Salvation and the Samaritan
Luke 10: 36-37 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
The transcendental beauty of Scripture is you can read a passage or a story multiple times and have God show you something different every time. Such is the case today with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The primary application for this parable is one to teach us the importance of not having prejudice and biases when dealing with people and to remember that everyone is our neighbor. We are all our brother's keeper. Today however, we will look at this parable through the lens of salvation and how the story and it's characters can be related to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ; leading people to the foot of the cross. For remember:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3: 16-17
No greater work do we have then leading people to Christ. Then preaching the Gospel fulfilling the Great Commission. If we believe what we believe, then there is a world that will spend an eternity separated from God unless someone tells them of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Now onto the Samaritan!
Jesus tells us this story in the tenth chapter of Luke's Gospel. An expert in the law had questioned Jesus about how to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the question back on the expert and the expert correctly answered that he must love God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind and his neighbor as himself. But seeking to justify himself, the expert followed up by asking who was his neighbor? I mean certainly we don't have to love everyone the expert must have thought. Once again Jesus raises the bar with the telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
In
reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from
The man who was mugged can be representative of the unsaved. This man is the same man you see every day. You work with him. You live next door to him. He may even be in your family. This man has fallen into the hands of the world. The world is unmerciful and cruel. The world has robbed him of his hope and his joy. He may feel as if his clothes have been ripped from his body. He may feel as if the world has beaten him up over and over. He may indeed feel half-dead. Dead from addiction, discouragement, depression, anger, or whatever the world has used to bind him. And just like the Prodigal Son, when the world was done with him; he was left for dead on the side of the road.
What does the man need? The world will say another drink, another therapist, or maybe another medication. The cures of the world will only further the beaten down nature of this man however. Only salvation through Jesus Christ can truly save him. What will God do for this man? The Prophet Isaiah teaches us:
