assignments may change as we age, but the mission is a lifetime one. Today we are going to look at a very familiar scripture that I’m sure we’ve all read.

Luke 10:25–37 NIV

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “ ‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Whose My Neighbor?

This guy was an expert in law. He was a lawyer and wanted to justify the fact that he really wanted to pick his friends and not just be nice to everyone. So he wanted to legally justify himself. So Jesus tells the parable. He was not someone on God’s mission. He was not concerned about others but was concerned about himself.

The “Beautiful” People were not His Neighbor.

Not the priest. Not the Levite. In fact they would not even take a look at the wounded man. They went on the other side. Just because someone has a title, it does not mean they are on the mission. These two had the titles but not the heart. Going to church doesn’t mean you’re on mission. Saying all the right thngs doesn’t mean you’re on mission.

The Despised Samaritan Helped!

Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Remember when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan women at the well and the disciples wouldn’t say a word about it? They were thinking what is Jesus doing. Back to the parable, the Samaritan showed mercy. He took care of the man and took him out of the ditch. He found the man and saved him. Then he took him to the inn and took care of him. He definitely saved him. He did something for the helpless man. This is what Jesus did for us. He found us. Took care of our “wounds”. He set us up for a future with Him.

He Paid the Innkeeper!

Then He paid the innkeeper to take care of the man and told him when he returned he would pay for any added expenses or sacrifices the man caused Him to have. Jesus told us to take care of the people He has saved and when He comes back, we will be “compensated” for any other things we might have done. You see in this parable, Jesus is the Samaritan because He is the one who shows mercy, and saves us. Then He assigns a “innkeeper”, someone who’s on mission, to tend for and take care of people. If we needed to do more that causes us hurt or pain, Jesus will “pay” us when He returns. That’s why we don’t take anything personal. We’re just the innkeeper. That’s why we don’t get “even” when we get hurt by others, we’re just the innkeeper and when Jesus returns He will take care of all we’ve had to go through. No more crying, no more sorrow because the former things are passed. But in the meantime, we’re the innkeeper, we’re on mission, and we don’t expect anything in return from the ones we take care of. Jesus will take care of all of that.