The Good Samaritan: Seeing with Compassion

Introduction

This evening we are continuing our series in The Parables: Stories Jesus Tells by looking at the parable of the Good Samaritan

Along with the Prodigal Son, this is among the most famous of Jesus’ parables

The term “The Good Samaritan” has very positive connotations in our world

Hospitals named after the good Samaritan

We have “Good Samaritan” laws to protect people who help those in need with good intent

Ironically, to the Jews who originally heard Jesus tell this story, the only “good” Samaritan was probably a dead one

This parable has even been the foundation of sociological research studies

Two researchers ran a study with students at Princeton Theological Seminary

The researchers told each seminary student they were expected to give a presentation to a group of professors over in another building

Some of the students were told they were in a hurry while others were told, “You can head over now, but you have a few minutes. No rush”

En route between the two buildings was a guy slumped in a corner, coughing, eyes closed, sickly

The experiment: to see which of these seminary students - students training for to be pastors - would stop and offer help to this guy

The results of the study: 10% of the students who were told they were in a hurry offered to help where 63% of students who were told they were not in a hurry stopped to help

Now here is the real kicker: some of the students were told specifically they were to give a presentation on the Good Samaritan!

That is, even when prompted with the story of the Good Samaritan ahead of time, being in a hurry all but eliminated the ability to see the person right in front of them that needed help

https://sparq.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj19021/files/media/file/darley_batson_1973_-_from_jerusalem_to_jericho.pdf

Transition

So with that, let’s read this story that Jesus tells and ask what Jesus wanted his listeners to understand and what we can learn from it

Scripture Reading: 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.”

Pray

The Lawyer

Just a couple of verses before this, Jesus is praying

Luke 10:21 “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

The things of God are hidden from the “wise and understanding” but revealed to little children

So what happens next?

A lawyer approaches Jesus!

A lawyer in that day was someone who specialized in a study of the Old Testament law

That is, this guy was specifically trained to read and understand the law of Moses

And can you guess what happens?

The lawyer - someone who fits that description of “wise and understanding” and is trained to understand the law - is not going to get it

He approaches Jesus with a question

Luke 10:25 “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?””

Jesus replies with a question of his own, asking the lawyer what the law says

Luke 10:27 “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.””

Yes, this guy knew the law

But now he asks a follow up question

Luke 10:29 “But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””

Motive of the lawyer

When people approach Jesus, we don’t often get insights into the motives of the individual

But here, Luke specifically tells us about the motivations of the lawyer

Vs 25 - “a lawyer stood up to put him to the test”

Vs 29 - “desiring to justify himself”

He was trying to trap Jesus and justify his own behavior

Of course, Jesus doesn’t fall for the trap or allow the lawyer to justify himself

Instead, he tells a story

POV

One of the more common types of videos posted online right now are POV videos

Most of them are really dumb

“POV of picking a ripe watermelon”

“POV of stepping on lego bricks”

Like I need to watch that video - I’ve lived it!

Well here, in this story, we are invited to consider the point of view of the characters we meet

The priest and the Levite

The Samaritan

The beaten man

And the innkeeper

So let’s briefly consider this story from each of their perspectives

And as we do, encourage you to ask: how do you relate to each of these characters in the story?

The Priest and the Levite

A man has been robbed and beaten and left half-dead on the side of the road when some people pass by

I’m going to put the first two people to pass by together - the priest and the Levite

They are both clergy - religious professionals

They knew the OT law, kinda like the lawyer asking the question

So how did they respond to the man on the side of the road?

Luke 10:31–32 “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.”

Both of these religious professionals saw the man, then passed by on the other side of the road

Why? Well, if this man was dead, as they presumed and he certainly looked, they would have become ceremonially unclean if they touched a corpse

They knew the OT law - and the law said that they were not to touch a dead corpse

So in their effort to maintain “obey the law” and remain ceremonially clean, they did not help a man in need

They used religious ritual to justify not helping a man in need

Had me wondering: How often do I use being busy doing “Christian things” as a justification for not doing the Christian thing - of helping someone made in the image of God?

The Samaritan

The second POV we can take is that of the Samaritan

Like the priest and the Levite, he is walking down the road

But this is where the similarities end because it is this Samaritan

A most unexpected protagonist in the story

Who will reflect the character of God

Luke 10:33–34 “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.”

