The Good Samaritan = Luk 10:29-37
The Good Samaritan = Luk 10:29-37
This is certainly one of Jesus' most mis-understood parables.
Every person wants to be justified before God based on their “good works”, so everyone wants to understand this parable to be saying: If I do good like the Samaritan, God will let me into heaven.
And fair enough, the general context lends itself to that understanding (v 25-28), as the man asks Jesus what he needed to do to be saved, and Jesus tells him to consider the law, to love God and neighbor as himself, and he will live.
But the man obviously does not want to do that, he does not want to love anyone, so he looks for an excuse, "Who is my neighbor?" And Jesus answers THAT QUESTION with the parable of The Good Samaritan.
Is Jesus telling us that if we do the same type of good works we will be saved, or is he simply answering the man's question, "Who is my neighbor?", and by implication, "What are my responsibilities to him?"
The answer is obvious: he is answering the man's question.
Regarding getting into heaven, getting eternal life, Jesus told the man to keep the Law, but the parable answers the specific question: Who is my neighbor?
Regarding the Law, the Moral Law, the Ten (10) Commandments; they were not given as a road to get to heaven. One purpose of the Law is to reveal to us God's moral standard, which we are to obey, but to which no one can attain. And since we are commanded to obey what we cannot obey, another purpose of the law is to show us that we have a problem deeper than just committing individual sins, we are sinners by nature! Try to keep the law, see if you can! Try as you might, you cannot; so what does that tell you? It tells you that there is an inherent problem with you, with all of us: we are sinners by nature!
Individual sins are the symptoms of the problem; the problem is that we are spiritually dead, and so all our actions are like water being drawn from a well with a dead body floating in it, all is bad, even our righteousness are like used menstrual rags, and, yes, that is the word:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isa 64:6
So in this parable, Jesus is not telling us to do good to others like the Good Samaritan did, and we will get into heaven, because all the "good" we do, can neither change our corrupt inner nature, nor cover up all the bad we have already done, because they are "filthy rags!" He is simply telling us who our neighbor is, and how we are to act toward our neighbor.
So here are some things we learn from the parable:
First, I am not responsible to help all 9,000,000,000 people in the world, but I am responsible to help people whom God has placed in my path. In all of our deeds of mercy to those in need (the New Testament word is "alms" = compassionate giving to the poor), let us not pass over those "right next door." Let us not walk down the street with our eyes closed, and let us certainly not actively ignore needs right under our noses, by crossing over to the other side of the road.
"And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." Luk 10:31-32
Second, if I believe in the sovereignty of God, I must say this person was placed across my path, today, according to God's will. Of all the 9,000,000,000 on earth, this is the person God wants me to help today.
"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee." Pro 3:27-28
I think it was Alexander Whyte, the Scottish minister in the late 1800s who was the author of the great "Bible Character" books, who said he would give to every one who came to the manse door asking for help. He knew some were conning him, but he did not want to not miss helping the one who really needed it, out of fear of being tricked by others. I try to remember those words when I ask myself, "Should I help?"
The Samaritan did not go looking for someone to help, but when the need fell across his path, he helped! We do not need to kill ourselves, asking every day, "Who do I help today?" That becomes a self-imposed, slavish mindset; just keep your eyes and ears open, and the God appointed need will be self-evident.
Third, we are talking about real needs: needs, not wants.
"which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."
This is a "no brainier," this person had real needs.
Forth, it might help to define "a need."
I would say there are 2 parts to "a need:"
One is that it "comes out of the blue," it is a "black swan" event.
The man Jesus was talking with, was looking for an excuse, Jesus removes it by saying, just help those immediately around you, your neighbors, those with whom you come into contact, the one who has a real need, because of the "black swan" events of life, to get them out of their dire straights, so they can then get back on with their life.
The wounded man was just going about his daily life, his work, he was not a lazy person, he was not a waster, this just happened to him "out of the blue;" nobody plans to get attacked on the road and robbed!
The other aspect of a need is that if it is not met, further bad will happen, in this case the man would die.
By contrast, "a want," if not met, will just mean I am unhappy, unfulfilled, frustrated, etc.
Fifth, we are not to aid sin; like buying a drink for an alcoholic, or a fix for a drug addict; buy them lunch, or a jacket, but do not aid their sin. If you are concerned they will take your money, and not buy what they need, you buy the item and give it to them, or you pay the bill yourself.
Sixth, we are not to aid or assist laziness. If you want a lazy person to learn to work, let them go hungry. Give them a job, or help them get a job, but do not just go along handing out money, that does not solve their problem. Like the Chinese proverb says, teach them to fish, rather than giving them a fish every day. Empower them to succeed in working, not in looking for hand-outs.
God wants us each to work with our own "hands," to provide for our own needs. Paul boasted of this several times. Do a concordance search for those phrases. It is why Paul says,
"For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." 2Th 3:7-13
Seventh, helping will cost us. It will cost us money and effort and time; it might even be dirty and inconvenient.
"And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." Luk 10:34-35
He stops, so he loses time.
He binds the wounds, which is dirty work; he gets blood on his hands.
He pours oil and wine, which were for him to use, so it costs him resources.
He set him on his beast, which took a fair bit of effort to lift him up, and then he himself has to walk.
He brought him to the inn, and pays for his lodging and further care, and takes on a debt of an un-known amount.
It costs him, but think of this: The need God places across our path, may be God's way of teaching US some lessons.
Eighth, he does all of that, BUT notice: in the morning he left! He does what is needed, he solves the immediate needs to prevent further bad from happening, but does not do more. He does not assume a perpetual obligation.
He did not bring him with him on the rest of his journey, or to his home, etc; it was planned, focused, limited involvement. This is a very important point: we do not become the crutch, we assist to get them back on their feet: but they must walk, we don't "carry" them.
In our helping, we do not become "grandma" to the person in need. They are responsible to pick up and do for themselves as soon as they can.
Many of us do nothing, for fear of getting sucked in. A proper understanding of this parable should address that concern. Think again of what Paul said, no commanded, in 2Th 3:10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." He did NOT say, "We commanded you to feed them."
Ninth, we are not just to help people who are of our group, our ethnicity, our race, our religion, or even just our church; in fact we are to help our enemies, aren't we?
Remember, this is a parable, so Jesus writes the script, and he has a Samaritan help a Jew, even though the Jews hated the Samaritans!
This too is a cost, for I can just hear his family and friends saying, "You help him, a Jew?! The Jews hate us!"
Tenth, we get others involved. In the parable, the Samaritan got the inn keeper involved. You are not "marrying" the person, or taking on a life time project, you are meeting a defined and limited need, meaning you will not get sucked in, but you will solve their immediate, legitimate problem, which happened to them due to the fact there is evil, and evil people, in the world.
Call around to see if a friend of yours can hire them. Look into public charities that can help. Get them the help they need, by leading them to those equipped help.
This parable gives us some very practical teaching, which is what Jesus intended it to do.
24 March 2025