Jesus Teaches The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Sunday August 18, 2024}

Luke 10:25-37

Father, please forgive me for any attitude within me that may hate another person or a group of people. Please forgive me for hating my enemy. Father, help me to love others so much that I continuously sacrifice convenience, time, and money until the person in need is back on their feet. Please help me to love my enemies just like You do. Amen.
Father, Luke begins this passage with the phrase “on one occasion”. He does not define the timing or the setting for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus could have shared this parable at any point in His three year ministry and He could have been as far northwest as Sidon or as far southeast as the Perea.
However, I believe we can pinpoint the telling of this parable to Jesus’ move south from Galilee towards Jerusalem for His death and resurrection. As has been recently discussed, Jesus had recently encountered resistance from the Samaritan people. The disciples responded by asking Jesus to call down fire from heaven to destroy their villages. There was great animosity among the disciples, the religious leaders, and the Jewish people towards the Samaritans. The Jewish people and the Samaritans were enemies. It is in this context that Jesus shares a parable about a “good” Samaritan with a Jewish audience.
The text tells us that an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. This suggests that there was a formal meeting taking place where people were seated, perhaps listening to Jesus teach. We also know that this expert in the law was arrogant, certain that he had superior intelligence to Jesus and that he would successfully entrap Him. He was confident in his standing with You, Father, no doubt self-assured of his legalistic righteousness.
He asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
How was this question a test of Jesus?
The expert in the law believed that the only valid answer for Jesus was to say that a person earned eternal life through rigid application of the letter of the law in every aspect of life. If Jesus was to say that, Jesus could then be judged guilty of having violated the Sabbath on numerous occasions.
Jesus asked him to summarize what the law says. The man said:
 “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (NIV)”
Jesus said the man had answered correctly. After all, the man’s response is what Jesus taught in Matthew 19; Matthew 22; and Mark 12. It is what Paul taught in Romans 13 and Galatians 5. It is also what James taught in the second chapter of his epistle. Jesus told the man that if he lived that way, he would have eternal life.
However, the text then tells us that the man wanted to justify himself. He knew in his heart he didn’t love his neighbors. In particular, the man knew that he hated Samaritans. Therefore, he would not inherit eternal life. What he needed from Jesus was an excuse to hate Samaritans. He thought that if he asked Jesus who is neighbor was, Jesus might answer that the man’s neighbor consisted of his family, friends, and literal next door neighbors. If Jesus’ answer did not include the Samaritans, the man would have his excuse to continue to hate them and the assurance of eternal life because he loved the right people.
Jesus knew the man hated Samaritans. He knew that the last thing the man wanted to hear Jesus say was that Samaritans could be good people who deserve his love. Jesus then shared the parable of the “Good Samaritan.”
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. (NIV)’”
What can we learn from this parable?

1. The injured man was most likely a Jew, traveling within his home territory. The Good Samaritan was a foreigner, either living in Judea or traveling through it on business. The priest and the Levite were “neighbors” of the injured man, most likely fellow Judean Jews who lived near him.
2. The robbers proved that there is evil in this world. People do wicked things without the slightest concern for how their actions may make others suffer.
3. Life is cruel and difficult. Bad things happen to people, often caused by the evil of others.
4. When we encounter a person who is struggling because of hardships in their life, we have stepped into an opportunity for ministry. Father, if we see someone suffering, we see a divine appointment to show Your love to them.
5. Being labeled as religious does not make a person loving. Action that demonstrates love makes a person loving. The priest and the Levite displayed total disregard for the injured man and did nothing for him.
6. True love for our neighbor is sympathetic, empathetic, compassionate, kind, resourceful, and dedicated. True love for our neighbor doesn’t merely express condolences for their suffering. True love works to ease the person’s suffering until they are in a good stable place. True love sacrifices convenience, time, and money for the sake of another person’s well-being. True love is in it for the long-haul, checking back in to make sure the person is doing alright. True love for our neighbor leads us to rescue, deliver, restore, renew, heal, and transform them, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. True love for a neighbor is exhibited when you love your enemy, just like the Good Samaritan did.

Jesus asked the expert in the law which one of the three men (the priest, the Levite, or the Good Samaritan) was a true neighbor to the injured man. The expert in the law said the one who showed mercy.
Jesus told the expert in the law to show the same kind of mercy to others. In other words, to love his Samaritan enemies. The man had wanted an excuse to keep on hating Samaritans, but Jesus now called him to do the exact opposite. Amen.