The Good Samaritan
Notes
Transcript
We have all heard the story of the Good Samaritan. I almost left this out of our study on the parables of Jesus, because it is so familiar to us.
Not only is it very familiar to us, as believers, but it is familiar and universally accepted by society as a good story. That should concern you.
The Good Samaritan Law.
A law that protects people from legal repercussions when they believe another person is injured and decide to help them out.
And example:
An example of the Good Samaritan Law at the court level involved a tractor-trailer pinning a man’s leg, and a bystander’s desperate attempt to free him.
In April of 2012, Dennis Carter, a truck driver, attempted to pull himself onto the loading dock of AIC Contracting, Inc., located in Fairfield, Ohio. During his attempt, he slipped, and his leg became stuck between the trailer and the loading dock. He was unable to free himself.
Carter yelled for help and banged on the door of the loading dock, hoping to grab someone’s attention. He did – Larry Reese, Jr. heard him and drove over to the loading dock. Reese tried to help Carter by moving the truck, but he soon realized he had no idea how to operate the truck. Unfortunately, Reese ended up breaking Carter’s leg and, due to the severity of the injury, Carter ultimately had to have his leg amputated.
Carter and his wife then sued Reese. Reese defended himself under the Good Samaritan Law, and the trial court granted the dismissal of the case.
It is used to promote social justice
The Good Samaritan takes us to the place that reminds us that we have the responsibility to act on social justice and not turn a blind-eye on injustice. People in crisis surround us more than ever today than yesterday who might not matter to you, but they do matter to God. We have the notion that pursuing justice is only for politicians.
If you do a search for how to be a good samaritan, You will find a list.
Be polite,
Pay it forward
Join a good cause.
Another list I found: 5 ways to be a good samaritan
See their need
Connect them with people that can help
Give fianacially
Take Risks
Love one another
If I were to poll Christians and non Christians alike and asked them the meaning behind the story of the Good Samaritan, they would likely say it is a story of how we should love our neighbor.....And they would be so very right, and so very wrong.....
Let’s look at the passage:
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
Jesus replied......
21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
23 Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,
The question:
25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
That is the right question, posed to the right man…but for the wrong reason.
26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
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.”
Deut 6:5 and Lev. 19:18
It is the same answer that Jesus gave to the greatest commandment in Mat 22. “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Neighbor : someone nearby. Someone with whom you share some connection.
Cheryl is my next door neighbor.
People in my neighborhood are my neighbors.
Paragould is a neighboring city to Jonesboro.
Missouri is a neighboring state.
Mexico is a neighboring country to the US
And the tradition of the religious elite very narrowly defined who their neighbor was.
They definitely excluded any non Jew. And all Jews that didn’t practice the law a perfectly as they did.
The key to the parable is in the question.
The key to the parable is in the question.
What shall I do?
This is a salvation question.
This guy assumes he has done the first part perfectly....Love God.
and moves on to the second part and just want’s to justify that he is not under obligation to love anyone he doesn’t see as his equal.
You should have flashbacks of the rich young ruler....it is the same story.
Jesus takes the opportunity for personal evangelism.
“You can’t get somebody saved until you get the lost first.”
Ray Comfort goes through the 10 commandments.
Jesus just does it better than Ray, because He does it on a relational level.
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is steep. Jerusalem is 2575 feet above sea level. Jericho is 827 feet below sea level and sits about 17 miles to the West. It is steep and winding and there are plenty of places to sit in wait. It was known as the way of blood, because it was used so frequently by highway men, robbers.
31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Opposite side....as far from one side.
32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Same thing.
33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
If Jesus has titled His message, the Good Samaritan, the Jews would have stopped Him and said that the only good samaritan was a dead samaritan.
The Jews hated the Samaritans. When the Northern kingdom was captured by the Assyrians 721 BC some Jews were taken into captivity. The ones left behind intermarried with the Assyrians and became known as Samaritans…Half Jews. When the Jews returned and began to rebuild the temple, the Samaritans tried to stop them and delayed them by killing pigs and throwing them on the place where the temple was being rebuilt....which meant that construction had to stop and the location would have to be cleansed again.
The didn’t believe anything past the first five books of the Old Testament.
They weren’t Facebook friends.
Saw him and felt compassion.
34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Bandaged his wounds.
Pouring oil and wine.....Antiseptic and soothing.
Put him on his own beast......he walked.
brought him to the inn and took care of him.....all night.
35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’
two denarii… two day’s labor....would have kept him up for two months.
whatever more you spend. I will repay…
Opened himself up for fraud..... Gave him a blank check.
Who does this? Who have you ever helped this way that wasn’t your own family or close friend? Would you do this for your enemy?
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”
37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
The lawyer wanted to know who was his neighbor....ie, who does he have to love.....
Jesus asked him, to whom are you a neighbor?
The Lawyer couldn’t even bring himself to admit that it was the Samaritan.
Go and do the same.......
If he was honest, he would have fell down right then and pounded his chest and said I can’t!
The point of this parable is that when you look at the perfect Law of God, you can only come to one conclusion.
You Can’t either...
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
10 as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.