What's one of the most well-known, or let's put it this way, one of your favorite parables
or stories that Jesus told?
What's one of your most favorite stories or parables that Jesus told?
Good Samaritan.
That's the answer this morning.
That's the answer.
I know it's not everybody's favorite.
But it's always at the top of the list for people who are paying attention and will respond.
It's always at the top of the list.
Good Samaritan.
You know, the word or phrase there, the Good Samaritan,
it has become synonymous with organizations or individuals who offer compassionate help to people in need.
There's a lot of hospitals in this country that are called the Good Samaritan Hospital, or at least that's a part of their name,
St. Mark or something, Good Samaritan Hospital.
Here in Pickens County, we have the Samaritan's Health Clinic, which is a part of the Good Samaritan Alliance.
That also includes United Christian Ministries.
They're seeking to offer compassionate help to people in need.
Well, I want us to look at this story as it's found in Luke chapter 10 this morning.
And let it be sort of a conclusion of our series of studies of how God calls us as His people to relate to all kinds of people.
We've been looking at it mainly from Romans chapter 12, a little bit from the end of Matthew chapter 5,
how we as Christians are called to relate to, put up with, show love to all kinds of people,
from the ones that are easy to love, like family members, church family members,
to those who are very difficult to love, people who don't like us, people who oppose us, even our enemies.
What the Good Samaritan is going to help us discover this morning is how to be a neighbor
and do what we're going to look at as show neighborly love to people around about us
as we're going to see God would consider or would want us to consider are our neighbors.
The story begins in Luke chapter 10, verse 25.
Before we read, I want you to understand the context.
Jesus is being questioned by a Jewish lawyer who is an expert on the law.
He's a Jewish religious lawyer, we might think of.
Not a civil type lawyer who would be concerned with secular laws, the laws of Rome in that day.
No, he's an expert in the law.
He associates with religious leaders, Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees.
And in this setting, he's not there to try to learn from Jesus.
He's going to ask some questions, but they're not sincere questions.
As we begin in verse 25, this lawyer, this expert in Jewish law, he's trying to test Jesus.
He is trying to make him look bad in front of his disciples and others who are sincere inquirers.
This man does not have good motives.
And so we need to understand that from the outset as the questions and the banter takes place.
Luke 10, 25.
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying,
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And he, Jesus, said to him,
What is written in the law?
How do you read it?
And he answered,
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, Jesus, said to him,
You have answered correctly.
Do this, and you will live.
Let's pause there.
Luke wants us to understand, as he tells what happened,
This lawyer is testing Jesus.
He's not making a sincere or honest inquiry.
He's not a seeker of truth.
He's trying to find fault with Jesus.
Trying to make him look bad.
Trying to show him up, this lawyer, this expert in the law.
Well, the question he asks,
he already knows the answer.
All well-versed Jews should have known the answer.
And Jesus knows that.
And so when he asks this question,
Look at it in verse 25.
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus doesn't answer.
But Jesus responds to his question with another question.
What is written in the law?
You're the expert.
Jesus is aware of.
You're the expert.
How do you read it?
Well, the lawyer didn't hesitate.
He knew what he wanted to say.
He knew what he expected Jesus to say.
So he's ready to let him know.
He's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6,
what every faithful Jew would recite every day.
And from Leviticus chapter 19.
Look at what he said.
And he answered, that's the lawyer.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength
and with all your mind
and your neighbor as yourself.
New Testament scholar Darrell Bach
says that this combination of love for God
and love for neighbor
was known to Jews of that day
as the great commandment.
This is also what Jesus knew.
And this is also what Jesus said
when he was asked in Matthew chapter 22
and Mark chapter 12
a similar question.
Jesus gave these two quotes
in talking about what the greatest commandment was.
But Jesus made a distinction.
Jesus distinguished between loving God
and loving people.
He said that loving God in Matthew 22
is the first and greatest commandment.
And in Matthew or in Mark 12
he said it was the most important one.
So when Jesus is asked about the law,
about the greatest,
about these kinds of things.
He says the same thing the lawyer says,
but he says this,
it's more important to love God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
That is the first and greatest commandment.
But in the same breath,
Jesus says,
and the second is like it.
You must love your neighbor as yourself.
That's what he said in Matthew 22
and in Mark chapter 12.
Jesus emphasized the priority
of loving God.
But he also made it clear
loving others is vital.
Loving others is something you've got to do
if you love God.
