robert musial.
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The Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 ESV)
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He 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 and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 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.’ 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.”
There is a lot in that parable. A lot of important points are being made in it. Most of us at church, every church I’ve been too, preach and pick up on the main purpose of answering ‘who is my neighbor?’. Some have gone in to some depth of explaining, how culturally and racially shocking this parable is, for a Samaritan to help a Jew.
But there is another point in it. Just like we have all been taught the story of Abraham, willing to sacrifice his own son to God, and had the faith to actually do it. As Rob Bell points out, we’ve all been taught, and had impressed on us, that the point of that historical account, is that we must have faith like Abraham, and that we must be willing to sacrifice everything to God. But most of us miss in that story, that GOD provided to sacrifice, which is huge, important, ground breaking news. That human sacrifice to gods wasn’t at all uncommon back in 1800 BC, but that shocking part was, that God provided the sacrifice, ultimately pointing to the sacrifice of Jesus.
One of my favorite parts of the parable of the Good Samaritan, is that the Samaritan picks up the half dead man, washes him clean, puts the half dead man on his [the Samaritan’s] animal, takes him to an inn, pays for all expenses up front, and says, I [the Samaritan] will return, and if there is any other debt, I’ll cover that too.
That is a perfect analogy to how we are redeemed in Christ. We all are dead, on the side of the road, Jesus comes and has mercy on us, cleans us, and puts us on His animal. We do nothing, we have no power, we’re dead. He does all the lifting and the cleaning. He takes us to the inn, and, he pays our debts. Once and forever. The Samaritan doesn’t ask for an itemized inventory of all services provided that he can audit at a later date. The Samaritan puts down the money, and says, I’ve got it all covered. Jesus, at the cross, paid in advance for all of our sins. He doesn’t require an itemized list, it doesn’t require constant tally. Jesus, has already paid it all. Just like the Samaritan, Jesus leaves with the promise that He will come again. -
PERSONAL COMMENTARY: The possibility of a ‘Gold Bubble’
The possibility of a gold bubble has been on my radar since gold prices hit all-time highs, and on 29-JUL-2009 I went live on the Michael Medved Show to discuss my theories. My theory is based on three main factors:
- Tactics being employed to sell (not finance) gold.
- Herd mentality of investors worsened by modern networking.
- Lack of intrinsic value of gold in today’s society.
The tactics being used to sell gold are essentially the same as real estate only a few years ago. The ideas that gold has never been worth ‘nothing’, that it is a tangible asset, and that if you had invested in gold versus real estate (now in 2009) you’d be doing much better, however, all the same can be said about real estate in 2002. My house isn’t worthless, it is just worth a lot less than what I paid for it due to unreasonably high market values versus the house’s intrinsic value, caused by a stampeding herd of investors. This herd was only made larger by the internet and mass media telling everyone how high the value of real estate was. Gold is currently experiencing the same sales stampede. As investors flee real estate they need some place to land, and gold seems to be their safe haven of choice. This ‘landing’ caused an initial jump in gold price, which only served to attract more investors looking to hedge against inflation, and get in on the next big thing.
The differences are there, however. As far as I know, no one is financing 1500% of their annual income to buy gold, so if the bubble does burst, it won’t cause such a systemic financial industry failure. However, for the average investor, the husband and wife with two-point-three kids, the consequences of the bubble could be just as bad, if not worse. Your house, though undervalued now, still gives you shelter, a place to live and raise a family. Other than the speculated worth of gold, what good is that metallic element to the average investor?
This commentary isn’t designed to steer anyone away from any one investment, and certainly should not be taken as financial guidance, but it should raise question as to today’s accepted truths about tangible investments, and also the manner these truths are spread, causing the herd of humanity to run over the edge of the financial cliff.
