Show video from You Tube “WWYD? - No shoes, no shirt, no pants, no service!”
I cannot watch this video without being overcome by emotions. I am forced to ask myself “What would I do?” Would I have been one of the many to sit and watch as this person is cast out of the bar? Would I have turned my back and ignored another person’s plight? Would I have snickered and made rude comments to a companion? Would I have stepped forward and demanded, as some did, that this person be treated with dignity? Would I have walked over, set with him, and listened as he told me his story?
Over the years of working in Charlotte, the homeless asking for money have approached me many times. Sometimes I have helped. I have fed a few. I have paid and pumped gas into a few cars for people with hard luck stories. However, often as not, I refused to give them money even though they assured me it was to purchase food. In my self-imposed wisdom, I also categorized them as “drunkards and drug addicts.”
Perhaps a few wanted money for that purpose. Perhaps the majority wanted money for that purpose. However, what if some were truly hungry, truly in need of food, and I, in my self-righteous wisdom, refused to feed them by my actions? Did I violate the teaching of Jesus when He said “----‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ (Matthew 25:45) Have I been guilty of refusing to help Jesus by refusing to help the least of those in our society?
Today we are going to study a parable that could have been taken out of today’s headline. We have often heard it referred to as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” This parable has influenced the world so much that even today when someone does an unexpected good deed that person is referred to as a Good Samaritan. We find this account in Luke 10:25-37. Let’s begin.
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10: 25-29)
We are witness to a conversation between a lawyer (an expert of the Law) and Jesus. This lawyer had made a name for himself by knowing all the ends and outs of the 613 principals that was listed in the first five books of the Old Testament. He was extremely proficient at arguing his case on the moral laws of God. He decides to call Jesus to the witness stand in a public forum to tempt him into saying something against the law of God.
He began his questioning by acknowledging Jesus as a teacher. He knew that Jesus instructed his disciples with authority. He also recognized that this would make Jesus a formable foe.
The banter began. The lawyer asked “As a teacher how would you instruct me to achieve eternal life?”
Jesus replied “As a lawyer what does the law instruct you to do?”
He probably did not care for Jesus asking him questions. He decided to keep his answer short and direct. “Love God who is in Heaven and love those who are close by.”
Jesus kept his answer short and direct also. “You got it.”
However the lawyer now feels uncomfortable with the answer Jesus has given him because he knows that although he has loved God he has not always loved those close by. So he asked Jesus this question. “When we say ‘those close by’ who do we mean?”
Jesus replies in a form of a story. In this story we will be introduced to 4 men. One is a Jewish man. He has been to Jerusalem and is going to Jericho, a 17 mile journey. The route would have taken him along trails, ravines, and dry waterbeds. Bandits would often hide in caves and attack lone travelers.
Another is a priest, a man responsible for performing religious rites especially animal sacrifices. He also is traveling this same stretch of road leaving Jerusalem.
Then there is the Levite. He is someone who assists the priest in their duties. He is also found traveling this road.
Finally there is the Samaritan. The Jews and the Samaritans had a history of hatred for each other that had lasted for about 400 years. Both groups worshiped God, held dear the laws of Moses, and considered themselves descendants from Abraham. The Samaritans considered themselves to be survivors of the lost northern tribes. They lived in the very heart of Israel. They considered Mount Gerizim, where Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice, to be the place of worship.
The Jews considered themselves as the remnant of the southern tribe of Judah, the only nation with a legitimate king descended from David, and the only legitimate worship center in Jerusalem. They considered Samaritans to be an impure race of Jews who had married Assyrian settlers therefore contaminating themselves.
Ancient Jewish scholars wrote of the Samaritans “the fools who live in Shechem (their main city) are not worthy of being called a nation.” “Those who eat the food of Samaritans are like those who eat pig.” The writers of the Dead Sea Scroll said “to love all the children of the light and to hate all the children of darkness.” In our world today we could view this individual as a Palestinian.
“Jesus replied with a story: “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.” (Luke 10:30)
Our first character is the Jewish man. He is left naked, beaten, and almost dead. There is no way to determine his nationality. He was unconscious and unable to identify himself. He was in a very deadly predicament.
“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.” (Luke 10:31)
Just as things were looking bad for our friend a priest shows up. Now someone would help him. But the priest went to the other side of the road so he wouldn’t have to deal with the situation.
We would like to excuse his behavior. According to Numbers 19:11-12 if someone touches a dead body they are ceremonially unclean for seven days. Perhaps he needs to be ceremonially clean for his congregation. But the man was not dead. The implication in the Greek language is that the priest was on his way out of Jerusalem so he perhaps could have risked a seven day sabbatical. Perhaps he thought that this was just some homeless wanderer who had too much to drink, passed out, got robbed, and thus justice was served. Our victim is still in trouble.
