The Good Samaritan
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The Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan
Recap
What is a parable?
What is a parable?
greek word “parabole”
Literally means “cast alongside”, “putting things side by side”, with the purpose to compare.
Literally means “cast alongside”, “putting things side by side”, with the purpose to compare.
Jesus’ parables were stories “cast alongside” truth in order to illustrate that truth
Jesus’ parables were stories “cast alongside” truth in order to illustrate that truth
The truth was hidden mysteries
The truth was hidden mysteries
Why did Jesus speak in Parables?
Why did Jesus speak in Parables?
The reason Jesus spoke in parables was not so that they could understand more, it was to hide the truth
The message of Jesus blinds, deafens, and hardens because the truth hurt
The message of Jesus blinds, deafens, and hardens because the truth hurt
Speaking in parables was a judgement on the people that were rejecting His teachings
Speaking in parables was a judgement on the people that were rejecting His teachings
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The Unforgiving Servant
The Good Samaritan
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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.”
luke 10:25
Context
At the start of this passage a lawyer and Jesus (seated)
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Why was the lawyer asking about eternal life?
He wasn’t your typical lawyer, as we think, concerned with legal matters
His concern was with laws that pertained to Judaism
Laws found in the Old testament
Another word would be a scribe
An expert in Gods word. There jobs were to study the word of God
We are dealing with someone who KNOWS the word of God
Now it makes sense why a lawyer/scribe would be asking about eternal life?
Him being a scholar, he wanted to “TEST” Jesus as it said
So he asks Jesus about eternal life?
This was a common question in those days
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
matthw 18:18
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
Is there anything wrong with this question?
The problem was not the question but often the motive behind the question
And so we have a similar situation here
Unpack The Good Samaritan
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.”
Why do you think Jesus directed the lawyer to the law?
“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
probably because he was an “EXPERT”. You’re the expert here
Also, Jesus directed the lawyer to the law not because the law is how we inherit eternal life (saves us)
A question answered with a question
The lawyer was trying to trap Jesus but this was Jesus’ way of trapping him
But because the law instead shows us we need to be saved
Paul says this in (it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”)
Lets keep going
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.”
luke 10:2
The lawyer quotes the word of God perfectly!
Great job!
The lawyer summarizes the 10 commandments
Jesus when asked the two greatest commandments
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
You shall have no other gods before Me.You shall make no idols.You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.Keep the Sabbath day holy.Honor your father and your mother.You shall not murder.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.You shall not covet.
How are the 10 commandments summarized in these two statements?
The first four deal with our relationship with God
The first four deal with our relationship with God
The last six deal with out relationship with each other
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall make no idols.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
So Jesus, says “you have answered perfectly”
So Jesus, says “you have answered perfectly”
Now you “do this and you will live”
What does Jesus mean?
is Jesus saying if you keep the commandments you can earn eternal life?
The law of God demands that we live it perfectly
That you LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART......perfectly. 100% of the time
And that you LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. Perfectly. 100% of the time
if you do this you absolutely will inherit and earn eternal life
Who here can say they have accomplished that????
No one can! Thats the point!
No one is able to live the law of God perfectly
Jesus directed the lawyer to the law not because the law saves us, but because the law shows us WE NEED TO BE SAVED
- “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
roman 7
So knowing he can’t keep the law perfectly what should his response be?
Repent! Throw ourselves at His mercy.
I’m guilty!
The only man to live the law of God perfectly.
Jesus is our only hope
But instead of being justified by throwing himself on the mercy of God, he tried to justify himself
So, instead of being justified by throwing himself on the mercy of God (), he tried to justify himself and wriggle out of his predicament. He used the old debating tactic, “Define your terms! What do you mean by ‘neighbor’? Who is my neighbor?”
What does he say?
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
You see the lawyer was sharp
Two commandments were read
“do this and you will live”
Notice the lawyer said nothing about the first commandment?
What do you think was the lawyer’s intent by asking “Who is my neighbor?”
“do this and you will live”
The lawyer was trying to determine who was a neighbor and who was a “non-neighbor”
The lawyer was trying to determine who was a neighbor and who was a “non-neighbor”
He was trying to wiggle his way out of this predicament Jesus put him in by telling him “DO THIS”
He was using his old debating tricks “Define your terms???”. “What do you exactly mean by neighbor???”
i.e. Catching kids in a lie
Now the other reason the lawyer was asking this question was because of Jewish tradition and practices
To a Jew in those days, his neighbor was considered another Jew
Only those who were apart of the same nation and religion we are to show “LOVE” to
But anyone outside of our race is not our neighbor
This what the lawyer was trying to get at
Maybe in his mind he believed he has been “LOVING” towards his “NEIGHBOR”
But Jesus flips it on him
Jesus’ response
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.’
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?”
This is one of the greatest parables ever told
It is probably the most popular parable known around the world
They’re are people who use this name “good samaritan” to refer to someone who does something kind for someone else
There's many hospitals and organizations named after this parable
39 states have good samaritan laws enacted
Thats all great
Samaritan’s purse being extremely popular
But this wasn’t just a story about kindness
This wasn’t only about identifying “who is my neighbor?”
but do “I BEHAVE LIKE A NEIGHBOR?” Do I love like this???
remember the original question
This is a story is about our failure to keep the commandments of God, which we all have failed.
