There are four ages of man: 1) when you believe in Santa Claus, 2) when you don’t believe in Santa Claus, 3) when you are Santa Claus, and then 4) when you look like Santa Claus. Ho, ho, ho!
The good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37
A man died and went to Heaven. Peter asked him, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” The guy said, “Well, I tried to help other people.” “Can you give me an example?” “Sure. Once I was in a roadside diner and a group of Hell’s Angels were bothering a little old lady. They had knives and guns and were scaring everyone in the place. So I stepped up the leader and spun him around and said, ‘Hey! Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size? Leave her alone. And while you’re at it, you and your filthy friends clear out of here and get on your bikes and ride away.” Peter said, “Wow, that was pretty brave, when did that happen?” The man said, “About five minutes ago!”
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, what is written in the law? How readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 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.
35 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.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, he that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, go, and do thou likewise.”
So, this parable of the good Samaritan begins with a person the scripture describes as a lawyer asking Jesus a question but this lawyer wasn’t the kind of lawyer who dealt with secular legal things like criminal matters, contracts or wills but the proper title for this man would be a scribe and a scribe was someone who was an expert in the Old Testament law. He would have been very similar to a Bible College or a Seminary professor who spent his life teaching the preachers.
And when this man stood up to ask his question he really wasn’t looking for an answer; but he was simply trying to put Jesus in His place and make himself look good in front of the crowd. You see, as far as he was concerned, if anybody was going to get eternal life then he already had it.
And we know this, because it says, “a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him.” And what he was doing by tempting Him was giving Jesus a test about the matter of salvation and he was expecting Jesus to say He didn’t know or even say something bizarre, and then he would say, “No, you’re wrong.” Because the fact was; that no one had any assurance of salvation prior to Jesus death, burial and resurrection and everyone was waiting for judgement day to reveal where they stood.
And so, rather than answer his question Jesus asked him a question and it was, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” And the lawyer says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” And then Jesus says verse 28, “Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live.”
Did you get that? Jesus said, you’re absolutely right, if you want to be saved then all you have to do is love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and then to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself and when you’ve done all this; then you’ve got nothing to worry about.
And listen, if anyone thinks they’ve actually done this; then they don’t have a clue as to what Jesus said. You see, Jesus was saying, he needed to love God with everything he had and in everything he did and then love his neighbor as much as he loves himself. And this was a call for absolute perfection from the day he was born until the day he died.
And this guy understood what He was saying and that’s why it says in verse 29, “But” he willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor?”
And what I want you to notice; that he skipped over how he was to love God with everything he was and everything he did and moved on to his neighbor. It’s almost like he said, “Don’t worry about me and God, we’re alright; but let’s talk about my neighbors. Who are these neighbors? Is it the guy next door or everybody on my block?
And then rather than giving him a direct answer Jesus told him a parable and when we see this we wonder, why does He answer with a parable?
Well, this was a common method of teaching and Jesus knew that everyone would remember a story long after they forgot a grocery list of theological things they were told to remember. You see, we have a tendency to visualize a story but when we hear a list of facts we file them away and hope we’ll remember the important ones.
For instance, when I was about six or seven years old; there was my mother and four kids and we were renting an upstairs apartment in an old house in West Toronto and we were there for about a year. And then one day we were moving and the landlady, whose name was Mrs. Yontha came up to say good-bye and she gave me an American nickel with a buffalo head on it, and she said, “Whenever you see that old buffalo, remember me.”
And fifty-five years later I still remember her. And it’s not because she looked like an old buffalo or even because this was some kind of an emotional experience; because it wasn’t, I hardly knew her; but she used something common to trigger my thinking about something else.
And that’s exactly what Jesus does in His parables. He uses common things to activate our imaginations; so, we’ll remember the things He wants to teach.
And a parable is a very effective way of communicating. It arouses attention. I’ve seen people starting to dose off when I’m preaching and all I have to say is, this reminds me of a story and everyone either sits up or leans forward and starts to pay attention. Why, because everybody loves a story.
We all have unanswered questions about painful things that have happened in our lives and we all wish there was someone that could answer these questions. Well, I could say, “There are some things in life that are secrets known only to God and we have to trust that He has a purpose and someday He may explain the reason for these things’ or I could tell you a story.
