LOOKING FOR THE ESCAPE CLAUSE?...The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: 3 LAWYER JOKES
1. JOKE 1: A lawyer died and went to Heaven. “There must be some mistake,” the lawyer argued. “I’m too young to die. I’m only 55.” “Fifty-five?” said Saint Peter. “No, according to our calculations, you’re 82.” “How’d you get that?” the lawyer asked. St. Peter replied: “We added up your time sheets you charged your customers!”
2. JOKE 2: A man phoned a lawyer and asked, “How much would you charge for just answering 3 simple questions?” The lawyer replied, “A $1,000.” “A $1,000!” exclaims the man. “That’s very expensive, isn’t it?” “It certainly is,” says the lawyer. “Now, what’s your third question?”
3. JOKE 3: As the lawyer awoke from surgery, he asked, “Why are all the blinds drawn?” The nurse answered, “There’s a fire across the street, and we didn’t want you to think you had died.”
B. TEXT
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
C. WHO ASKED THE QUESTION
1. If the Bible said that a man on the street asked this question, we’d be more likely to believe it was a genuine question. But it’s not; it’s a lawyer. And lawyers back then and today, are taught to never ask a question for which they don’t already have an answer.
2. So the lawyer says: “Okay, so I must love God and my neighbor, but I want to know: exactly who IS and who’s NOT my neighbor?”
3. He’s trying to narrow down who he’s responsible for. In his culture, the only person considered a “neighbor” would be another Jew who kept the law in the precise manner that he did, and no one else.
4. Lawyers are always looking for loopholes around the law. People often hire lawyers – not to KEEP the law, but to EVADE the law. That’s why Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk & Warren Buffett paid almost no taxes last year! But Jesus wasn’t just talking to lawyers when He told this parable -- but to ALL OF US!
5. We’re all looking for the easiest way. We want to believe that we’re obeying God. Anything that puts us out of our normal routine is unwelcome & not wanted. We like staying in our comfort zones! The Lord Jesus knew this, so He blasted our concepts of who we’re responsible for, so that we could reach all kinds of people.
6. The title of this message is “Looking for the Escape Clause.” An escape clause is a statement in a contract that allows a person to get out of keeping a contract in a particular situation. People like spiritual loopholes so they can remain in control of their lives, instead of Jesus being in control.
7. So let’s look at what Jesus meant when He commanded us to ‘love our neighbor as ourselves.’
I.WE’LL ALL ENCOUNTER NEEDY PEOPLE
A. THE WORLD IS FULL OF HURTING PEOPLE
1. Jesus’ parable of the 3 people who passed by the injured
man is meant to represent that WE ALL WILL ENCOUNTER HURTING PEOPLE. They are all around us:
2. *Fatherless children...24.7 mill. (fathers.com)
*Divorced...45% of couples (legaljobs.io) emo. trauma
*Bereaved...13.6 mill. Widows (www.creators.com)
*Chronic Health problems...4 out of 10 (www.cdc.chronic disease)
*Infertility...6.1 million (womenshealth.gov)
*Job loss since pandemic...40 million (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/new-weekly-figures-show-almost-40-million-people-lost-their-n1211886)
*Physical abuse...24.4 million (https://www.ncadv.org › statistics) domestic violence
Millions suffer daily discouragement & sadness.
B. MANY SUFFER THRU NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN
1. The wounded man on the Jericho road hadn’t intentionally brought the evil on himself; others had abused him.
2. We can’t say that all hurting people deserve the trouble they’re experiencing. It’s not true.
II. MANY NEVER RELIEVE THE HURTING
The Lord tells that at least 2 of the 3 who “passed by on the other side,” didn’t help. Notice the similarities:
A. BOTH BROUGHT TO THAT SPOT BY PROVIDENCE
1. Was it accidental that the two came by on that day and at that time, after the man was attacked? No! It was ordained/ planned by God so that the wounded man might get help.
2. DIVINE APPOINTMENTS. When we meet someone with a need – especially salvation/urgent needs – we should assume that God has planned it and help them/ tell them about Jesus.
B. BOTH SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPASSIONATE
1. The priest & Levite were church leaders! Both should’ve had softened hearts toward needy people (that was their job!)
2. 2nd Highest Law: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” They forgot mercy.
