Luke 10:30–37 Amplified version
“Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, who stripped him of his clothes [and belongings], beat him, and went their way [unconcerned], leaving him half dead. 31Now by coincidence a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32Likewise a Levite also came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road]. 33But a Samaritan (foreigner), who was traveling, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was deeply moved with compassion [for him], 34and went to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them [to sooth and disinfect the injuries]; and he put him on his own pack-animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35On the next day he took out two denarii (two days’ wages) and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return.’ 36Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who encountered the robbers?” 37He answered, “The one who showed compassion and mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and constantly do the same.”
This is no doubt one of my favorite parables! I bring up the meaning and application of this parable with my sons often. The setting here is Jesus’ response to a question from a man who was an expert in the Mosaic Law. His question was about what it looks like to love your neighbor. The man wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life and wished to vindicate himself.
I think that the first thing that we should note is that the story starts out centered on a person who is clearly in need of help. We aren’t dealing with a person asking for help, and yet maybe has bad motives or is being misleading. This person is someone that needs help for sure. He also is in no position to pay someone back. We are led to believe this person is of no notoriety. This robbed, beaten, and left for dead man is not known by the other parties. They simply come across him in their regular goings about in life.
All three of the men no doubt had some place to be. They wouldn’t have been traveling just for something to do like one might do today. We are told this was a dangerous route. Stopping to help this man meant that they would be late for, or miss entirely, what they were traveling to do. The Priest and Levite may have been thinking that this man was already dead or would die in their hands if they went to try and help him. Touching a dead body would have made them ceremonially unclean. They would have had to go through the purification process. They may have been looking to keep in step with one rule while missing a far greater command. They would not have sinned to touch a dead body. They simply would have been inconvenienced (and significantly so) to go back and be made unclean and work to be declared clean again. They needed to be willing to suffer personally for the sake of helping someone in obvious severe need whom they came across.
When we look at the Good Samaritan we see a guy who gave of: himself, his time, and his resources. This guy was very late for what he was going to do. He could have gotten sick from helping this guy. He used up more energy putting the man on his donkey and escorting him to a nearby inn. He added more distance to his travels. The man also used his own supplies in helping him and of course paid for his care. We are told nothing to indicate that this Samaritan man was wealthy. He had no party with him. If he had plenty of money he could have paid the inn keeper an amount that was sure to cover his expenses and avoid a return trip.
What the Good Samaritan ultimately did was give sacrificially (not merely of his abundance) of: his time, his resources, and his very self to help a person in clear need whom he came across. He did so without: hesitation, complaint, or grumbling. This is the picture that Jesus is painting for us what it means to love your neighbor. Please note that Jesus said to go and do so constantly. This is not a once in a great while way of living. This is a standard way of living.
If you or I are not wealthy we can’t afford for this kind of thing to happen every day. Jesus wouldn’t send us this kind of test every day. Yet there are more simple tests (or opportunities) like this that may cross our path every day. More simple versions might be giving your time to be a listening ear to somebody having a bad day in a store. It looks like pulling over to offer help to somebody with car trouble. It’s spotting someone carrying heavy items and taking it to their destination for them. If you are old or have disabilities you will find ways to love your neighbor that you can do. This way of living isn’t offered up only for ones own family or “group”, it is offered up to anyone you come across. It is a helpfulness that is eager and glad to help. This is a loving help that doesn’t rush someone along so that you can avoid being late. It doesn’t grumble or complain as you rush off to meet your next activity. This kind of loving help feels no need to boast about it in the Church newsletter about an increased statistic for people “our Church” is helping, or need to share at prayer time.
The Priest and Levite may have offered this kind of help to somebody that was a part of “their group” or a person of notoriety. All kinds of people are able to offer up this level of help. All kinds of people might do this while complaining or hoping for some sort of payback. This is the contrast of love that comes from out of union with the Lord Jesus Christ and that which is of religion. Religion is ultimately a matter of trying to live up to the standards of God (any God) from merely our of ones own strength. Only the strength of Jesus Christ himself can enable this kind of living from this parable on a constant basis.
In this story there is no matter of morality at issue in helping this person or associating with him. This parable covers the one matter and does not go into addressing a false love that throws issues of morality out the window. This kind of prevalent false love that gives rampant approval over many things that God is against is not covered here. The other side of the narrow road of Life will be addressed at another time. There are always two sides for missing a road; the right and the left.
There is a positive and negative side to this story to apply to ourselves. Let us honestly examine ourselves against this passage. Can we honestly say that we empowered with the Love of Jesus? Do we have to be honest and admit that we merely have a love that is birthed from out of ourselves? A love that is of a merely religious person. Have we once lived a life that was loving others in a way that was empowered by Jesus but have now faded off? Any corrective answer is the same as all of Jesus’ commands. The answer is not to try harder. The answer is to humbly admit our state to God and renounce it. It is making a heart turn to God on the matter and asking Him to give us the Life and Strength to live according to His ways. If we are actively living from out of Spiritual union with Him, this kind of loving our neighbor will flow out spontaneously! On the positive side of things, this is a better way of living. If everybody loved their neighbors like this, everyone would be cared for. Nobody would fall through the cracks. We wouldn’t have some people trying to do too much because there aren’t enough people doing the right thing. The best part is that God Himself will provide the power to live like this! If we know ourselves honestly, we know that God’s power is needed to live like this. All we must do is humbly take the way of the cross that I just outlined above. Under the conditions that God has laid out, He will freely give of Himself for us to live as He desires!