The Helpful Samaritan

THE HELPFUL SAMARITAN

Luke 10:25-35.

“25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” 27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where…”

Introduction

The Samaritan in our text was a despised man. The Jewish people of that day despised them because they were interracially mixed people.

Jesus uses the parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate to a lawyer (who was an expert of the Mosaic law) how to inherit eternal life.

There are some people today who are like this lawyer, the priest, and the Levite. They claim to love God as Christians but are failing to love their neighbors.

1 John 4:20 tells us that if anyone says “I love God” and hates his brother that someone is a liar.”

The Lawyer

The lawyer in the 25th verse of Luke chapter 10 made an attempt to challenge Jesus by asking what should he do to inherit eternal life.

But Jesus answered the question with a question. He said: “What is written in the law? What is your reading?”

The lawyer answered Jesus’ question and his own question.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

This is where a lot of people who claim to be Christian are falling short. To love God the way we’re instructed in the text is to:

obey the Lord’s commandments.

worship and praise Him.

put Him first, make Him our first and top priority in our lives.

and love other people.

It’s sad to see believers who half-hearted love the Lord and give Him bits and pieces, while placing everything and everybody over Him.

It’s sad to see believers who will only love those who love them, or only love those who are in their social circles.

The Priest and The Levite

The lawyer asked Jesus “and who is my neighbor” trying to justify his self-righteousness and that opened the door for the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

There was a traveler who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and he was attacked and robbed by thieves.

A priest and a Levite saw the man lying there wounded and near death.

Both of them stepped around him and didn’t help this poor guy.

Lately I have been hearing people who identify themselves as Christians say some pretty mean things about other people who aren’t in their circle.

They begrudge other people for receiving financial breakthroughs that come through things such as student loan forgiveness. I told one of them on Friday that I am glad other people are getting breaks even if it may cost me a little more in taxes. This is how the Christian mindset ought to be.

The priest and the Levite may have been rushing to the temple like we rush to church.

The priest and the Levites may have been thinking they could robbed and beaten too, like we can be afraid for our lives instead of going into so-called high risk areas to minister to those in need.

The spirit of this priest and levite exists today:

The one who says I don’t have time to stop and help.

The one who says it’s too dangerous to go into the streets and compel people to come to Jesus.

The one who says I don’t want to get involved.

The one who says it’s none of my business.

Let’s not be like the priest or the Levite. Let’s not look over people who need help!

When we go out of our way to help someone we’re reflecting the character of our Lord whom the one in distress may not know.

The Samaritan

The Samaritan, who was considered a low-life by the Jewish community more than likely had been treated unfairly and made to feel inferior stopped and helped a man who was more than likely a Jew because he was traveling during a time everyone went to the temple to worship God.

The Samaritan took a chance on being assaulted and robbed himself to stop and take the time to help, using his own money.

The Samaritan is an example of how the Lord wants us to be - responding to people who are hurting.

Conclusion

We say we love God? We need to be showing others this love we have in our heart.

We say we love God? We need to be loving and helping our neighbor whether they like us or not!

Our neighbor is the one in the workplace, the one in the marketplace and the one holding the sign begging for food. Our neighbor is the one who is a different race than ourselves.

Remember! We were once like the traveler in the text:

Satan had set us up and left us spiritually wounded and spiritually dying on the side of the road of life.

Some of us may have been rejected by friends we thought would help us get back on our feet.

Some of us have been wounded so deep that we didn’t know how we were going to make it through this journey of life.

But Jesus, a traveler through all generations came along. He didn’t step over or around us!

He gave His life so that we could come back from the assault of the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

He gave His life so we could have life and have it more abundantly!

He knows how it feels to be abandoned and wounded:

He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed!

Go tell people about Jesus and how He can save them. Tell people who are wounded about that name!

Lets be helpful Samaritans and help people who are hurting with our resources!

No matter how lost you may be. No matter how emotionally and spiritually wounded you are, Jesus will come to you and bring you back to good spiritual health the way the Samaritan did for the traveler.