The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most beloved teachings of Jesus. In it, we learn the lesson of who our neighbor is. As we read it, the details that Jesus gives help us draw timeless lessons on how we should treat each other.
Sometimes, it’s not the people we expect to be the compassionate ones who serve and sacrifice for others. Sometimes, it’s the one we least expect, or worse, the ones our prejudices assume would not be good neighbors.
We are introduced to some interesting characters. At the story’s beginning, we read about a man who was robbed and beaten nearly to death by robbers:
“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.” (Luke 10:30 ESV).
Then, Jesus brings in the next two characters:
“Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” (Luke 10:31-32 ESV).
And finally, we are introduced to the hero of the story, the one who Jesus teaches is the neighbor:
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
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.
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.’“ (Luke 10:33-35 ESV).
We draw some great conclusions from this parable, don’t we? For instance, sometimes, the people who should be the ones who help are the ones who pass by, while the ones who we wouldn’t give a second thought about end up being the ones who are the most compassionate toward others.
But the silence and lack of detail in the parable may speak as loud as what was said. For example, have we ever stopped and asked the question, “Why did the Priest and Levi pass by on the other side?” If you are like me, perhaps you think they didn’t want to get their hands dirty helping a dying man, or perhaps they just didn’t want to be bothered. This kind of person is easy to cast stones at and condemn. Certainly, we are not like these men.
But how would you feel if you found out that the Priest and Levi were on their way to a prominent synagogue where they were to meet an important VIP traveling to speak to them? What if hundreds of people were counting on them being there to make sure all the time and money spent planning for this great spiritual event didn’t get wasted? Perhaps they sent others to follow up on the one who was robbed?
Or maybe the two were responding to a critical, time-sensitive crisis a member of the synagogue was having. Or we can think through a number of “legitimate” reasons that the Priest and Levi may have had to pass by on the other side. But casting them as uncaring and callous people makes it easier to see their evil while preventing us from seeing ourselves as the bad neighbor.
Neither was anything said about what was going on in the Samaritan’s life. Did he have the spare time to help? Did he have an abundance of resources? Or did he have to use money meant for his family to help this man in terrible need? Did he miss an important appointment with a potential client to make the detour to the inn? Was the oil and wine he used on the man meant to be resources for his family? Jesus never gives us any details on his situation.
How often have we passed by on the other side rather than render help because we have “legitimate” reasons? Perhaps, we think, we need to focus our financial resources on our family or someone else. Or, perhaps we need to give our time and attention to someone more important to us at the moment. I’m sure if we think long enough, we will be able to come up with many ways to justify passing by on the other side when someone needs our help.
I don’t know about you, but when I think about parables like these, I sometimes read into the silent details, things that make it easier for me to justify myself rather than see how the parable can transform me. I wonder how many other parables I have read into the silent details of things that justify me rather than things that help me become more of what Jesus wants me to be.
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37 ESV).
Life points to one event: The judgment before Jesus
He is King and Lord
His words will be our judge
On that day, everything we do and say now will be our witness for or against us
Are we living our lives for His glory and service?
Or are we living our lives with little thought on how we should bring ourselves into submission to Him?
“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” (John 12:48 ESV).
We are reaching the 2000 anniversary of the death of Jesus on the cross and His promised return.
Now is not the time to party while the Master is away (Matthew 24:48-51).
Now is not the time to stop preparing for His return (Matthew 25:1-13).
Now is not the time to stop working for the Master (Matthew 25:14-30).
Now is not the time to start thinking, “2000 years is a long time... Is He really coming back?”
“knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4 ESV).
Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus was seated at His Father’s right hand, clothed with power, glory, and honor.
The reason He has not returned in 2000 years is simple.
He is gracious.
He is loving.
He is merciful.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV).
But let us not be lulled into a false sense of security like the scoffers.
Let us not party while the Lord is away.
Let us not stop preparing for His imminent return.
Let us not stop laboring in His vineyard.
Because He IS coming back.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:10 ESV).
There has been a lot of talk about Big Tech and Government censorship lately.
When it comes to sounding the warnings and message of Jesus, they may mute, silence, or cancel us.
But they cannot mute, silence, or cancel the message.
If you are censored, or if I am censored,
The Lord has an army who will continue to sound out His words.
The good and honest hearts who seek Truth will always be able to find it.
Live today as though at any moment, the Father will whisper in the Lord’s ear, “It’s time... Go get your bride.”
Happy New Year. 2023 is a gift to each of us from the patient and long-suffering Father. May 2023 draw each of us closer to Him.
We live in a society that is increasingly blurring the lines between right and wrong, absolutes and situations, standards and lawlessness. As we go through life, the Creator sets His will before us and calls us to Him.
We have a choice to make. Do we submit to Him and His will, or do we live unto ourselves? This fundamental decision we make will define who we are and what our destiny will be.
We were created to serve and dwell with the Creator forever. When we put that destiny in jeopardy through our own sins, our God became flesh, dwelt among us, and died for our sins so that He could redeem us and reconcile us back to the Father.
Jesus fixed what we broke. Yet the decision must be ours to reach out and accept what He has done for us. God will not impose His will upon us with force. He freely offers His grace.
But we will choose to love under His standard or live in lawlessness, seek out His absolute will for us or reject His will and apply situational ethics and justify ourselves with no thought of His word. We will choose to let Him define what is right and what is wrong, or we will change His definitions of right and wrong to justify how we want to live.
Our society is moving away from God and replacing His rule with its own. Let us all have a heart that submits to God, kneels before His Son, our King, and prepares for our rightful place at His feet for eternity.
If we cannot do that in this life, then we will be granted an eternity without Him to live with our lawlessness and with no gracious King to flow eternal blessings to us under His rule.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!” (Isaiah 5:20-23 ESV).