Parable of the Good Samaritan

I get stories wrong

Toy story (identity in comparison to others vs greater purpose)

Started seeing it in so many other well written stories

We get stories wrong all the time

Cinderella, sleeping beauty, snow white

Not princesses trying to overcome hardship… (though that’s how we tell the stories now, and as we should, but originally…)

Cautionary tales of the times, that the world is a scary place, especially for girls, and you can’t face it alone

We get the Parable of the Good Samaritan wrong

Luke 10:25–36 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?”

What we think the story should have been

Should have been about different types of people, some better than others (maybe one a samaritan)

Should have had the main character choosing to be a neighbor (showing love to all 3)

Be a good neighbor

What we think the story is about

Don’t be like the priest and levite

Standard language at the time

“Priest, levite, & the people”

Religious leaders & “regular people”

Maybe prioritizing religious purity over mercy and compassion

Maybe just scared, bad neighborhood, maybe a trap, maybe robbers are still around

If a Samaritan can be a good neighbor, so should you

Most know the Jewish people didn’t like samaritans,

They were basically racists towards them

Common prayer: Give me a good day, protect me, help me, and I pray there are no samaritans in the resurrection

But it’s kind of a weird way to set up a story that is just “be a good neighbor”

Why not tell it the way we expect?

Man walks by 3 people in need, one a samaritan, and helps all 3

Or at least the hurt person in the samaritan and the “regular person” is a good neighbor

What the story is really about

Why...

Why make the main character (the character that the audience, the reader, and the current questioner) the victim?

Why are the religious leaders the bad guys, why not a roman or someone else as well?

Don’t they serve the same purpose?

Why make the samaritan the one deciding “who is my neighbor”?

Audience won’t connect with him, see themselves in him?

Why did Jesus seem to swap the victim and the hero? Is He ignoring the question?

Jesus is changing the question from:

Who is my neighbor?

Who is A neighbor? (object of your neighborly love shouldn’t matter)

From a legal question (bare minimum), to a personal, character question (what kind of person are you?)

Setting them up for the gospel

Everyone is spiritually unable to help themselves, like the half-dead man

The religious leaders, who should be helping spiritually, are far too concerned with being legalistic than helping

But the one who offers true help,

who will step down off his high position,

and lift them up,

bear their burden,

Pay the price

and promise to come again

Most probably wouldn’t accept his help

He’ll be reject and despised

This story is actually about Jesus and the gospel

Being a good neighbor too, but mainly Jesus, and we miss it

Application

You’re not the hero

To be a neighbor, we need THE Neighbor

To be a good samaritan, we need the GREAT samaritan

We Need to See Jesus in the Stories

Bible stories

Wicket Vineyard Tenants (Matt 21)

Treasure in the field (Matt 13)

David & Goliath (you’re not David, Jesus is)

Classic Stories

Toy Story (A secure identity isn’t found in comparing yourself, but in who you belong to and are loved by)

Beauty and the beast: we were unlovable and ugly with sin, God loved us and that transformed us

Our knight has come and slayed the dragon

Imagine if we saw how good stories, reminded us of the gospel, of Jesus, and that’s why they connect with our soul

Encouragement to us

Incredible opportunity to tell others about the gospel

Jesus is the key that unlocks all the doors