Anchor My Faith

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Scripture: Luke 10:30-37

In the previous lesson we covered the conversation Jesus had with the lawyer about the law, which led up to the question of who our neighbor was. This provided Jesus with an opportunity to share another parable; one about the good Samaritan.

^{Lk 10:30} “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.”’  

Jericho is located near the Jordan River in the West Bank, about 18 miles to the north northwest of Jerusalem and about 3200 feet lower in elevation. Jericho is nearly 800 feet below sea level, making it one of the lowest cities on earth. Traveling down in elevation from Jerusalem to Jericho, one would leave a semi-dry area and enter into a totally barren and parched one.

In the parable, a man was traveling down this steep, winding, descending, remote road that for centuries has been a place of robberies, became one of those victims. He was stripped and beaten and left half dead. ^{Lk 10:31} “Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

A priest, who would be a descendant of Aaron with priestly responsibilities in the Jerusalem temple, came upon the wounded traveler and passes by and in so doing demonstrates his unwillingness to love his neighbor. Likewise, a Levite, a member of the tribe of Levi but not a descendant of Aaron and therefore not a priest, but one who assisted the priest, passes by the wounded traveler and also demonstrates his unwillingness to love his neighbor.

^{Lk 10:33} “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ 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. ³⁵ 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.’”

The Samaritans were a mixed race of half-Jew and half-Gentile that resulted from the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C. Some of these Jews and Assyrians intermarried producing the Samaritans. There was a high level of hate between the Jews and the Samaritans and as a result it would be unthinkable for a Samaritan to stop and help a Jew, but he does. He not only helps him where he found him but puts him on his own animal and walks him to an inn for additional care.

Jesus then asks the lawyer, ^{Lk 10:36} “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” This question points out that the lawyer asked the wrong question. The question should not have been “Who is my neighbor?” but “How can I be a neighbor?”

In answer to the question Jesus asked, the lawyer responds by saying, ^{Lk 10:37} “The one who showed him mercy.” In response “Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”’

Conclusion

This particular conversation with the lawyer stayed focused on the Law with nothing said about believing in Jesus. Jesus realizes that the timing was not right to share the gospel with the lawyer. We need to understand the importance of determining the spiritual readiness of a person to determine what is appropriate to share at that particular time to help raise the level of readiness.