In 1 John chapter 4,
these two commandments are shown to be interrelated.
Look at verses 7 and 8.
John, the disciple of Jesus,
he fully got it
when Jesus taught about loving God and loving others.
He put it together like this.
Beloved,
let us love one another.
For love is from God
and whoever loves has been born of God
and knows God.
Anyone who does not love
does not know God
because God is love.
If we really love God,
we'll love other people.
That's what he's saying.
That's why Jesus says it
the way he does
about the two great commandments.
If we as professing Christians
don't love people,
we just can't find it in our hearts,
it must be
that we've never experienced
the grace of God ourselves
and the love of God
that comes with being a child of God,
what God gives us.
I want you to look at how Jesus
commended this lawyer's answer
in verse 28.
And he said to him,
Jesus said to this lawyer,
you have answered correctly.
Do this
and you will live.
Now,
does that bother you?
Is there any kind of red flag
that sort of went up?
The lawyer asked Jesus,
what must I do
to inherit eternal life?
What must I do
to become a part
of the kingdom of heaven?
What must I do
in order to go to heaven
when I die?
We might would say.
Well, Jesus answered
by saying,
love God and love others.
Jesus said,
you have answered correctly.
Do this
and you will live.
Now, what was Jesus
talking about?
Was Jesus saying
that you can be saved
by doing certain things,
even good things
like loving God?
If we have studied
the New Testament,
if we've studied the Bible,
if we have any understanding
of what Scripture says
about salvation,
we know Jesus
was not saying to this man,
do this
and you will be saved.
Do these things
and God will reward
your good works.
God will reward
your good efforts
by giving you
a home in heaven.
That's not what Jesus
ever taught.
A good example
is in John chapter 3
as Jesus spoke
with the religious leader,
the Pharisee,
Nicodemus.
He talked to him
about the importance
of being born from above,
born again.
He talked about
how flesh and blood
cannot inherit
the kingdom of God.
We've got to be born again
of the Spirit of God.
Paul,
in writing all
that he wrote about
having a right relationship
with God,
he talked about
it's all by God's grace.
It's not something
we deserve or earn.
It's by God's grace
through faith
in Jesus Christ.
Our salvation
is by the grace of God
through faith
in what Jesus has done.
His death on the cross
for our sins.
His perfect life,
not ours.
So,
what's Jesus talking about here?
Two possibilities.
First,
Jesus could have said this
to the lawyer
knowing
that everyone knows
they don't love God
with all their heart,
soul,
mind,
and strength.
Jesus may have been trying
to help this guy
understand
by pointing him
to the law,
this expert in the law,
pointing him to the law
and saying,
it says,
love God
with all your heart,
soul,
mind,
and strength.
Love your neighbor
as yourself.
Do this and you'll live.
And the idea
should have been
in that man's mind
is,
I don't do that.
I mean,
most of us in this room
were Christians,
have been for a long time,
and we do love God,
but can you honestly say,
could you sign
on the dotted line,
I love God
with every ounce
of my being.
With all my heart,
soul,
mind,
and strength,
I do love God
that way.
nothing lacking.
Could you say,
I truly do
love my neighbors
myself.
I do
look around this room,
love everybody
in this room
just as much,
just as sacrificially,
just as self-givingly
as I do myself.
or we don't.
No one does.
That's the point.
If that lawyer
had been wise,
had been honest,
he would have thought
to himself,
I come up short.
the purpose of the law
of God
is to show us
we're not perfect,
that we are sinners,
that we need a Savior,
but this guy,
he just didn't get it.
That's most likely
the point Jesus was making,
but it could have been
Jesus was making
the point here
that
people
who are
Christians,
people who are
true believers,
people who,
in whom the Spirit
of God dwells,
they do seek
to love God
with all their heart,
soul, mind,
and strength,
and their neighbor
as their self.
Not that they've
achieved that,
but that's really
the desire of their heart.
That's a possibility.
But most likely
the first
is what Jesus
was talking about.
Either way,
the lawyer
didn't understand
what Jesus meant.
He may have thought
in his
erroneous way
of thinking
that he did
love God,
but he knew
that he had some problems
when it came to
loving his neighbor
as himself,
because he had
some questions
about who
his neighbor was.
You see,
we've seen
in another study
last week even,
most Jews
in that day
when they heard
love your neighbor
as yourself,
they automatically
thought another Jew.
