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 change 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.”

Luke 10:25-37

This is one of the parables of Jesus which is most well known, especially by children.  The comparison (the meaning of the term parable) between the kindness of the Samaritan and loving one’s neighbor as oneself shows us exactly what the kingdom of God is all about.

The lawyer was someone considered an expert in the legal affairs of Israel, a man who had likely devoted most of his life to studying the ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament since the Jews were allowed up to a point by Rome to be a theocracy.  He knew the Law of Moses very well.  He wanted to put Jesus to the test, which means one of two things.  He might have been trying to trick Jesus, as implied by trying to justify himself with another question after Jesus had answered his first one satisfactorily.  On the other hand, he might have been serious and sincere in his questioning, trying to ascertain the Nazarene’s knowledge and faithfulness to the Law.

Jesus answered his question by pointing him back to Moses’ law, which is a great lesson for us today.  When we are asked a religious question, we must always point the inquirer back to the Bible.  Christ asked the lawyer what in the Old Testament would answer his question, a proper answer since the Law of Moses was still in effect at the time.  It was also in keeping with Jewish custom at the time.  The scribes, lawyers, and teachers back then would discuss biblical topics by continually asking each other, “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  Christ knew that this lawyer knew the answer already (cf. John 2:24-25).  He was basically telling him that the answer to his question was already in Scripture.  He might have even pointed to the lawyer’s phylactery – the little boxes they wore on themselves which had Scripture written in them – as a way to point him to the right answer.

In response, the lawyer quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.  Jesus would later say that these passages were the two greatest commands in the Old Testament (Matt. 22:36-40).  Love God with all of your being, which means to keep his commandments with all of your being (cf. John 14:15; 1 John 5:3), and love your neighbor the same way you would love yourself.  In a nutshell, doing these two things the ways Scripture tells us to do them is all God’s grace requires of us to receive eternal life.  This is why Jesus, literally in the Greek Luke was inspired to record the conversation, said to the lawyer, “Continue doing this, and you will live.”  The implication is also there as a lesson and warning for us today:  “Do NOT do this, and you will NOT live.  Eternal life will NOT be yours.”  We need to be reminded of this sometimes.

But the lawyer wanted to justify himself.  Was he embarrassed that the carpenter from Nazareth had answered him so easily?  Or did Jesus perhaps help him realize that pleasing God meant more than paying tithes and keeping feast days?  Perhaps the lawyer began to understand that some areas of his life might not be up to par when it came to loving his neighbor as himself.  Perhaps looking for a loophole, he asked, “And who is my neighbor?”

Now we come to the parable itself.  The man in the parable was probably a Jewish merchant, for they were known to use the road from Jerusalem to Jericho often.  Robbers found him, which was no surprise because that road was infamous for crime.  It was called “the bloody way” for a reason.  Jesus’ listeners probably were picturing it in their minds, having likely traveled on it themselves.  It was steep; we’re talking a 3,000 to 3,500 foot descent over 18 to 20 miles.  There were lots of caves and deep ravines, perfect hiding places for robbers.  These particular thieves were brutal; they didn’t just rob him, but left him on the side of the road with no clothes after having almost killed him.  Satan ruled in their hearts.

Let’s talk about the priest.  He would have been one of the 12,000 priests living in Jericho at the time, a descendant of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the sons of Levi.  He would have been a servant in the temple, living a life which was supposed to be dedicated to serving God.  Moses’ law would require him to show mercy to an animal (Ex. 23:4-5), so he was certainly expected – indeed, obligated – to help a man lying on the side of the road near death.  But he didn’t.  He went out of his way to be as far from the man who needed help as possible, passing by on the other side of the road.

Let’s discuss the Levite.  Another religious person, from the priestly tribe of Levi.  All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests.  Levites were ministers of religious worship and interpreters of the Law of Moses.  This particular minister, this student of the Bible, had an opportunity to help someone in need and didn’t do it.  He would have been familiar with Leviticus 19:18.  He would have known his duty towards this poor man…but he didn’t do it, also choosing to get as far from the man as possible by passing by on the other side of the road.

Perhaps if the Old Testament had specifically spelled out, “If thou shalt see a man lying half-dead on the road, thou shalt not pass by without helping,” they would have stopped and helped him.  Maybe they didn’t understand that loving your neighbor as yourself meant that they needed to stop and help this man.  Maybe they were like it is so easy for us to be like today if we are not careful.  Are we the type of people who read a lot of Bible verses and maybe even memorize them…but we don’t really THINK about them and what they really mean and how we should really apply them to real-life situations like this one?

