The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:30-37                                    The Good Samaritan

Introduction

After more than thirty years of reading, teaching, and preaching Scripture, it becomes difficult to recall each time a particular Scripture passage is read. But I remember well one reading of the parable of the Good Samaritan. On September 11, 2011, representatives of various faiths in Center City Philadelphia were invited to read from their sacred writings and offer up prayer in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. We gathered in Rittenhouse Square. I invited a church member – an Iranian Christian – to read this parable, which I then followed with prayer. Is there a better passage that presents the Christian perspective for how any of us are to live with and treat our neighbors, whoever they may be and wherever they may live?

Text

The lesson of the Good Samaritan is clear – we are to regard everyone as our neighbor and treat them accordingly. The lawyer – a religious scholar of the Jewish Scriptures – had asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus then tells this straightforward parable. Only, it is not so straightforward as it first seems. The lawyer asked a specific question looking for a specific answer. Jesus responds in such a way that answers the question but also makes some points that the lawyer had not considered.

The point most clearly made is that the lawyer asked his question from the wrong perspective. He asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Who qualified to be his neighbor? By his own question at the end, Jesus makes the point that we are not to ask who is our neighbor but to whom will we be a neighbor. Look at verse 36: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

This is classic Jesus – forcing us to look at our own hearts rather than everyone else’s. He wants us to be more concerned with logs in our own eyes than with specks in the eyes of others. He wants to know what we believe about him, rather than what we think others believe. He wants the lawyer to ask of himself what it means to be a neighbor rather than who qualifies to be his neighbor. And the lesson is that he should be a neighbor to anyone.

But Jesus has more to say to the lawyer. Indeed, he adds a peculiar twist to the story that would have troubled not only the lawyer but all of his hearers, so much so that it endangered the first lesson even being heard. The twist is Jesus’ choice of the hero for his story. It is understandable why Jesus inserts the Samaritan into the story, as he represents a despised population, and it is even likely that the lawyer had Samaritans in mind when he asked about neighbors. Samaria was a neighboring territory, and the Jews and the Samaritans disliked one another, primarily because of the Jews’ disdain for the Samaritans. The Jews disdained the Samaritans for their mixed race and their mixed religion. They were not merely nonJews with a pagan religion, but were half-Jews with an heretical version of Judaism.

So it makes sense for Jesus to insert a Samaritan in the story as the victim, but why does Jesus make him the hero? A principle in effective teaching illustrations is to avoid words and ideas that distract the hearers from focusing on the lesson. I will avoid certain references in preaching if I know that mentioning them will distract my hearers from what I want them to hear. Making the Samaritan the hero and the respected religious leaders the careless is a giant distraction for the Jewish hearers, and especially the religious lawyer.

“A Samaritan is the good guy? Are you kidding me? The Samaritans I’ve run across are anything but good neighbors. Doesn’t Jesus know what they are like? Is he trying to offend us?”

If Jesus had made the Samaritan the victim who receives aid from a Jewish leader, one would still understand the lesson that everyone is a neighbor, but the lawyer could still take pride in regarding his people, and especially a leader like himself, to be the superior neighbor. It is easy to look down on those who are needy, especially those whom we are likely to look down on already and can blame for their own troubles.

“Yep, another Samaritan who has gotten himself into trouble. What was he doing walking alone in dangerous territory in the first place? Doesn’t he know that this is a bad area? Guess I will have to be the good neighbor helping out my foolish neighbor yet again.”

But it is the Samaritan who comes to the rescue while the expected good guys pass by. To accept Jesus’ teaching is to concede that even a Samaritan can do the right thing, and that even good guy Jewish religious leaders can drop the ball. No one is naturally superior over the other when it comes to being a neighbor.

The second teaching point comes from the scenario Jesus paints. Notice the extreme traits of the story. A man is beaten nearly to death. The good neighbor goes to great lengths to care for him and to pay for further care. This would not be the scenario that the lawyer expected Jesus to present. He would have had something along the lines presented in Leviticus 19 where the quote to love one’s neighbor comes from. Here is the passage:

You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶ You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. ¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:13-18).

What do you observe about these commands regarding loving your neighbor as yourself? They are all about what bad things not to do: do not oppress your neighbor or rob him; do not slander him; do not hate him; do not take vengeance or bear a grudge.

Similar teaching had been given before Jesus. The great rabbi Hillel taught: “What is hateful to yourself do not do to your fellow man.” Centuries earlier the Chinese philosopher Confucius taught, “Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.”

It is this concept of being a neighbor that the lawyer would be thinking of. Treat your neighbor fairly. Don’t cause trouble. Don’t break any laws. Be a good enough neighbor.

