The Good Samaritan

Introduction

Being a good samaritan has become a part of our vocabulary as Americans. We use the term regularly to mean something that

Read Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 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. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 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. 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.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Explanation

The Story

Jesus has a conversation with a lawyer (an expert on the Hebrew law). The lawyer asks Jesus two questions.

The first question, “Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life.”

Jesus replies, “What does the law say? How do you read it?”

The man replies with a portion of the Shema and Leviticus 18.

The answer is correct! Jesus says as much.

But the lawyer asks a second question. “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus responds with a parable.

A man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and robbers ambushed him, stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead. He is without his money, dignity, and health.

Thankfully, the road has some people traveling on it. Soon the man sees a priests in the distance.

Surely the priest, the teacher of the law, the one who is closest to God will help me.

But his hope fades as the priest looks past him, goes to the other side of the road, and mumbles about how busy he is and his need to stay ritually clean as he passes by the other side of the road.

A short while later, the man sees a Levite coming down the road. Levites aren’t as high ranking as priests, although he is the temple liturgist. Surely, he will help. He tries to get his attention, but he begins to despair as the Levite does the same thing as the priest who has come before him.

Now real despair sets in as the man sees a Samaritan.

Surely, if a priest and a Levite won’t help me, a Samaritan surely won’t.

We cannot miss how racially charged this passage would have been to the first century readers. Jews did not like Samaritans. Samaritans were the descendants of those Hebrews who intermarried with pagan peoples as the result of Assyria’s capture of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated the Jews. Archeologists have uncovered an ancient Jewish prayer that asked God not to remember the Samaritans at the resurrection.

They were religiously different. They were racially different. They were ideologically different. They were culturally different.

Instead of passing by the other side of the road, the Samaritan tends his wounds, takes him to town, puts him in a room, and pays the innkeeper in advance for the room.

Jesus asks the scribe, “Who showed mercy?” The scribe said, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus said, “You go and do likewise.”

The Teaching

Our God is a God of mercy. This parable of Jesus reflects His heart for His people.

1 Timothy 1:15–16 ESV

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

God loves us beyond all worthiness and unworthiness. God loves you as you are, not as you should be, because you are never going to be as you should be. // Brennan Manning

If we begin to see ourselves as anything other than a sinner in need of mercy, we will shirk our responsibility to love the people around us.

Christ moves towards sinners with mercy. Without his love, his grace, and his righteousness, we would not be saved.

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.” Richard Sibbes

There have been times in my life where I came to the Lord with nothing but my sin, and He met me there. That is mercy.

We must be people who’s instinct and first reaction is mercy.

Our knee jerk reaction with others is often not love, grace, and mercy.

When it comes to caring for others, we need to be willing to go to anyone.

In our political climate, we are getting farther and farther from one another. Our willingness to help someone ideologically, politically, religiously, different from us has decreased. We sometimes see, sometimes inadvertantly, whether we will help someone or not based on how much they look/act like us.

Jon Bloom, “The neighbor we’re called to live os often not one we choose but one God chooses for us. In face, the neighbor is often not one we would have chosen had not God done the choosing.”

You don’t get to choose who is in your direct vicinity. You DO get to choose how you will act towards them.

We want to love people towards Jesus.

To love people towards Jesus means to love them where they are that they might come to know the grace and mercy of Jesus.

I think about Jesus with the men who caught the woman in adultery.

John 8:2–11 ESV

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

A woman who has been caught in adultery is brought before Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees are angry over this woman’s sin, and they ask Jesus, “The law says stone her. What do you say?” Jesus doesn’t say anything. He begins to draw in the sand, and he tells them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw the stone.”

One by one they leave, until the only voice left to condemn her was the one that actually could righteously do so. Jesus based on his question to the Pharisees, as one who had never sinned, could have righteously cast the stone at the woman. But instead, Jesus asks a question, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?

The woman replied, “No one, Lord.” Jesus then tells her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” There are two important elements to Jesus pronouncement over her.

Neither do I condemn you

From now on sin no more

Jesus’ saving of this woman’s life was not contingent on whether or not she repented of her sin. His saving of her life in that moment was not contingent on whether or not she aligned with him politically, socially, etc. Jesus didn’t ask the woman whether she was going to do it again or not before he started drawing in the dirt. It is a love without stipulations.

However, the fullness of God’s love stem from his ability to save us.

Invitation