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.
