Download Parable of the Good Samaritan (Part 2)

Parable of the Good Samaritan (Part 2)
Good morning! Welcome to Let the Bible Speak. We want you to know that we are devoted to helping
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Last week we began our study of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. We want to pick up where we
left off and address one of the questions you have submitted. You may view the first part of this
message at LetTheBibleSpeak.com.
Our focal passage reads, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"
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."' And He said to him, "You
have answered rightly; do this and you will live." But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And
who is my neighbor?"
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. Now by
chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a
certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So
he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two
denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
when I come again, I will repay you.' So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell
among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do
likewise." More on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, but first enjoy our song…
The philosophy of the priest and Levite: "What’s mine is mine. I’ll keep it." Their time, their energy, their
heart was closed to everyone and everything that did not belong to them, their family, their people.
Though we don’t know exactly what they were thinking, no doubt the priest and Levite justified
themselves. They may have thought that the injured man was already dead and that they need not risk
becoming ceremonially defiled. Maybe they were concerned for their own safety. Maybe they were
running late for a religious activity. Could they have feared being blamed for what happened by
attempting to help? The approach of “minding their own business” is natural for man.
By now the Jewish audience was likely expecting a common Jew to come on the scene and be the hero.
If they were, they were wrong. Verse 33: “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was.” “What? A Samaritan?! This can’t be good news. Will he finish him off?” Before we go further, let’s
see if we can see why Jesus used a Samaritan. Who are these people?
There are still over 600 Samaritans living on Mt. Gerizim in the West Bank where Jesus met the woman
at well. It’s fascinating that the name “Samaritan” is derived from the Hebrew term “keepers (of the
law).” Why? They accept only the first five books of the Old Testament and claim to be the only true
worshippers of Israel. (Incidentally, this is where, in 330 BC, the Samaritans built their temple while the
Jews temple was in Jerusalem. The Samaritans were particularly hated by the Jews in Jesus' day. They
lived between Galilee to the North and Judea to the South; these folks lived in the old Northern
Kingdom of Israel. In 721 BC, Israel was conquered by Assyria, and Sargon II carried off 27,000 captives
and resettled the area with folks from other parts of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 17:24). Their
descendants were looked down on as half-breeds and heretics by the Jews. At times, relations between
Jews and Samaritans had been civil, but in Jesus' day feelings were hostile. To make matters worse,
sometime around 9 AD at midnight during a Passover some Samaritans deliberately scattered bones in
the Jerusalem Temple to desecrate it. The Jews were outraged! What remained now was disdain and
hatred, as John observed in John 4:9, "Jews do not associate with Samaritans."
We’re talking about racial and religious animosity and hatred; this prejudice led the Jews to think, if not
verbalize, “all Samaritans are evil.” We can only speculate, but if Jesus would have preached this parable
in the North during the Civil War, wouldn’t he have used a Rebel instead of a Samaritan? During WWII in
the United States, wouldn’t Jesus have used a German or Japanese man? During the ‘60’s, a hippee?
Each of these generates the same emotions generated by the Samaritan. Who would fit in the place of
Samaritan, if Jesus was preaching this parable today? What if he were preaching to you? Notice, this
wasn’t merely racial bigotry – this disdain was as much religious as it was racial. Would Jesus have used
a Hindu, Muslim or Atheist, Baptist, Catholic or Mormon if he was preaching this at your church today?
The whole point is: the one expected to be from the lower class – racially and spiritually – turns out to
be MORE dependable than the “higher class” of orthodox Jewish religious officials.
