The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Intro

Reference something from earlier in the day/worship

As we continue looking at Encounters with Jesus, tonight we are gonna dive into a pretty well known one in Christian circles, the The Good Samaritan…how many of y’all have heard of this story before?

I find that when we look at stories and things in general that are familiar to us, it is easy to skim over tiny details and assume we know what’s what. Before we dive in, I want to challenge us to try and approach this story with curiosity and think about exactly is being communicated...

Read Luke 10:25-37

English Standard Version Chapter 10

The Parable of 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.”

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.”

Pray

So let’s walk through this passage by looking at the characters interacting with each other

The Lawyer - this person was not a lawyer in the sense that you are probably thinking, he was a specialist in religious law. He was probably very well versed in the Scriptures of the Old Testament that spoke to how Israel was called to live. As you can see, in a way, the lawyer already knows the answer to his own question. So why ask in the first place? We are told clearly that he wishes to put Jesus to the test, but also look at the passage actually says. The dude stands to ask this question. In Middle Eastern culture, normally, the students stood out of respect to recite the teacher’s words, but this guy is up here trying to deceive Jesus, posing as a humble student, but really trying to catch Jesus slippin. What he really wants to do is discredit Jesus. So this law specialist is crooked; he is after his own personal ends.

I really want to key in on the questions this guy asking though: he says what can i do to inherit eternal life? Let’s break this down, because I think you’ll find that this is a fairly relatable question. What does it mean to inherit something? Or what is the definition of inheritance??....Exactly, by definition it is a gift, not something earned. But this so often how we are taught to approach life! You work hard so you can earn money, you get good grades in school so you can go to a good college, you work hard at work to get a promotion, you do chores around the house so you can earn a chance to do certain activities

Look further at his next question where the Bible says “desiring to justify himself.” To justify oneself is to try and save oneself, to be right in the eyes of God, which is to be saved, that is to inherit eternal life. In trying to justify himself he is trying to save himself on his own terms. You might be like, well Zay, that doesn’t sound so wrong..” And I’m like yeah maybe on the surface it sounds noble or whatever but ultimately he is trying to something that is impossible based on the terms that he and Jesus agreed on. Furthermore, he asks for clarification on who his neighbor is in order to classify who deserves love, and who doesn’t. Does Jesus do that? Does he not love some people, and love other people?

Who in here struggles to love certain people in their lives or people they hear about? So you get then why the answer to the Lawyer’s question isn’t just some basic checklist.

So how does Jesus answer this lawyer’s test? Let’s look at the parable and characters involved:

A man - beaten and left for dead

Robbers - wait and pounce on the man

A Priest - knows the law and Scriptures, wealthy member of society, sees and does nothing

A Levite - subordinate to the priest in the temple, familiar with the Scriptures and law, sees and does nothing

The Samaritan - made himself vulnerable in order to help this man, probably a Jew

POINT: knowing the right thing and doing the right thing are not the same.

Just as this Law specialist probably has all the head knowledge, what he is doing is dishonest. Just like the Priest and Levite knew that the man needed help, they still did nothing in order to preserve their own comfort.

This Lawyer was so concerned about figuring out how to trick Jesus, but also figure out how to gain eternal life, that he actually proves his own ignorance about the way life works. And this is what happens when we become consumed with getting our way. Once Jesus finishes his story, he responds to the Lawyer with a question, “which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer initially asked who was his neighbor.

Point: Jesus changes the focus slightly to show that the issue is not whether or not someone deserves love, but whether or not we will move toward those in need, motivated by love.

The reason why this is so important is that we are actually like the man who got robbed. We are the ones on the side of the road in need of help. Because in all honesty, as much as we try to justify ourselves, there’s always more work for us to do. As much as we try to be right all the time, we eventually do something wrong. Regardless how much we may know about the world, about the Bible, about faith, we still doubt God, we still hurt each other. We still lie, we still cheat, we still get act out of anger toward each other, we still discriminate against each other, we still pick and choose who we want to love. We desire and lust after things we know we probably shouldn’t. We are so spiritually broken, but so powerless to permanently solve the problem.

That is why we need Jesus, who is the true good Samaritan.