THE GOOD SAMARITAN

In the tenth chapter of the book of Luke, a religious scholar engaged Jesus in a conversation.

Luke10:25–28(NKJV)

25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

26. He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"

27. So he answered and said, ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and "your neighbor as yourself."'

28. And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."

Follow closely.

29. But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Then comes the story that helps us understand better God's perspective about love. Jesus' response was in answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

30. Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

First thing to note is that although many Bible commentators believe this is a parable, Jesus never called it one. Jesus was sharing a story in the setting of Jewish context to teach a lesson. This man was by implication a Jew (an Israelite); he was attacked and seriously wounded to the point of death.

31. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

A fellow Jew (not just a fellow but a priest sanctified in the law) saw him, ignored him, and left.

32. LIKEWISE a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

Another fellow Jew (a consecrated Levite) did the same—ignored him and left. Sadly, this double emphasis shows that such attitude was never a mere coincidence.

33. BUT a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

On the contrary, a non-Jew saw him and had compassion on him. This was perhaps strange. Why?

The Jews were not in good terms with people of Samaria (Samaritans), and vice versa.

See a pointer in Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman.

John 4:5–9(NKJV)

5. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."

8. For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

One of the major causes of controversy between them was the location of religious worship.

John 4:20(NKJV)

"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."

For this same reason, a village in Samaria rejected Jesus’ visit.

Luke 9:51–53(NKJV)

51. Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,

52. and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.

53. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

They knew he was going to Jerusalem for the Jewish worship. Interestingly, this was shortly before our Lord shared the story of the good Samaritan.

So, Samaritans are not Jews.

Luke 17:11–18(NKJV)

11. Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.

13 . And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

14. So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16. and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

17. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

18. Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"

In fact, their enmity was so bad that the Jews considered being a Samaritan a curse. They insulted Jesus thus:

John 8:48(NKJV)

Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

So now we have a background understanding of what was actually going on. The lawyer Jesus was sharing the story with understood too. Fellow Jews ignored their countryman but not just a stranger, a Samaritan for that matter, refused to leave him to die helplessly; he had compassion on him.

Luke 10:33–35(NKJV)

33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

34. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'

He gave the victim first aid and took him to a place he would be treated.

In the first century, it was unheard of—a Samaritan helping a Jew or a Jew helping a Samaritan. But this was the case here.

Luke 10:36–37(NKJV)

36. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"

37. And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

"Go and do likewise."

Remember the answer before Jesus shared the story?

Luke 10:27(NKJV)

So he answered and said, ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and "your neighbor as yourself."'

It's all about love.

This story tells us that love should be without discrimination—irrespective of race or ethnicity, religion, culture, gender, or skin colour.

Clearly, the religious scholar Jesus was speaking with earlier thought he was faultless in this regard.

Luke 10:29(NKJV)

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

But Jesus proved him wrong.

Love should be without discrimination. You can render help to anyone.

On the other hand, you can be helped by anyone, even someone you do not think is capable of being of any help. As a result of the tension between the Jews and the Samaritans, it is very likely that if the victim in this story was healthy, he would have rejected any form of association with the Samaritan.

But our Lord Jesus through this story communicates God's idea to us—love without discrimination. So your neighbor is not just someone from your family, tribe, or race. Your neighbor is your fellow human being.

We may not owe any man anything—we should not—but in God's perfect standard, we owe EVERY man LOVE.

Romans 13:8–10(NKJV)

8. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

9. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

10. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 John 3:17–18(NKJV)

17. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

18. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Amen.

Victor Ibosiola © 2022

An excerpt from The Art of Giving: Investigating God’s Thought on the Concept of Giving (2018)

Recommended blog post: The God-kind of Love

Recommended audio teaching: The Believer‘s Love Walk (2022)