You know, we could even use this passage as justification for despising all lawyers. When we lived in
Tennessee a few years ago, I was privileged to visit with Kenneth Starr in Murfreesboro (Starr’s father,
incidentally, was a church of Christ preacher in Texas). Starr said in the speech he gave at our children’s
school that “one of the problems with telling lawyer jokes is that lawyers don’t like them, but nobody
else understands them.” He added, “You know, a lawyer is an individual whose principal role is to
protect his clients from others of his profession.” Then he said, “A lawyer is someone that can write a
10,000 word document and call it a brief.” Next, “It doesn’t matter what font he uses, it always comes
out in fine print.” Then, he said, “Have you ever thought about the difference between a good lawyer
and a great lawyer? A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.” As Dean of
Pepperdine law school, he stressed on the serious side, “You know, not all lawyers are bad.” He went on
to point out that Paul wrote in Titus 3:13, “Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with
haste, that they may lack nothing.” I remember my dad raking lawyers over the coals in a sermon one
time, only to be told by the treasurer after services, “I’m a lawyer.” A preacher friend that I love and
respect is making a lawyer. Prejudice comes in many forms. Jesus is warning us against it in this parable.
A Samaritan village denies hospitality to Jesus and His disciples in Luke 9. In Matthew 10:5, Jesus forbids
his disciples to visit any Samaritan city because He was sent to the Jews. In John 8, intended as a vicious
slander, the Jews call Jesus a Samaritan and demon possessed. Remember that although Jesus
respectfully confronted the false worship of Samaria in John 4, He also showed by example that a man’s
worth is not based on his ethnic identity or religious heritage. Jesus reaches out to the Samaritan
woman at the well in John 4. Then, when Jesus heals the ten lepers in Luke 17, the only one who
returned to praise God was a Samaritan.
Incredibly, no doubt to His Jewish audience, Jesus continued in verse 33, “…And when he saw him, he
had compassion.” When the Samaritan saw the beaten, bloodied victim, he had compassion. The Greek
word for compassion refers to the intestines. This wasn’t a feeling in his mind, on the surface, but
something he felt in the deepest recesses of his heart. When the Samaritan saw the suffering man lying
half-dead by the side of the road, something happened in his gut - something that made it impossible to
walk away. Jesus is saying if we love our neighbor and see him in need it will strike a deep chord. Notice
that this Samaritan gave of his heart.
Verses 34-35: “So he went to him (gave of his time) and bandaged his wounds (gave of his energy),
pouring on oil and wine (gave of his possessions); and he set him on his own animal (gave of his
transportation – he’d now be on foot), brought him to an inn, and took care of him (gave of his
strength). On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii (gave of his money), gave them
to innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I
will repay you.' (gave of his Visa; left a blank check)
Remember, the robbers approach was, “What’s yours is mine. I’ll take it." The approach of the priest
and Levite was, “What’s mine is mine. I’ll keep it.” The Samaritans approach in contrast was, "What is
mine is yours. You may have it." When love floods our heart, it is like oxygen filling our lungs and a
genuine need arising is like a trumpet placed on our lips – we can’t help but sound off. Too many times,
though, Jesus is saying, God’s people walk around with only enough love to blow a kazoo. Notice that
the love Jesus is speaking of is “more than a feeling.” Hear God speak in James 2:16, “And (if) one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
Genuine love like genuine faith takes action! Love initiates! Genuine love doesn’t have to be poked and
prodded. Love can’t sit still when it sees genuine need. Look at all the action, “he went to him, bandaged
him, pouring on oil and wine, set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him,
gave two denarii to the innkeeper, Six active verbs! Love acts!
Jesus uses six verbs to detail how active was this man’s compassion. Love does NOT pass by on the other
side; love moves us toward those in need. Love isn’t afraid to get hands dirty, love isn’t afraid to work. I
can’t help everywhere and everyone, but I can help someone somewhere and I should. Notice the end
of a scripture where we usually focus at the beginning. Ephesians 4:28, “Let him who stole steal no
longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to
give him who has need.”
Verse 36: “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
Don’t you know that this question hung in the air. After a chorus of “ooh’s” from the audience, I imagine
you could hear a pin drop. This lawyer, starved for attention, suddenly had all that he wanted and then
some. His brilliant, educated mind - trained to find loopholes – could find no way out.
Verse 37: “And he said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’" This was Jesus’ message from the start. He said
in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so
to them…”
Two issues tended to plague lawyers (and we’re tempted to do the same): 1) they wanted to limit who
their neighbor was; 2) they didn’t practice what they preached. “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye
lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your
fingers. (Matthew 23:4; Luke 11:46). Most of the time, they got the law and they taught the law, but
they did not walk the law! THEY focused on theory, Jesus focused on action! That’s why Jesus concluded
so strongly with these words in verse 37, “Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." In other words,
stop talking and start doing!