“A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.” (Luke 10:32)
Now the Levite showed up. He walked over to him. He saw a battered, naked man struggling to breathe. He decided not to get involved. Whatever had happened to this man he probably brought it upon himself. He probably got what he deserved. So he walked on.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.” (Luke 10:33)
Now we meet the Samaritan, one who comes from a country not recognized a hated race, and a warped religion. If anyone was not going to get involved it would be this guy. As he looked at him he did not see a Jew or a Samaritan. He did not see someone getting what they deserved. He simply saw a man in pain. He could have walked away as the others did. Something compelled him to stay. That something was compassion.
“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.” (Luke 10:34)
Compassion can cause us to do extraordinary things. This man had olive oil and wine, ordinary items for that time. Perhaps he was a merchant or had purchased them for his own use at home. Whatever the case, he sacrificed these items to soothe the wounds of this battered man. He probably is not carrying bandages with him so he ruined a garment or a blanket to bandage the wounds. He then lifted the man onto his own donkey that he probably had been using for his own transportation or for carrying the wine and olive oil he has used on this victim. He secured him to the donkey and proceeded to find an inn.
The location of the inn is not disclosed. He would have been hard pressed to find an inn in Jericho or Jerusalem that would have allowed a Samaritan to rent a room. It could have been possible since the Romans had ordered the Jews to stop persecuting the Samaritans. More than likely he carried him to the territory of Samaria. Once they arrived he stayed with him all night tending to his wounds.
“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.” (Luke 10:35)
He paid for this stranger to have an extended stay plus medical treatment. He promised to pay the difference if the bill runs higher than two silver coins, enough to pay room and board for two weeks. He promised to return to check on the man to see how his recovery was going.
We can only wonder what the total out of pocket expenses were for the Samaritan. He used his own supplies and clothing. He sacrificed his own comfort. He gave of his time and finances. He asked for nothing in return.
After telling this parable Jesus asks the lawyer this question. “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” (Luke 10:36)
Jesus was responding to the question that the lawyer had asked “When we say ‘those who are close by’ who do we mean?”
However Jesus has twisted things a bit. He was now asking a more important question. He asks “Who was close by to tend to the needs of the man who was attacked by bandits?”
Jesus was making a point. The lawyer knew the commandment “Love your neighbor.” Jesus is relating the fact that what is more important is being the neighbor, the one close by, than loving the neighbor.
Remember from last week “Agape” love, love in action. The Samaritan had “Agape” love while the two religious men did not.
“The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” (Luke 10:37)
The lawyer could not bring himself to say the Samaritan. He could not confess that this despised, hated race had shown more compassion for a Jew than his own people.
Of course this is just a parable. It never really happened. However, Jesus used parables to point to the truth. Perhaps the lawyer who knew the law so well he could debate every aspect of it knew the point Jesus was making. Perhaps he knew to what Jesus was referring. “O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem (a major city in Samaria) and practice every kind of sin.” (Hosea 6:4, 6, 9)
Jesus final admonishment to the lawyer was “You got the answer. What are you going to do with it?
In the video this morning we saw certain characters develop. We saw two ladies who were offended by his appearance and did not want him there. We saw two men who felt they could not get involved; who felt this guy was in the wrong place. We saw how the Priests and the Levites look.
We saw a bald man who makes fun of this battered man. He makes comments about “running him through the dishwasher” and “giving him croutons off the kitchen floor.” It took me viewing this video several times before I noticed a cross hanging around his neck. What a testimony for Christianity.
Then he begins to change. His heart begins to soften. His opinion changes. He says of the homeless man “He seems like a decent guy.” He buys him a meal. Even though this man has a 20 dollar bill, he buys him a meal. And is even worried about how much protein he would get. We see the work of the Holy Spirit begin to change a heart. We see a man who is doing what he can for the “least of these.” We see “Agape” love, love in action.
Finally we see a Good Samaritan in the elderly man. He immediately tends to the man’s need by giving him some money, no questions asked. He offers him a glass of water when water has been refused. “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.” (Matt 25:35) Then he weeps. He feels this homeless man’s pain of rejection. His own experiences fill him with emotions. When see in him an example of how Jesus feels when we are struggling. We see in him how Jesus understands our difficulties. We see in him how Jesus doesn’t push us away but offers us a drink from the well of “Living Water.” (John 4:10)
I think the best way to close today is for you to ponder the questions asked by the elderly man to the bartender. Perhaps you should let them seep into your mind and heart. Before you judge those less fortunate remember his words. “You’ve never been in bad shape? You’ve never needed help? You never had anything happen to you that you wish didn’t or that you wish you could get out of?” Let’s bow our heads.