Now let’s talk about the Samaritan.  Have you ever thought that we call him the good Samaritan, but the Holy Spirit never inspired Luke to use that word to describe him?  So why do we do it?  We have good reason.  The Samaritans were a mixture of Jew and Gentile by blood.  That means that your normal, full-blooded Jew absolutely hated them and would not have any dealings with them (John 4:9).  They treated Samaritans like outcasts, second or third-class citizens.

The man lying almost dead on the road was likely a Jew.  The Samaritan would probably recognize him as such, a person who would have hated the Samaritan for all of his life for no reason other than being a Samaritan.

But the Samaritan stopped anyway.  He didn’t see a Jew who hated him.  He saw a fellow human being who was in dire need.  A neighbor.

Have you ever considered that by simply stopping the Samaritan was placing himself at even more risk of being robbed and beaten himself than he was already by simply traveling on that road?  But he stopped anyway.

He used his own material to bind up the man’s wounds, probably tearing up his own clothing to make bandages.  He used his own wine to wash out the wounds, his own oil to mollify and close up the wounds.  Wine and oil were expensive, being commonly used for remedies of wounds and ailments back then.  He put the wounded man on his own animal, which meant that he had to walk the rest of the journey, which meant that the trip would take even longer and he would be on that dangerous road for even longer, risking his own life even more and now no longer able to be in comfort to boot.

But all of that was okay…because here was a fellow human being in real need.  A neighbor.

They come to an inn and he takes care of him.  “And the next day”…that means he probably took care of that man all night long, and was he originally planning on staying at that inn?  Probably not since you can make it to Jericho from Jerusalem in a day…but he stayed anyway, inconveniencing himself out of time and money because someone needed help.

Speaking of money, he gives two denarii — two entire day’s worth of wages, and never mind that he surely has bills to pay and food to buy for his own family with that money — and gives it to the innkeeper to take care of the man.

And then he opens himself up to potential fraud by saying, “If you spend more money than this to take care of him, let me know and I’ll repay you when I come back here.”  What’s to stop the innkeeper from taking this blank check and kicking the Jew onto the side of the road after the Samaritan rounds the corner and then telling the Samaritan later on that he had to keep the Jew and care for him for an entire month, so that will be 31 denarii, please?  But the good Samaritan was willing to risk it, all for a Jew who likely would not have even dreamed of doing the same for him should the roles be reversed.

Why?  Because he was a neighbor.

Thus, the question Jesus asks the lawyer.  Which of the three – the two Jews who were of the religious elite, or the despised, lowly Samaritan – was a true neighbor to this man?  “You asked, ‘Who is my neighbor?’  So tell me, who was this man’s real neighbor?”  The lawyer correctly answers, “The one who showed him mercy.”  And Jesus said to him what he still says to us today, “You go, and do likewise.”

Who is my neighbor?  Who is your neighbor?  Anyone who has a soul for whom Jesus died.  Not just our family or friends and the people we like.  Our neighbors are also our enemies, those who mock and ridicule us, those whom we don’t like ourselves.

If that person, no matter who they are, has a real need and we can help them within the parameters of God’s will, then they are our neighbor and we must help them (Gal. 6:10).  It doesn’t matter if they are of a different ethnicity, come from a different country, are not a member of the Lord’s church (which is even more reason to help them, as that might open their hearts to the gospel), gossip about us at work, or even support sin or sinful causes or are caught up in sin themselves.  Sure, as far as their sin goes we don’t have anything to do with them or their sin…but if they’re a fellow human being in dire need, help them get out of that dire need as best you can.  They’re your neighbor, so love your neighbor as yourself (James 1:22, 27).

Christianity is more than about what happens at church.  It’s more than being about sound doctrine concerning salvation and worship and church organization and the sinfulness of ecumenism.  It’s about more than praying every day and reading your Bible every day.  If we do all of that but in our daily lives lack compassion, sympathy, empathy, kindness, and agape love, then our religion is meaningless.  “This you should have done without neglecting the other” (Matt. 23:23; cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Compassion will cost us.  It will cost us time, money, and put us at risk.  It will require us to step across cultural barriers of religion, race, nation, and politics.  It will require us to set aside busy schedules.  It will require us to make sacrifices.

That’s what living for Jesus is all about.