Lisa Sheffler, author
Today we’re going to look at a well-known passage, the story of the Good Samaritan. If it’s a familiar story to you, it may have lost some of its narrative punch. So read it slowly, and try and visualize the story unfolding in front of you. Imagine hearing it for the first time.
Read
Lunk 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
What does the Samaritan do for the wounded man that the Jewish leaders do not?
Does Jesus answer the question posed to him (see verse 29)? Explain your answer.
Samaritans were despised by the Jews, so having one as the hero of the story would have been jarring to Jesus’ audience. What point do you think Jesus is making?
Reflect
What does it means to be loved by God and share his love in return?
Loving your neighbor as yourself was part of the instructions God gave Israel through Moses. “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord”(Leviticus 19:18). This is an incredibly difficult calling. It shouldn’t surprise us that in his day, Jesus was asked, “who is my neighbor?”
The temptation is to define this command as narrowly as possible. It would be easier to follow if our neighbors looked, thought, believed, and behaved like we do. It would be easier to love and serve people like us. The story of the Good Samaritan doesn’t let us get away with such thinking. Loving people who are easy to love is not at all what Jesus did, and it’s not what he calls his followers to do.
There is a sacrificial element to love. It’s not “loving our neighbor” to love and serve only those who will be willing and able to reciprocate. Loving someone means putting others ahead of ourselves. That’s what Jesus did when he went to the cross to save us from our sins.
In 1973 two social scientists conducted a “good Samaritan” experiment. They asked 67 seminary students to prepare a sermon on the good Samaritan passage that we read above. On the day they were assigned to speak, students were told the event had been moved all the way across campus at the last minute. As they rushed to the other side of campus to give their sermons, a person pretending to be hurt and in distress was placed directly in their path. How many do you think stopped to help?
Even with the message of the good Samaritan fresh in their minds, even as they were prepared to exhort others to love their neighbors, only 10% stopped to help. Do you think you would have stopped?
In Jesus’ story, the religious leaders who passed by the wounded man would have been considered the super-holy people of their community. But while they knew a lot about God and his law, Jesus indicates that they had missed the heart of who God is and what he asks of his people. They were not the one who imitated God in their actions. The Samaritan was.
As followers of Jesus who have been saved by his sacrifice and filled with the Holy Spirit, we want to be more and more like Jesus. We want to see people as Jesus sees us, and love people the way that Jesus loves us. We will still fail and fall short, but as we participate with the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will be moved to greater and greater compassion. Even in the busyness of our lives, we’ll stop and go out of our way to help those in need.
I’m not there yet. Maybe you’re not either. But let’s pray for the Spirit’s conviction and then act in ways that truly love all of our neighbors.
Respond
As you go before the Lord in prayer, ask him to convict you of your indifference to those in need, remind you of his immense love for you, and reveal to you ways you can help.
As you’ve read about many of our mission partners over the last few weeks, is there one you feel led to get involved with?
Ministry Partner Spotlight
Right here in our local community we have neighbors in crisis who need our help. Here are two more of Christ Fellowship’s ministry partners who are doing amazing work.
Breaking Free
At Breaking Free, we believe that God will touch, heal, and deliver men and women who are chemically addicted and empower them to live a drug/alcohol free life. We are committed to the development of the emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of those with life-controlling dependency issues.
Our purpose is to help these men and women become whole and productive members of society. We also believe God has a destiny and purpose for these individuals. We offer group therapy, individual counseling, life skills, aftercare education, and support. We also offer vocational skills for our long term programs.
To find out more, visit their website.
Hope Women’s Center
An unplanned pregnancy can be overwhelming. Hope Women’s Center is there to provide support and resources to help women along this new journey. They provide pregnancy testing, ultra sounds, options counseling, and more. Every service they provide is free and confidential.
To find out more, visit their website.