“There was a traveler hiking through woods on a very dull and misty night when he noticed a monastery up ahead and there were lights on, so, he decided he’d stop and have a rest.
He was reluctant at first but he noticed the weather was getting worse and so he knocked on the door to see what would happen. When the head of the monastery or the abbot as he was called came to the door, the man said, “It’s really terrible out and I was wondering; would you mind if I came in for a while?”
The abbot said, “Of course, please come in and we insist that you stay for dinner.” Well, the food was wonderful, the monks were very kind and he really enjoyed himself.
The weather got so bad the abbot asked, if he’d like to stay the night and he said, “I would, but there are a few things I really need.”
And when the abbot asked; what these things were, he said, “I’ll need my own room with a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat and a bass saxophone.” It seemed unusual but the monks scurried around the monastery and eventually they found everything.
And then they all went to bed and not only was the weather terrible but they also heard the most awful noises of half tones, squeaks and squawks coming from this man’s room.
The next morning the storm continued and they asked him to stay another night and again he asked for the same things, “a pound of butter, a pair of rubber pants, a poker, a cricket bat and a bass saxophone.” And again they heard these awful noises all night long.
Well, the next morning as he was about to leave; the abbot walked him to the door and said, “We were glad to supply you with all those things but would you mind telling me why you needed them.”
And he said, “Well, it’s a secret and this secret has been in our family for as long as I can remember; but if you promise never to tell another living soul, I’ll tell you.” And so, he told the abbot and the abbot being a man of his word never told anybody else.
You see, the story arouses our attention by getting us involved and then the personal application sneaks up on us, as we realize, we can’t know everything.
Now, you’ve probably heard this parable of the good Samaritan since you were knee high to a grasshopper but I’d like to retell it in a way that hopefully will bring it home and I’ll even use a few people you know and hopefully, I won’t offend any.
So, here’s my version of the good Samaritan.
Well, it was about five to twelve on a Thursday and Ricky was working at Food Basics where he was sorting tomatoes and that means he was taking out the bad ones and re-arranging the rest and while he was working he noticed Ian Hasler come in. Ian had been uptown for a meeting but was on his way back to the office and stopped in to get himself a snack. And when Ian saw Rick he stopped to say hello and ask how he was; but almost as soon as they started talking Ian’s phone rang and he excused himself and stepped off to the side to answer.
It was a call from a company in Toronto from which Ian had ordered a special part for a car and this car belonged to a very important customer and the man on the phone told Ian they had his part and could ship it but it wouldn’t arrive until Monday and they were closing for a few days.
The problem was, Ian and his wife were planning on leaving Monday for a couple of weeks and on top of that, he had an important meeting that afternoon and he knew it would last a couple of hours and there was no way he could go and get that part.
As he thought about this, he looked at Rick and asked him what time he got off and Rick said, “One o’clock, which is about an hour.” And then Ian asked if he had a car but Rick said, “No.”
And then Ian explained his problem and said, “I can lend you my car and take a taxi back to the office; and if you go pick up this part I’ll give you a hundred dollars.” And Rick said, “Sure, no problem.”
So, Ian handed him the keys and the directions of where to go and where he was to deliver both the car and the part and he called a cab and went back to his office.
And as soon as he finished work Rick grabbed a sandwich and a coffee at Tim Horton’s and headed for Toronto and even though the directions were a little confusing; eventually he picked up the part and headed back to Waterloo.
And as he was driving along he thought to himself, “Man, this is the life, driving a brand new car and making a few extra bucks on my afternoon off.” And it really felt good.
There wasn’t very much traffic as he drove along and way up ahead he could see a car pulled over by the side of the road and he could see one guy lying on the side of the rod with another man standing over him and the man who was standing waved for Rick to stop and without even thinking, Rick pulled over.
And when he did; he jumped out to see what was going on but as he got within a couple of feet, the man who was lying on the ground jumped up and pulled a gun out of his belt and told Rick to turn around, face the ditch and give him both his keys and his wallet.
Rick handed the guy his stuff but as soon as he did, the guy whacked him in the head with the gun. And when Rick fell unconscious in the snow, the one with the gun said to the other guy, “He’s about the same size as I am. Give me a hand, I’m taking his shoes and coat.” And the two of them took Rick’s clothes and left him lying unconscious on the side of the road as each of them took their car and Ian’s and drove away.
