GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 29 ~ ~ Luke 10:29 ~ ~ “ But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Michael Youssef’s book, “How to Read the Bible”
Chapter 16
THE PARABLES: PICTURES OF THE KINGDOM
On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, which has become known as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In that speech, he spoke at length about Jesus’s Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Dr. King recalled a visit to Israel with his wife. They rented a car and drove down the Jericho road. As they drove, king realized the road was dangerous and “really conducive to ambushing.” In the time Of Jesus, King said, it was known as the Bloody Pass because of all the robberies and murders that occurred there.
The road begins in Jerusalem at an elevation of nearly 2,500 feet and twists, turns, and meanders down to Jericho, almost 850 feet below see level. As King and his wife drove, he remarked, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for His parable.”
Jesus talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by ….He got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to…be concerned about his brother….
The first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, “if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the good Samaritan came by and he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
(as an aside: I will add some excerpts from John MacArthur in his book, “Parables”: “Jewish people considered the Samaritans ethnically and religiously unclean – and the Samaritans likewise resented and despised their Jewish cousins. The Samaritans were descendants of Israelites who had intermarried with pagans after the Assyrians forced most of the population of Israel’s Northern Kingdom into exile in 722 BC……
“Some Israelite stragglers remained or returned to the land after most of their brethren were forced into exile, and these scattered Israelites mixed with and married the pagan settlers. They kept some traditions that were rooted in Old Testament doctrine, but they also blended enough pagan beliefs into the mix that Samaritan worship ultimately became something fundamentally different from either Judaism or paganism. Later in his chapter, Dr. MacArthur brings this up: Remember, everything of value had been taken from the injured man. So whatever the Samaritan used for bandages and medicine came out of his own bag or his own clothes. The wine was antiseptic and the oil was a balm and anodyne. This would both sanitize and seal wounds in a way that would help prevent infection. The oil would also moisturize, sooth, and soften the tissue. …..Where did the oil and wind come from? Travelers on a long journey would carry oil for cooking and wine for drinking, because water along the way wasn’t safe. The Samaritan was using his own travel provisions. The expression used tells us that he was not stingy with the wine and oil. He wasn’t using an eyedropper or dabbing at the injured places. He washed the man’s wounds thoroughly. Jesus is purposely stressing the lavishness of the Samaritan’s generosity.
“Then Jesus says, ‘he set him on his own animal.’ So the Samaritan walks, with the injured an riding. What Jesus aims to underscore here is that this is not minimal care: The Samaritan was making an extra-ordinary sacrifice for someone he didn’t even know.
“‘He brought him to an inn, and took care of him’ (Luke 10:34). He didn’t leave him alone there; He paid for a room, got him settled, stayed with him, caring for him all night then left the next day. He paid two denarii to the innkeeper for food, and care, and said he will pay more on his way back if necessary. Two denarii constituted two full days’ wages, and from what we know of the rates at that time, that was enough for two months’ room and board in a wayside inn like that……The Samaritan’s heart was so full of love that when someone came across his path with a desperate need he was able to meet, he did……..
“Let’s be honest with ourselves – if we encountered a scenario like this, most of us would think the Samaritan’s generosity to be excessive…………….but ………..there is someone you have already done all those things for…………YOURSELF……….That is precisely how we look after our own needs, isn’t it? Give me whatever I need. Call the best doctor. Get me to the best medical facility. Arrange the best care I can get…………..pamper me.”
“Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.’ Luke 10:27”)
Back to Dr. Youssef:
The day after Dr. King delivered that speech, he was assassinated. This ancient story by the Lord Jesus, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, has been widely used in countless situations and cultural contexts to make this point: ALL of us – both individually and collectively – have a duty to love our neighbors. It is a story that tells us how citizens of the Kingdom should behave toward their neighbors.
The parable tells us that we have a Kingdom duty to love and care for others despite religious or ethnic differences. It tells us that instead of worrying about the cost, we should leap into action to serve and save others. It tells us that Christian love places no limits on who our neighbor is.
The parables of Jesus have power to change lives and societies. The Parable of the good Samaritan, for example, has been a moral touchstone and motivating factor in the abolition movement, the civil rights movement, the pro-life movement, the homelessness movement, and such humanitarian organizations as the Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse. One of its Kingdom implications is that God calls us to show love and kindness not merely to those who are already in the Kingdom, but to outsiders, strangers, and even enemies.
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Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them.”
Luke 10:23-24
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:46
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?