Notice the shift in the language

Both the priest and the Levite saw the man

But the Samaritan - “when he saw him, he had compassion”

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Including in this parable, that word “compassion” occurs 12 times in the New Testament

10 of those are in direct reference to Jesus, such as the verse in Matthew

The other two - the Samaritan here and the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son

It is the Samaritan who is reflecting the heart and character of Jesus

Exodus 34:6 NIV84 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness

Compassion is used throughout the OT, most famously in this verse, as a depiction of the character of God the Father

The Samaritan, by seeing with compassion, is reflecting the character of the Triune God

And like God, compassion drives the Samaritan to act

He bandages up the man, puts him on his own animal (meaning he would have to walk) and took him to an inn to be cared for

Do we see the people around us as made in the image of God, needing us to move near to them with compassion?

This plays in a variety of ways

Put my headphones on and stuff in the middle seat hoping everyone will walk by and I’ll get the bonus space on the plane

Look away from the homeless person on the side of the road hoping that if I don’t make eye contact, I won’t have to help

Seeing someone walking through Walmart that is teared up seemingly without reason

Both the priest and the Levite saw the man and passed by on the other side

The Samaritan saw him, and had compassion

So let me ask this: which of these characters actually saw the man, not just observed his existence?

And who do you need to see with compassion?

The Beaten Man

Now let’s take our 3rd POV - that from the man who was beaten

Imagine having this bad a day

Just walking down the road, maybe a merchant with some goods on the way to the market to sell

He is jumped, robbed, beaten, and left half-dead

It doesn’t get much worse… until it does

Can’t move, can’t cry for help, pain rushing through every part of his body

But maybe conscious enough to recognize the depth of his pain and his need for help

When a surge of hope - here comes a priest - surely he will help

Except he doesn’t - he just changes lanes to be on the far side away from him

And then the same situation repeats when the Levite walks by

But then comes this Samaritan, a most unexpected person to actually come to his aid, tending to his wounds and caring for him

In this story, the man is left half-dead according to verse 30

But for us, the situation is way worse

We are not sick or infirmed or wounded, we are dead

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

All the places we turn hoping they will numb the pain and nurse us back to health

Amusement, sex, alcohol - even sometimes religion

But none of them work because we are dead

What we need is a rescuer who will pay - not with cash but with his own life - to heal us and make us alive

So the question we ask when we take this POV: Where do we turn for healing? Is it Jesus or something else?

The Innkeeper

Now finally imagine this story from the POV of the innkeeper

In all the times I’ve read this story, I’ve never really considered the experience of the innkeeper before

If Jesus only wanted to make the point that the Samaritan was the good neighbor and not the priest or Levite, he could have ended the story by saying that the Samaritan saw him with compassion, tended to his wounds, and nursed him back to health

But he keeps going

Luke 10:34–35 “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.’”

What is the POV of the innkeeper?

A Samaritan shows up with a beaten and bruised man and leaves him in the care of the innkeeper

He didn’t know this man, he didn’t find him, he didn’t step in to help himself

He was brought to the innkeeper

The innkeeper is stuck with a half-dead man, some cash to care for the beaten man, and a promise

Oh, and a huge responsibility to nurse this man back to health

How are we to be like the innkeeper, both individually and as a church?

One of our values as a church is “Conviction with Compassion”

That is, we want to hold fervently to that which we believe

And we want to be like our God who sees with compassion those who are hurting, wounded, bruised, beaten, left for dead

We don’t know who will be dropped off at our door or who will enter our doors as a church

They may show up brought by a friend who drops them off with a request that we care for the hurting, broken people

Maybe they stumble into our midst, saddened, broken by the sorrows of life

So the question for us taking the POV of the innkeeper

Will we be ready to see with compassion and care for them when God brings them to us?

Conclusion

The lawyer was looking to trap Jesus and justify himself

What he received in return, and what we receive here tonight, is an invitation to consider this story of Jesus from the 4 perspectives with 4 questions

From the POV of the priest and the Levite, we are encouraged to ask:

How often do I use being too busy - often doing “good” or “Christian” things as a justification for not doing the Christian thing - of helping someone made in the image of God?

From the POV of the Samaritan, we are encouraged to ask:

Who do I need to see with compassion?

From the POV of the beaten man, we are encouraged to ask:

Am I looking to Jesus to heal me and to rescue me, or to something else?

And from the POV of the innkeeper, we are encouraged to ask:

Will we be ready to see with compassion and care for the broken people God brings to us?

And as we consider the call upon us from each character’s perspective, may we ever be amazed and grateful that God is the one who is full of compassion and has come for us when we were beaten and broken

Pray