Well, about ten or fifteen minutes later Rick began to wake up and he could not only feel his head aching but there was blood all over him and he was freezing.
So, there he was, standing on the side of the 401 with no coat, no shoes and no car and blood running down the side of his head and as people were driving by they were thinking, “He looks like some kind of drunk who got into a fight” and no one had any intention of stopping.
So, as Rick stood there for a few minutes with his thumb out he thought he recognized a car and he said to himself, “Hey, that’s one of the pastors from my church and he thought, “At last, I’ve got some help.”
The pastor was coming back from a meeting in Toronto and as far as he was concerned, it had gone on far too long; and as he was driving, he got a call from the office telling him someone called and their mother was taken to the hospital and asking him to stop in on the way home and he was also hoping to grab a bite of supper before he had to rush off to a committee meeting at the church.
And while he was driving in the outside lane and half thinking about all the things he had to do; he noticed Rick but didn’t recognize him with no coat and blood all over his face and as he drove by, he said to himself, “If I wasn’t alone, I’d pull over and help that guy but who knows what would happen and as he stayed in the outside lane he prayed that the police might come by and help.
When Rick saw him go by he couldn’t believe his eyes but then he saw another car coming and he recognized it was one of the deacons and he started waving franticly and the car actually pulled over to the inside lane and even slowed down a little but as soon as the driver saw all the blood and his sock feet he thought to himself, “All that blood and wet socks will make a mess of my car and he drove back to the outside lane and sped off.
Well, needless to say, Rick was not only freezing but now he was really discouraged because of the way believers were treating him and it even occurred that he might die by the side of this road; when all of a sudden, along came a young guy in an old pick-up truck and as he pulled over he yelled, “Hop in man, you look like you’re freezing.”
And when he got in Rick told him how he had been robbed and beaten and the young guy said, “Listen, I’m going to stop at Wal-Mart on the way up and I want you to stay in the truck with the heat on and I’m going to buy you some dry socks, a pair of shoes and a coat and he did.
Well, Rick really appreciated his kindness and consideration and when they got to his door Rick asked him, “Do you go to church?” And the young man said, “Yes, as a matter of fact I do, I’m a member of the Jehovah Witness.”
So, how do you like my version of the story?
You see, Jesus wasn’t saying that the Samaritan was a true believer or that even his good works did anything to save him but he was pointing out the obvious to this scribe; that no one is saved by good works, by their church membership, by their moral reputation or anything else; because you’re either saved by God or you’re not saved at all.
So, let’s go back to the original story where it says that a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And this road back then and still is; a very dangerous road to travel on because it drops 4,000 feet in 17 miles and this road also has places by the side which are a great to hide in.
And Jesus said, this man ‘fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.’
Now, get the picture, they didn’t just knock this guy out but the Greek word for ‘beat’ has the idea of repeated blows. So, they left this guy in critical condition or as verse 30 says, he was half dead; and if nobody helped him, this man was going to die.
And in verse 31 we see the priest and it says, “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” The priest was a servant of God. His job or his calling in life was to offer sacrifices for the people and to constantly be bringing the people before God in prayer. And as far as everyone was concerned, this guy was a picture of virtue because he was not only considered to be so close to God but he was also the one that everyone knew they could turn to when they had problems.
And I’m sure when the guy by the side of the road saw him he must have thought, I’m safe now but when he saw him pass by on the other side of the road he must have felt like he was finished. The word in Greek for ’passed by’ means, he went in the opposite direction or as far away as possible.
Of course, we can always think of reasons why he couldn’t or wouldn’t help. For instance, in his mind, he could see himself as being ritually clean and if he found out too late this guy was either not Jewish or even if he died while he was standing there; he’d not only be risking ritual defilement but he’d have to go all the way back to Jerusalem for cleansing and then he‘d miss collecting the tithes that not only supported but his family but his servants as well. So, in a sense, helping this guy could have been risky for him, but then again, dying was a risk to the guy by the side of the road.
Several commentators said he might have been afraid the robbers were still hanging around and others said he may even have been afraid of helping someone who had been punished by God.