Love your neighbor
and my neighbor
is someone
who is like me,
who thinks
and lives
and acts like me.
It's not everybody.
It's not certainly
my enemy.
It's not certainly
people I do not like.
It's not certainly
Gentiles,
non-believers.
And so,
it says in verse 29,
he's wanting to make
sure he's right.
And so,
in order to justify
himself,
look at verse 29.
But he,
this lawyer,
desiring to justify
himself,
said to Jesus,
Jesus,
and who is
my neighbor?
Well,
Jesus knows
he just doesn't
get it.
And so,
rather than trying
to give some kind
of theological
explanation,
Jesus gives
an answer,
but he gives
it in the form
of a story.
A story that's
going to be easy
to understand.
A parable.
The parable of
the Good Samaritan.
Let's look at it
now in verse 30.
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.
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.
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.
End of story.
Now Jesus asks
the lawyer,
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.
Let's look
at the story.
Let's look
at the parable.
The first character
in the story
is the victim.
We don't know
anything about him
other than
he was robbed,
he was beaten,
he was left
half dead
on the side
of the road.
Envision that.
Second character
is actually
two characters,
a priest
and a Levite.
They're religious leaders.
It says they're coming
down from Jerusalem
to Jericho.
The implication
would be
they've already done
their duties
in the temple
and they're
on their way
home.
The priest,
the Levite,
they do the same
thing.
They're walking
down the road,
they see a man,
evidently he's
bruised,
bleeding,
he's been beaten
up,
left half dead,
probably unconscious,
stripped,
naked.
They've taken
everything.
They see this
heap of a man,
probably in a
fetal position.
They don't even
get close enough
to look at him
to see if he's
dead or alive.
Jesus said they
just passed on
the other side
of the road
and pretend
they never
saw him.
Now,
why would they
do something
like that?
Well,
a lot of
commentators say
that they did
that because
the man was
half dead,
they couldn't
tell if he was
dead or alive.
For them to
touch a dead
body made them
ceremonially unclean,
that could be
true,
but Jesus doesn't
say,
could have just
been,
they were in a
hurry.
Could have just
been,
they're tired.
They've been in
the temple,
they've been doing
their work,
they're ready to
go home.
Maybe supper's
on the table.
Maybe they just
don't give a rip.
Maybe they see
this guy just
shrug their
shoulders and say,
poor guy,
they just don't
care.
Whatever the
reason,
there's no
excuse.
See, that's
what Jesus is
trying to point
out.
Neither of
these religious
leaders who
saw the man
in need,
neither one of
them did
anything.
them.
And the idea
is, it's
inexcusable.
Now, the third
character is where
the original, for
the original
audience, it
really got
interesting.
Many commentators
will talk about,
as Jesus told
stories, and that
was a well-known
way of communication
in his day.
It's always been,
every day.
But the idea
would have been,
as Jesus taught,
other people would
have taught in
that day,
people would have
expected,
these two religious
leaders, one of
them, the priest,
he was a more,
he had more
responsibility, the
Levite was more
like his assistant,
and they would have
expected the next
person to be a
regular church
member, what we'll
call a regular
church member, a
regular Jew.
And so the idea
would have been, as
Jesus was telling the
story, people would,
you know, you sort
of figure out the
pattern, as people
would have thought,
all right, here's for
us, here's the pastor
comes by, he doesn't
care, here's the deacon
comes by, he doesn't
care, but the guy
that's coming next, he's
going to be the hero,
he's going to be the
guy who's just the
regular church member.
He's not any kind of
officer, he just loves
the Lord, and so he's
going to come along and
take care of this guy.
But that's not what
Jesus said.
The third character,
verse 33,
when Jesus said,
but a Samaritan,
the crowd would have
just gasped.
There would have been
just, it's just
unbelievable for Jesus
to say, a Samaritan
came next, because Jews
absolutely hated
Samaritans, they were
scum, they were
nothing, they were
half-blooded Jews.
Samaritan's, there was
racial prejudice here, and
there was religious
prejudice because the
Samaritans, they didn't
acknowledge that true
worship of God was to
take place in the temple,
they didn't acknowledge
Jerusalem as the place
where it should take
place, they had their own
capital, Samaria.
And so for the Jew,
historically, looking back
at what all had happened
in days gone by, when
Jews had been held,
been captured by other
countries, taken into
captivity, other people
came into the area,
intermarried with some of
these Jews.