Jesus turns the negative, get by teaching into positive, go the extra mile instruction. That is what he did with the Golden Rule in Luke 6:31: And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. According to Jesus, it is not enough as a neighbor to avoid doing harm; a neighbor must do good. Live and let live is not the slogan that would have been found on Jesus’ bumper sticker.

Specifically, to be a neighbor is to be merciful. Even the lawyer caught on. In response to Jesus’ question, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers,” the lawyer answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”

What is mercy? The very term indicates that of doing good to another who does not deserve it, who cannot claim a right to receive it. The receiver of mercy might not have a claim based on kinship or citizenship. He might have forfeited his claim because of his foolish behavior that put him into his bad position. It is mercy, not justice, not fair treatment nor the right of relationship that he is left to ask for.

And it is mercy that defined the mission of Jesus. When the Pharisees complained of Jesus associating with sinners, he replied, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13).’” Jesus did not come to give justice but mercy.

Mercy is the theme of our first three parables. The father shows mercy to the younger son, a mercy that the elder son does not understand. The master first shows mercy to the servant, expecting him to show mercy to others. Mercy is at the heart of being a good neighbor.  

It is telling that we are told nothing about the victim. We do not know his race; we do not know his character. We do not know why he was traveling along that particular route. We might make assumptions, but Jesus gives us no reason to do so. All that we know is that he is a person in need. And that is all that we need to know. We don’t need to know if he is deserving of our help, just that he needs our help.

Lessons

We must examine our own hearts about being a neighbor.

1. To understand the impact that Jesus’ parable should have on us, we must ask, Who are our Samaritans? Who, if Jesus had used such persons, would have made us flinch, made us ask, Why did he have to make that person the hero? Muslims? Homosexuals? Poor, urban black teenagers? Maybe Southerners with confederate flags on the vehicles?

Take this seriously. Who are "those people" who raise the hairs on your back (not on the backs of others)? Get them fixed in your mind. Now, it is from that group that Jesus makes the hero. He is saying that persons from that group can do the right thing. Can you accept it? Could you accept their helping you? Can you accept that there might be a time that you need to receive mercy from them? To do so would require that you accept them as a fellow neighbor, to see them as a neighbor.

Sister Pooh says, “I don’t care what flag you wave – whether it has stars and bars or many colors, I love you, and there is nothing you can do about it!” That is the attitude that Jesus is saying we are to have. This is not to say that you are to accept heretical beliefs or corrupt morals of your neighbors. We are not relativists. We do not accept the adage that what is bad for one person may be good for another. Nor does the love of Christ mean that we accept the sinful actions and beliefs of our neighbor.

Jesus gives us the simple formula:

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:35-36).

God, our Father, is merciful; therefore we are to be merciful. That is all we need to know.

2. To be a neighbor is to act for the good of one’s neighbor. One must do, not simply be. 1 John 4:9 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son. We know that God loves us because of what God has done. Jesus’ last word to the lawyer was “You go, and do likewise.”

Do good. Do good deeds of mercy. Do good deeds that are inconvenient but are necessary for the welfare of your neighbor, and, according to Jesus, everyone is your neighbor. The Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts have the right slogan – Do a good turn daily.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:22-25).

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-18).

And especially do good to the neighbor you do not particularly like. Do good to the neighbor whose appearance or behavior gives you negative vibes. Do good to that neighbor knowing that you and the neighbor have one thing in common – you are both made in the image of God. And another common element – you were both born in sin and without Christ are filled with the guilt of sin. It is only because you received the aid of Jesus Christ that you are not hopeless. And you received the aid of Christ, not because he found more good in you than in your neighbor, but…well, we have no idea why we were saved, but we were.

3. Jesus is the good Samaritan. He traveled into a foreign, dangerous country, and he showed mercy to us beaten victims. He bore the cost for our healing. He has left and will return to settle accounts, only to find that all accounts were settled on the cross. Nothing more will need to be paid.

Jesus is the Good Neighbor. He sees you suffering from whatever may have happened to you. You may be lying on the side of the road as a victim of wicked people. You may be the victim of seemingly random ill fortune. You may be the victim of your own sin. Whatever the reason, he will tenderly care for your wounds and heal you.

He does not first inquire into your background. He does not distinguish among race or heritage or social class. He does not check your references; indeed, he assumes your bio is filled with poor behavior and misjudgments. He does not expect you – indeed he knows that you cannot – to pay him back.

It is out of mercy that he came to us; it is out of mercy that he went to the cross; it is out of mercy that he provides salvation to any who calls upon his name.