But, the point of this story is; we should expect someone who made sure that everyone recited every day the passage that told them to love their neighbor would do the very thing he was telling everyone else to do.
And listen, if this is a story about loving your neighbor, then I think we can assume that the priest didn’t even like him.
And then verse 32 says, “And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.”
The Levites were the descendants of Levi but not of Aaron and their job was to assist the priests in every area of the temple and some of them even served as temple police but they also had to know the law and they were as responsible before God as were the priests.
It seems like he walked over and took a look at the man but then went back to the far side of the road and it’s almost like he was tempted to help but then said, “Ah, I don’t think so: and left him there to die.
And then Jesus says, “A certain Samaritan” and Jesus uses this Samaritan as His example of a good man knowing very well that every Jew hated Samaritans because they knew the Samaritans had originally been Jews who had not only married pagans but then merged Judaism with pagan religion.
We’re told the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim and then the Jews under the direction of John Hyrcanus not only destroyed their temple in 128 BC but also killed many of the Samaritans as well.
And the ongoing hatred between these two groups was so intense that rather than travel through Samaria to get to the south of Israel which was the direct route, the Jews would go all the way around it.
The worse accusation the Jews ever said to Jesus was in John 8:48 where they said, 'Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" They said He was a demon-possessed Samaritan.
I was driving back from Guelph to London
But, this Samaritan not only went out of his way but he actually went to great expense to do everything he could for someone who would normally hate him. Verse 33 says, “he had compassion on him.” In other words, there was a driving compulsion in his heart to do something and he couldn’t just walk away. And then verse 34 says, ‘he went to him.’ So, he didn’t just stay on his side of the road and he didn’t just go have a look for curiosities sake but he went over to see what he could do.
And then it says, “he saw his wounds” which tells us this guy was still bleeding and he might have even had a few broken bones because he can’t walk and the Samaritan knew that if he didn’t do something soon, this guy was going to die.
And since no one carried a first aid kit back then; he probably had to either tear up his own clothes or use some of what he was carrying to bind the wounds and then it says, he also poured on oil and wine. The oil was used to lubricate, soften and soothe the wounds and the wine was used as an antiseptic. It was to cleanse the wounds to clear up anything that might cause infection. And the words ‘poured on’ means he generously washed these wounds. Listen, he wasn’t just doing what he had to but he was giving him much more than was necessary.
And then it says, he put him on his own animal and took him to an inn where he could take care of him and when you read this you notice that he took care of him all night long because it says in verse 35 that he left the next day; and before he did, it says he gave the innkeeper two denarius; which would have been enough to keep this guy for the next two months and then before he left, he told the innkeeper that when he came back; he’d pay him whatever else he owed. Listen, he wasn’t doing the least he could to help but he was doing his absolute best.
Let me ask you, have you ever seen someone you couldn’t stand the sight of and then gave him everything he needed and then some? Now, someone might say, “I gave a bum a quarter once. Does that count? No!
But, listen, there’s one person we’ve all done this for and that’s ourselves. I give me everything I need and most of what I want. I take myself to the best doctors available, to get the best care possible. But this guy took care of someone his own people hated; knowing full well this man would probably ignore him on the street. This is a picture of love that knows no limit.
And then Jesus said to the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor?” And the lawyer said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And he was right; but I want you to notice, that this guy couldn’t even say the word Samaritan.
And then Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” And if this guy was honest he would have said, “Jesus, I don’t love anyone like that and I know I’m not capable of such love and if my getting into heaven is depending on the way I love others then I’m absolutely lost.” And if he had said this, he would have been saved; because only lost people ever get saved. And as it’s been said many times, “You’ve got to get them lost before you can get them saved.” And that’s what Jesus was doing; He was getting him to see his need of salvation.
Listen, this story is an indictment of the entire human race because Jesus said we are all to love others the way we love ourselves and this is not a onetime thing but it’s something we’re to be doing all the time. And yet, time and time again we fail and we have to come back; confessing our sin and starting all over again.
I like how Jesus ends this conversation because He says, “Go and do likewise” which was a strange way to end a story because He’s telling us to go and do something; but He doesn’t actually tell us what we’re supposed to do.
So, listen, do you think Jesus actually wants us to go somewhere and do something or do you think we’re doing enough by simply going to church and giving our money?
