DAY FIFTY-NINE:
The Good Samaritan
Yesterday we looked at the parables that used illustrations from everyday life to describe the Kingdom of Heaven: seed, soil, weeds, fish, etc. Today and tomorrow we'll look at parables that tell stories about people. These stories caught the attention of His hearers and distracted them while He outflanked their defenses. By the time He finished the story everyone knew that He had made His point.
Jesus said, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." The scribe knew the answer to the question even before he came to Jesus. But it wasn't the answer he wanted. So he asked a follow-up question: just exactly WHO is my neighbor? We saw how Jesus addressed this question in the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44) Instead of repeating Himself Jesus told a story.
A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. As the crow flies it's just 15 miles. But as my father pointed out, unless you can fly you don't travel that way. The journey is over twice that far on the ground. Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level, and Jericho is over 700 feet BELOW sea level. The road twists and turns and winds all over. It goes through an inhospitable wilderness, and there are many places for robbers to hide. It wasn't safe to make the journey alone, but this man is all by himself and indeed he met some robbers. They beat him and took everything, even his clothes. Then they left him in the hot sun to die. His only hope is for someone to come by and help him.
He was in luck! A priest came by. Surely he would help. But the priest looked at the man and then walked on. "What if this man dies while I'm helping him? If that happens I've touched a dead body and I would be defiled. I couldn't fulfill my priestly duties for a day. I feel badly for this guy, but I have a higher calling and just can't help him." So the priest went on his way.
Then a Levite, one who helps the priests and administers the tithes, came by. Surely he would stop. But like the priest he went by on the other side. He too had duties to perform and thought he couldn't afford risking defilement. The man's groans went unanswered.
Then a Samaritan came by. You've heard, no doubt, that the Jews and Samaritans hated each other. That simple statement, however, doesn't convey the depth of their animosity. The Samaritans were the remnant of the ten northern tribes of Israel who were left behind when the Assyrians deported most of the population and brought in foreigners to take their place. They tried to preserve their faith, building a temple and carrying out sacrifices atop Mt. Gerizim, near Shechem. Judah later fell to Babylon and went into exile for 70 years. When they returned they were a small minority in their homeland. When they started to rebuild the Temple the Samaritans offered to help. The Jews told them to get lost. The Samaritans then joined with the foreigners around them to hinder the efforts to rebuild Jerusalem, its walls and the Temple. Many years later, when the Maccabees briefly ruled Judah, the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim. The Jews thought the Samaritans were no better than pagans, and the Samaritans thought the Jews had ruined the purity of the faith by adding to the Scriptures (the Samaritans believed that only the five books of Moses were authoritative). So yes, Jews and Samaritans hated one another! They each wished ill of the other and if a Samaritan were to find an injured Jew he most certainly would not help him.
But this Samaritan stopped. He got off his donkey and went over for a closer look. He saw that the man was badly wounded but still alive. He treated the wounds with wine (an antiseptic) and olive oil (it promoted healing) and then bandaged the man. The Samaritan put him on his donkey and took him to an inn. He cared for the man through the night, but it was apparent that he wasn't ready to travel. The Samaritan paid the innkeeper in advance for the man's room and board, and promised to pay if the innkeeper had to spend more. Then the Samaritan loaded up his donkey and continued his journey.
Jesus then said, "Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" There's only one answer. Not the priest or the Levite, but the hated Samaritan, proved to be a neighbor, and the Scribe had to admit as much. Jesus then said "You go and do likewise." Game, set and match! Hours of theological debate reduced to a simple story.
In this parable Jesus taught that everyone we meet is our neighbor. Not just the people who look and think like us. Everyone. We have a duty to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We appreciate it when others show us kindness, but do we always show that same kindness to others? Jesus spent a lot of time with tax collectors, prostitutes and other kinds of sinners. Where would He spend time today? I believe He'd hang with the same kinds of people, because they need Him and we're afraid to go near them, much less touch their lives. Even though we're not bound by the purity laws of the Old Testament, we still fear defilement.
Jesus told us what it will be like when He returns in Matthew 25:31-40. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." He welcomed the "sheep" into the kingdom, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." (25:35-36). They wondered when they saw Jesus in that condition. He replied, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." The goats, however, He dispatched them to the "eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Why? Because they didn't help Jesus in these circumstances. "Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these,you did not do it to me." That's a lot to think about!
Here's a song that drives the message home:
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