Again, in verse 25, the lawyer asked the right question - the question we all need to ask and act upon…
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" “What must I do to go to Heaven?” Isn’t it strange that most
preachers are offended by this kind of question? That’s right! They say, “Don’t say DO! That’s a bad
word! You cannot DO anything to be saved!” Funny how Jesus didn’t respond that way, don’t you think?
Funny, how people kept asking this question and men of God never shunned it, but went with it. That’s
because they understood what the Spirit taught in 2Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he
has DONE, whether good or bad.”
Look at the book of Acts. Paul asked Jesus on the Damascus Road in Acts 9:6 – “So he, trembling and
astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to DO?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the
city, and you will be told what you must DO." Cornelius was told in Acts 10:6, “Peter is lodging with
Simon, a tanner... He will tell you what you must DO.” The Philippian jailer asked in Acts 16:30, "Sirs,
what must I DO to be saved?" In Acts 2:37-38, the assembled Jews plead, “Men and brethren what shall
we DO?” None of them were shamed for asking the question as some preachers do today. Instead, they
were told what they needed to do. In each of these occasions, they were told to be baptized! In each of
these cases, the urgency of baptism for the forgiveness of sins was understood. As a result, they did not
delay baptism for a week or two, but were baptized immediately. Even when he learned the truth (some
time after midnight), the Bible says the Philippian jailer was baptized “the same hour of the night” in
which he learned that Jesus saves.
Did you have that kind of urgency to be baptized when you decided to turn your life over to Jesus? If
not, then you weren’t baptized the Bible way. You weren’t baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16; I Peter
3:21). You weren’t baptized “to put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). You weren’t “baptized for the remission
of sins (Acts 2:38).” You weren’t baptized to “wash away your sins (Acts 22:16).” You weren’t “baptized
into Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).” You weren’t baptized by the “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4) that all must
submit to in becoming disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:19). People in the Bible who learned their
baptism was no good were rebaptized the Bible way (see Acts 19). If you want to be baptized the Bible
way, please contact us today.
It looks like we have time for one of your questions. A dear lady from south of Springfield, Missouri
asked, “Did you notice in Jude 1 where it said the believers in Christ “were sanctified, preserved and
called in Jesus Christ?” Sounds permanent to me? Well, does that Scripture teach that once a Christian is
saved that he can never fall always, that he can never be lost?
Of course, we must take all relative scriptures on a given topic into consideration. The more Scripture
we find, the more light we have on any given topic. Notice, for example, that the Spirit says in James
5:12, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.
But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment.” Writing to Jewish
Christians, Paul says in Hebrews 4:11, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall
according to the same example of disobedience.” Then, again in 12:15, “Looking carefully lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God…” We discover a similar message in 2 Peter 3:17, “Beloved, since you know
this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of
the wicked…” The apostle warns against appointing a new convert to the eldership, “lest being puffed
up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” Not good! Keep in mind that Judas
Iscariot was handpicked by Jesus, and, had “power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all
kinds …of disease.” Yet, he fell. Jesus said of Judas in Matthew 26:24 and Mark 14:21, “It would have
been good for that man if he had not been born." Those who abide in Christ have nothing to fear. Jesus
says in John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they
gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” No one can pluck us out of Jesus’ hand
– not even the devil himself - but if we decide to leave Him, Jesus will not force us to stay.
Thank you for watching Let the Bible Speak. We hope you have heard God speak to you through His
word. If you’d like to hear how you can obey the gospel and avoid hell’s fury, or if you’d like to get a free
copy of today’s message, “The Good Samaritan” or begin our free Bible study course, please write us at
the address to follow or call 1-800 380-5827. You may also visit LetTheBibleSpeak.com to watch videos
of the program. Finally, we echo the sentiment of the apostle Paul when he wrote in Romans 16:16, “the
churches of Christ salute you.” Until next week, goodbye and God bless.