Now these Samaritans,
they were not pure-blooded
Jews, half-breeds,
they didn't worship
correctly, they didn't know
what they were doing,
they didn't know God,
and so there was just
intense racial, religious
bigotry, prejudice that
took place between Jews
and Gentiles.
Samaritan was just the
very last person that the
crowd would have expected
to be the good guy of any
story.
But I want you to look at
how Jesus, excuse me,
details what the Samaritan
did.
This is an important part
of the story.
It's not that the Samaritan
just came by and
acknowledged the guy and
rendered him a little bit
of aid.
Look at the great trouble
the Samaritan went to
to help this guy.
Look at it in verse 33.
But a Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came to where he
was, and when he saw him,
this is the wounded guy,
he had compassion.
He went to him and bound
up his wounds, pouring on
oil and wine, trying to,
this is their medicine,
this is trying to help,
heal, take away the pain.
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.
That Samaritan, just think
about it.
He interrupted his trip.
He used his own first aid
kit.
He took the man back to the
inn.
He provided for him best he
could right then,
personally, then gave money
for him to be taken care of
until he could come back.
Let's look at how Jesus
applied this parable.
After he tells the story,
all this happened, Jesus
asked the lawyer in verse
36, which of these three do
you think proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell
among the robbers?
The lawyer responded, the one
who showed him mercy.
Now, do you notice the way the
lawyer responds?
He won't use the name
Samaritan.
You see, Jesus told the story
about the priest, the Levite,
and the Samaritan.
And Jesus asked him, which of the
three was the neighbor?
And the man says, not the
Samaritan, as Jesus had used the
word.
He just couldn't bring himself
to describe somebody like a
Samaritan.
Trash.
Garbage of a person.
He just couldn't use his name.
That name meant that way.
There's another occasion in the
life of Jesus, his interaction
with Pharisees, those who
opposed him.
They cursed him by calling him
a Samaritan.
They were trying to just,
they were just in Jesus' face.
They said, you got a demon,
you're demon-possessed,
and you're a Samaritan.
That's how bad it was to be a
Samaritan.
This man would not even bring
himself to refer to a person
of this race in a positive way.
He just couldn't do it.
Jesus ignored that part.
Verse 37, Jesus concluded by
saying, you go and do likewise.
Now, did you note the change that
took place from the beginning of
the story to the end?
When it begins, the lawyer wants
Jesus to define who his neighbor
is, and the lawyer asks the
question in verse 29, and who is
my neighbor?
The lawyer wanted Jesus to help
him define who he had to treat
right, who he had to be
neighborly toward, because he
didn't want to do it just to
anybody.
But the story ends, Jesus asks a
different question, not the same
one.
Which of these three do you think
proved to be a neighbor to the
man who fell among the robbers?
And then Jesus concludes by saying,
you go and do likewise.
Jesus ends the parable not telling
us who our neighbor is.
Instead, he says, you be a
neighbor to whoever you come
across in life who has a need that
you can meet.
If you will.
Let's just stop and think about
this now.
All of us, as we just do our
thing, live in life, we come
across people that we see that we,
it's obvious they have a need that we
could meet.
It may be physical, it may be
material, financial, it may be
something relational, it may be
something spiritual we need to say
or do.
We come across people in our lives,
they're like this guy on the side of
the road.
There's an obvious need.
We could do something, but we just
don't.
And we don't for a lot of different
reasons.
I can't remember the time, I can't
remember times, period.
But two or three years ago, I was
driving down the road on my way home
for lunch, and I passed by a man
down in a ditch trying to push a
lawnmower up out of the ditch and
back onto the side of the road.
The ditch was at least six feet deep,
it was head high.
As I passed by that man, looked over
there, it was obvious what was going
on, and the first thing I thought up
to myself was, he needs help.
Second thing I thought was, I've got
all my good clothes.
This was Wednesday, we were having
service that night, I had on dress
pants just like this, had on these
shoes, had on a golf shirt.
It was summer.
I thought to myself, if I stop and help
him, I'm going to tear up these
clothes.
I'm going to get all sweaty, I have
to go back and take another doggone
shower before church tonight.
But before I could get a fourth of the
way down the road, I thought about
this story, because I was going to use
it as an illustration that very night.
And I thought to myself, I can't leave
that man beside the road with that
lawnmower.
So I turned around, went back, got out.
Let me help you.
Okay, thank you.
Got down in a ditch with him, pushed
it up, no problem at all, got it on
the side of the road.
