Everybody fancies himself a Good Samaritan. And everybody has good reasons why they cannot be a Good Samaritan in a particular situation. The idea is that we can pick and choose when we are going to be a Good Samaritan.
That would be okay if people could pick and choose when and what problems they would have.
Think of the last time you had an emergency. Was it planned by you? Was it convenient for you at the time?
At the very heart of the Good Samaritan is compassion. Without compassion, nothing really would get done in this world.
There are two motivating factors in a person’s life.
1. Passion… External influences… Can be worked up.
2. Compassion… Internal influence… Can’t be worked up.
It is easy to confuse these two.
Let’s look at what Jesus has to say about a Good Samaritan in response to a lawyer’s question.
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
On the surface, this looks like a perfectly legitimate question. However, looking at the first part of the verse gives us a hint about it.
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test…”
The lawyer was not asking the question in order to get an answer, but rather to put Jesus on the spot.
To be clear here, the lawyer is not some Perry Mason kind of a lawyer. What is referred to here is someone who is an expert in religious law. By the time Jesus comes on the scene, the Jewish people had developed such an intricate religious system that they needed experts to help them understand their own religion.
It seems a little pathetic to rely upon some expert to understand what your religion is all about.
It is interesting to me to see how Jesus takes this question, turns it around and addresses an issue that is really on this religious lawyer’s mind. They always have an agenda.
This parable of the Good Samaritan reveals to us several things about religion and how it counters true spirituality. The key here is compassion.
Compassion is the defining attitude in kingdom living propelling us forward in ministry.
The parables especially in the gospel of Luke, outline for us kingdom living. Each parable reveals something to us about what God expects out of us who live in his kingdom.
When this religious lawyer asked his question, Jesus responds with a question of his own.
“What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
In other words, you are the expert, what does the law say?
The answer that the religious lawyer gives is interesting.
“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.”
This just about covers the whole spectrum of life.
Jesus complements this religious lawyer by saying,
“You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
The religious lawyer is not done. He now comes to the question he had in mind in the beginning. This was something rather important to the Jewish religious people. I am sure Jesus understood the religious lawyer’s definition of “neighbor.”
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we have three primary characters. Since, the question comes from this religious lawyer; Jesus is going to put it in terms that he will understand. These characters reveal quite a bit.
The Priest… Was responsible for leading the worship celebration in the temple.
“Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side” (10:31).
The Levite… Was responsible for helping Jewish people in their celebration of Jewish festivals and especially in the legal aspects of their religion.
“So likewise the Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side” (10:32).
Both were to be ministering to the people. It was their job.
The Samaritan… Was an outcast as far as the religious people were concerned. They were not considered neighbors.
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion” (10:33).
The emphasis is in that one word “compassion.”
An interesting light on this is seen in John’s Gospel.
“And he must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4).
The proper procedure would be to go around Samaria. No upstanding Jewish person would ever deliberately walk through Samaria.
Perhaps this religious lawyer heard of Jesus going through Samaria and talking to the Samaritan woman. It probably was a jab at the integrity of Jesus who would lower himself to talking to a Samaritan.
Now, at the end of this parable Jesus asks this religious lawyer a question.
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (10:36).
The religious lawyer responds by saying this, “The one who showed him mercy” (10:37).
Now comes the most difficult challenge Jesus puts before this religious lawyer. “You go, and do likewise” (10:37).
The word the religious lawyer used, “mercy,” is the same word that Jesus used to describe the Samaritan, “compassion.”
The emphasis of this parable has to do with compassion.
What the religious lawyer said to Jesus…
“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.”
These are the four aspects of loving God out of which flows compassion to your neighbor. This was something the religious lawyer did not quite grasp.
Actually, the way these religious people get around this is define or I should say, redefine certain words like “neighbor.”
This parable of the Good Samaritan rest upon the simple concept of law that shows itself in compassion and compassion is active, not passive.
Let me break this compassion down into two parts.
I. My love for God… Foundation.
This is where we must start. This is where the religious lawyer started with Jesus.
It is very important to define what we mean by loving God.
This reminds me of what John said in his epistle.
“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20).
It is easy for us to say that we love God. It would be hard to find someone who said anything to the contrary. But when you pin them down and ask for a definition, it becomes a very different thing.
My love for God dictates my love for others.
Unconditional love…
Discriminating love…
This is why it is very important for me to define in my own heart and mind what it means to love God.
What is the basis of my love?
“We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
To understand God’s love for me is to stir up my love for him.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
This kind of love creates within me compassion. As I understand and accept God’s compassion for me, it begins to dictate my love and compassion for other people. This compassion helps me to define who is my neighbor.
If we say we really love God but have no compassion for our neighbor we are liars. The truth is not in us.
II. My love for my neighbor… Expression.
The foundation of my love for my neighbor is my love for God. If I truly love God, it will show itself in compassion toward people around me.
My compassion determines and defines who my neighbor is. Not like the religious lawyer who eliminates certain people, our compassion includes people, all peoples.
The Good Samaritan did not pick who his neighbor was. I am sure it was a very inconvenient thing for the Samaritan to stop and take care of this wounded man. After all, he was on business and had things to do.
Your neighbor is anybody who has a need. Anybody who at any time needs help. Don’t treat your neighbor as he deserves but is your love dictates.
My love for God dictates my love for my fellow man.
My love for God compels me to go into all the world and preach the gospel. This is where our ministry is defined.
What is your ministry?
What are you doing out of a heart of compassion?
Are you, like the priest and the Levite, all caught up with yourself and your agenda that you have no time to help?
The admonition of Jesus to the religious lawyer was,
“You go, and do likewise” (10:37).