The lawyer didn’t need more information about the commandments, he needed a new heart
And so the story goes
The Road
A man traveled down from Jerusalem to Jericho
It says down because it literally was going down a steep moutain
Here I have picture of what this road looked like. It still exist today
So you can see this was a perfect kind of road to rob people because of the many hiding spots and lack of escape routes
The Robbers
So who encountered some robbers
and they showed no mercy
Stripped him (naked), beat him, left him half dead. No concern for his life
He was
He was messed up!
Three travelers
First to pass this man is a priest
Religious leader. Servant of God
Someone who knows his Word (OT Scripture taught that we should help anyone in need)
Dead body would make him unclean
But the details don’t matter in this story because the point is he did nothing
The second person was a levite
They weren’t priest but assistants to the priest
They also served in the temple
Also, men who knew the word of God
But again, the details don’t matter here because the point is he did nothing!
The last traveler to see the man was a Samaritan
This is where the story gets crazy
Why is it crazy that Jesus chooses a Samaritan as the one who stops and helps?
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 10
Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew
They hated each other
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 10
Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 10
Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew
They hated each other
Samaritans were half Jew half gentile people because of their intermarrying with gentiles
Jew and Samaritan beef go back to the days of Ezra and Nehemiah when trying to rebuild the temple and the walls in Jerusalem
They didn’t follow the law strictly like the Jews
Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew
So Jesus using a Samaritan as the good example to a Jew was mind blowing
We could break down all the details of how the Samaritan helped this man but does it really matter?
The idea and summary of the story is that, the people you would have expected to help did nothing.
What is the
But the person you would have least expected to help did EVERYTHING
So now Jesus turns to the lawyer and says
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.”
The story was so clear. So on point. So undeniable
That the Jewish lawyer could not answer any other way
It was clear that the true neighbor was the samaritan
Notice that when the lawyer answers he cant even come to say the word “SAMARITAN”
he says “THE ONE who showed him mercy”
The question Jesus asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor?”
Jesus’ question was a direct response to the lawyers second question “who is my neighbor?”
The lawyer “Who is my neighbor”. Jesus tells a story and then “Which of these three proved to be a neighbor”.
Jesus knew all along the intentions of his question. He was trying to pick and choose who he was a neighbor to
You see the lawyer was asking the wrong question and Jesus knew it
The question is not “who is my neighbor?”. But “How can I be a neighbor to anyone?”
It’s not about picking and choosing when we feel like being neighbors
It didn't matter who came down that road. Samaritan, Jew, gentile...
This is how you are to be a neighbor
You are to LOVE ANYONE in need. Even our enemies
Jesus’ then ends it
By answering the 1st question
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus says “YOU GO, AND DO LIKEWISE”
You want to earn eternal life? You go and love like this samaritan
You want entrance into the kingdom? You go “Love your neighbor as yourself” like this
You go love perfectly!
Love God Perfectly. Love others perfectly ALWAYS, FOREVER, 100% of the time.
Perfectly.
and you will earn your way into heaven
t Love God Perfectly and Love others perfectly ALWAYS, FOREVER, 100% of the time.
To enter God’s eternal kingdom we must Love God Perfectly and Love others perfectly ALWAYS, FOREVER, 100% of the time.
Who in here can do that?
NO ONE CAN
So who deserves to have eternal life? No one!
We are all sinners and we could never love like that all the time
And neither could the lawyer. The lawyer would not admit his sin.
He would not admit that he falls way short of Gods commands and standards
A whole new mind and way of thinking
You cant even begin to love like the good samaritan if the love of christ is not in you
Understand, once we are saved by His grace yes we are called to love like Christ
We will never do it perfectly but through His grace we will love our neighbor
But to even begin to love how God calls us to love we must first have the love of Christ in us
That is where love begins
Not by what we do but by what He has done!
We love because he first loved us.
This is what the lawyer could not see.
He was looking for ways to justify himself and EARN a place in eternity
He was blinded. So blinded that he failed to realize the door into eternity was standing right in front of him
We ALL need Jesus to enter into eternity (The way, the truth, the life)
If we are going to love (PERIOD) we need the love of Christ
because the truth is if we take a long hard look within ourselves we might see we are more like the priest and levite than the good samaritan
Sometimes I have trouble loving my wife correctly and not being harsh with her
The same goes with my children
Sometimes we cant even love the people closest to us the way we are suppose to
Maybe you think this was long long ago. No way could something like this happen today
Play video
I invite all of us, to take a long hard look at our lives and answer this question,
Have we loved god perfectly, have we loved others perfectly?
AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, THE ANSWER IS NO.
and if you are like me, the answer is no.
And if you are like me, the answer is no.
AND THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES TO GET TO HEAVEN. TRUTH IS WE ALL FALL SHORT. THAT WAS THE POINT THAT JESUS WAS TRYING TO MAKE WITH THIS PARABLE.
and that is what it takes to get to heaven. truth is we all fall short. that was the point that jesus was trying to make with this parable.
And that is what it takes to get to heaven.
Truth is we all fall short.
That was the point that jesus was trying to make with this parable.
we need god. we need christ’s forgiveness, so we can love, not like the good samaritan, but like christ the greatest samaritan who still lives today.
WE NEED GOD. WE NEED CHRIST’S FORGIVENESS, So we can love, not like the good samaritan, but like Christ the greatest Samaritan who still lives today.
We need god. we need christ’s forgiveness, so we can love, not like the good samaritan, but like christ the greatest samaritan who still lives today.
So we can love, not like the good samaritan, but like Christ.
What can we learn from this parable? How can we apply this to our lives?