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 Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. Luke 10: 30

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:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,   and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61: 1-3

This man needed a crown of beauty for the ashes the world gave him. He needed the oil of gladness for his mourning and a garment of praise for his despair. He needed to be released from the darkness of the world, freedom from his captivity and his broken heart to be bound up. He needed Jesus. Continuing on in the parable:

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. Luke 10:31

Jericho was a known as a principle residence for priests and this priest was probably heading home after service in the temple. Some have tried to defend the priest as being unable to help because he was worried about uncleanliness; a typical concern for priests at that time. That of course is a religious concern. The Word of God however speaks very plainly about helping people in need:

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. - Proverbs 25:21-22

Not to mention loving your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). So the essential decision made here is one of choosing to obey the religious ritual rather than the spirit of the Word of God. Jesus often spoke against this type of Pharisaical thinking:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Matthew 23: 23-24

To not help someone in desperate need because of religiosity is indeed straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel. Who is this priest in our salvation picture? Maybe someone who has been saved a long time. Perhaps someone even in ministry. Content with their fire-insurance policy from hell and now performing the motions for Christ like Martha did when Jesus visited her home. So busy working for Christ that sight is lost of the teachings and objectives of Christ. Sometimes in American Christianity we can have an "us four and no more" mentality. We bemoan when our churches grow because we feel they somehow lose their personal nature. We can make Christianity be about us, instead of Christ. Maybe we see that man on the road beaten up by life and simply cross the street. Out of sight and out of mind. Maybe we refuse to allow our co-workers to know about our Christianity. Maybe we do not talk about it enough with our families. We can all be guilty of crossing the street.

Next up, is the Levite:

So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Luke 10: 32

Now, Levites were officials but of lesser stature than the priests. Nevertheless, they held an esteemed position. They were responsible for policing the temple and both priests and Levites were descendents of Aaron, the first High Priest. I think this point is being made here within our salvation picture to warn about who is watching how we behave. It has been speculated that the Levite probably saw the priest make the decision to cross the road and ignore the beaten man. The Jericho Road was fairly open country so even at a distance; the Levite would have seen the behavior of the Priest his superior. Thus when the time came for him to pass the wounded man, he simply "followed the leader." So too there will be people watching us and how we behave and treat those that are our neighbors. A disciple breeds disciples. A powerful witness for Christ breeds more powerful witnesses for Christ. We have a responsibility beyond ourselves; as the Apostle Paul taught:

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 1Corinthians 8: 9

The Priest in this parable became a stumbling block for the Levite. We need to be careful that we do not model uncompassionate behavior as Christians. We must not allow religiosity to trump helping our neighbor. Our responsibility must be to the lost and showing them the love and compassion of a forgiving God. Titus teaches us:

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. Titus 2: 7-8

Finally however, someone takes Christ to this beaten man:

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, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins 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.' Luke 10: 33-35.

The picture of salvation is now complete. Someone once took pity on us too and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We too were once lying beaten on the side of the world's road; discarded. Christ came and bandaged our wounds and poured into us His Holy Spirit like new oil and fresh wine! He took us into His inn a place of great comfort where He took care of us. He also paid the price for us on the cross whilst we were still sinners. As the Samaritan's actions completely cover the wounded man, so Christ completely covers us as well.

Lastly, Jesus chose the Samaritan as the hero to shock His listeners and confront their prejudice. Samaritans were the hated half-brothers of the Jews. They were loathed and despised in the days of Jesus. To make a Samaritan the compassionate hero of the parable only underscores the importance of the overall answer to the question asked by the expert of law. Who is our neighbor?

Our neighbor is everyone beloved. It is the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. It is not social standing that determines who our neighbor is, but rather compassion. It is not religiosity and ritual but rather our actions towards a fallen and dying world that should be our guiding principle. Jesus taught about this when discussing the end times and who would inherit eternal life the original question that prompted this parable. He would explain that the righteous would inherit eternal life because "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" The righteous would ask when they did these things and Jesus would answer:

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25: 40

Showing compassion to people is showing compassion to Christ. Bringing the Gospel to a lost and dying world is like tending to a man left dying on the side of the road. Sure, we can find any number of reasons to cross the street and leave him where he is. Just remember, someone had to make that same decision when they saw you dying on the side of the road. They chose to be the Samaritan. So should we.

Reverend Anthony Wade July 15, 2009