He thanked me, I said you're welcome,
went back and all.
Went back home.
Now you think with me, I'm not as, I'm
not the only bad guy in this room.
We get busy in life.
We've got things to do.
We've got places to go.
Sometimes we just don't want to get
dirty.
And sometimes we pass people just as
obvious as that man in the ditch
needing help with a lawnmower.
Just as obvious as that man who had
been beaten nearly to death on the side
of the road.
Sometimes we're no better than the
priest and the Levite.
And our excuse doesn't matter.
That's the thing.
It doesn't matter what our excuse is.
It doesn't matter why we don't get
involved.
If we don't get involved,
we're wrong.
We're failing to be the neighbor that
Jesus is teaching this story to say
that we as Christians are called to be
to whoever it may be that's in our
path.
We don't think about this Samaritan
stuff.
It doesn't ring any kind of bell.
But there's things that ring a bell
with you.
God's called you to be a neighbor
to the people in your life as well as
others that you just don't think much
of.
And you know who that kind of person is.
God's called you to be a neighbor to
people in this community who are
Muslims who are working in this
community, going to school in this
community.
But because of the atmosphere that we
live under today and there are true
Muslim terrorists trying to destroy us
and our country and the free world,
that's true.
But every Muslim is not a terrorist.
And there are Muslims who live close to
you, who work maybe with you.
And if you are a Christian, you have no
choice in order to be faithful to God,
but to be a neighbor to that Muslim.
Or to that black person, if that's your
problem person.
Or to that real rich person, if that's
the one you resent the most because they
have more than you.
Or to that real poor person that you
resent the most.
Because you don't think they put forth
the effort they ought to.
See the hard thing about this story,
this is a nice story, but it's not
intended to be.
It's not really a feel good story about
doing kind things to people in need.
The story of the Good Semestrian is really
a story about Jesus telling us,
you are to be a neighbor who demonstrates God's
grace and God's love, compassion, and
practical help in the person who has the
needs, time of need.
We're called to be neighbors.
And we don't get to choose who our neighbors are.
I want to ask you, who has God put into your
life right now that you need to be a neighbor
to?
Just like this Good Samaritan.
It may be something very tangible, physical,
practical that you know you need to do.
You need to help them with.
You need to give them.
You need to serve them in some way.
But it could be it's not anything like that.
It could be more psychological, emotional,
relational.
It may be that they need you to be a friend,
to notice them, to smile at them,
to shake hands with them,
to notice and be nice toward their children
that you see have to interact with in your
neighborhood.
It may be a spiritual need.
It may be that you're the person that's in your life
you need to be a neighbor to.
It may be that what you need to do next is to share the
gospel with them.
Because they're not a Christian,
they don't know the Lord.
And the only way they're going to know Him is if
someone like you, a neighbor,
Christian neighbor like you,
shares the gospel with them.
But you know,
if they're not a Christian,
in order for them to really listen to you
or me,
they've got to see Christ in us.
They've got to see that we
don't just say we believe this stuff,
but we live it.
And when they see that we live it,
when they see that we are serious about loving
and being a neighbor like Jesus taught,
they'll be more willing to listen
when we share the gospel with them.
Who has God put in your life that you need to be a neighbor to this week?
Whoever that is,
whatever face comes to mind,
listen to what Jesus says.
Go,
do like this Samaritan did.
Be a real neighbor.
Meet their needs
with love,
with compassion,
and whatever practical means you need to use
to be that kind of neighbor.
Let's pray together.
Dear God,
all of us in this room,
we struggle
at times
to love certain people
or certain kinds of people.
We find it difficult at times
to be a neighbor
because we're busy,
because there's so many things
that demand our attention,
or
we really just don't care about people
or certain kinds of people.
But Lord,
help us to know that
we don't have an excuse
that is acceptable to you
to not live
in this community
and be a neighbor
to people that you bring across our path
that have needs
that we are able to meet.
So show us how we should respond
to this message.
Show us the,
put in our minds right now
a picture of the people.
Or dear God,
just help us to be ready
when the need arises
this week.
Help us to be
faithful Christian neighbors
as Jesus is teaching us
in this parable today.
Show us how we should respond now.
And in an attitude of prayer,
you just,
you respond to the Lord.
If you would like to pray
about your particular issue,
you come down to the front
and I'd be happy
to pray with you right now.
But the main thing,
the important thing
is you listen to God
and obey Him.
Thank you.