The Good Samaritan story is generally accepted to carry the moral message that you should be kind to everyone and count everyone as your neighbor, even if they have a different background to you, or have different beliefs than you do.
God’s Word is never arbitrary in its meaning or its application – it is always both physical and spiritual and carries with it the connection to Jesus Christ. If it doesn’t or we manipulate it differently then, well we are just monkeying with God …………..
“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:30-37 (NLT)
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
The Priest and the Temple Assistant represent the formality and process or ritual of our religion.
It is the root of how our religion has been used to construct denominations, factions, governments.
We should recognize here that Religion and Salvation are two very different things – you can have religion where it is helpful for God’s purpose under the power of salvation but you cannot have Salvation from simply following the practice and ritual known as Religion.
The Samaritan is “despised” because he was not a member of the Jewish family of faith or considered acceptable in the Jewish social circles of Jesus’ day.
We so often want to be the Samaritan and see ourselves as helping others no matter who they are as we live out our daily lives.
It is in the actions of the Samaritan that we see the identity that Jesus intended for him. He takes the beaten and robbed man from the ditch, puts him on his donkey and takes him to the innkeeper paying for his needs today and in the future until he comes again.
It would be admirable to be the Samaritan and that role may be open to us but not until we can come to God with the humility of admitting that we are the beaten and broken man in the ditch.
We can only come to God in our natural state and that is as a sinner. We cannot come on our best day when we feel like we have control of the world because WE feel in control and will not allow Him to take control of our lives – we come to Him when we realize that we are in the ditch – lost, broke, naked and without Hope. That puts us in proper perspective to Him – The Inn Keeper of Heaven itself. And Jesus Christ who came from a world that seemed contrary to ours because it is ( Heaven Itself ) and He lifts us out of the ditch, bandages our wounds and forgives our transgressions, puts us along with our worries and cares of this world and He ( only He ) can deliver us to God and say these are mine put him up here and here is payment for him ( holds out His hands with the nail scars in them and says this will cover him until I come again.
May our reflection today bring us humbly to Jesus recognizing Him as our “Good Samaritan” and may we live for Him as we move along the road of life and encounter other travelers. May His love move us to be kind and caring for one another in all that we do.
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