3. Both had been NEAR GOD, but were NOT LIKE HIM.
a. Remained unchanged! (Frightening!)
b. The same sun that softens butter, hardens clay.
c. Beware lest we ourselves grow hard, in spite of God’s
presence that should be softening us! We should be tender-hearted toward the needy, hurting.
4. The Jericho Road was narrow; they had pass very close to him to get by. They couldn’t plead ignorance.
C. BOTH PROBABLY HAD EXCELLENT REASONS FOR NEGLECTING THEIR DUTY
1. BOTH WERE IN A HURRY. The priest may have been away from his family for a month. It was a long road; nightfall comes quickly out there. (Going from Jerusalem to Jericho, vs. 30.)
a. A PRINCETON STUDY tested students who were in a hurry by putting ‘drama students in trauma’ in their path – with accidents, unconsciousness, & seizures.
b. Of the students most under pressure (in the High Hurry group), none stopped. Of the Medium Hurry group, 2 of 5 stopped. In the Low Hurry group, all 5 stopped. So time pressure does hinder our compassion.
2. The Levite & Priest DIDN’T HAVE MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE. We never will have enough, but is that an excuse?
3. ONLY ONE PERSON. ‘I can’t be expected to carry that man!’
4. THE THIEVES MIGHT COME BACK! (I’m not taking chances)
a. “I’ve tried being compassionate before and got ripped off. I don’t want to take the chance again.”
b. “I’ve had bad experiences before trying to witness. I’ll just drop a tract and pray for him later.”
III. SAMARITAN: MODEL FOR HELPING THE HURTING
A. DESPITE STRONG DIFFERENCES
1. The mention of the Samaritan at this point of the story would have drawn a gasp.
2. The Jews hated the Samaritans and called them “dogs” and cursed them. The Samaritans were half Jewish; their ancestors married into ungodly nations. They built a rival Temple at Samaria. In 7 A.D. a group of Samaritans defiled the Temple grounds with dead men’s bones.
3. It’s Shocking that Jesus names a hated Samaritan as the HERO of the story.
4. The Samaritan might have thought, “If I were lying in this road, this same Jewish man would have said, ‘It’s a Samaritan dog; let him die!’” But the Samaritan reached across ethnic barriers to aid the Jew who hated him!
5. God may need us to witness to people of a different ethnic group or someone undesirable to our peer group.
B. THE INJURED MAN WAS A TOTAL STRANGER
1. Samaritan could’ve said, “I don’t know him; I owe him nothing.”
2. Or, “He can’t repay me; I can’t afford to lose the money.”
C. REJECTED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE
He didn’t say, “Other Jews didn’t help him; why should I?” or “Let someone else take care of him.”
D. MODEL ATTITUDE:
1. Without hesitation.
2. Without consideration of his inconvenience, his plans being sidetracked, his clothes getting messed up, his loss of money, or his potential danger, he reaches out to the injured man.
3. We want to say; “Mr. Victim, you climb out of the ditch, clean yourself up, come over here, and we’ll assign you to a church committee to consider your needs!”
IV. OUR HIGHER MODEL: LORD JESUS CHRIST
A. THE GOOD SAMARITAN = JESUS
1. No one has ever cared for the hurting more than Jesus Christ. In eternity, the Samaritan represents Him.
2. If the Samaritan deserves praise for his kindness/ compassion, how much more Jesus, whom His enemies called a demon-possessed “Samaritan!” (John 8:48)
B. WE WOULD BE THE WOUNDED MAN
1. We brought our troubles on ourselves. Many of our wounds have been self-inflicted, yet Jesus reached out to us anyway.
2. Jesus wasn’t of our family and owed us nothing. Only compassion for us brought Jesus to Bethlehem’s manger. He had no other business on earth but to save us.
C. JESUS NOT ONLY RISKED BEING ATTACKED, HE WAS ATTACKED FOR US
1. He not only ran the risk of attack, but was wounded and died trying to rescue us.
2. He didn’t just give us “oil & wine,” but His heart’s blood.
3 He didn’t just give us the Samaritan’s coins, “He that was rich became poor for our sakes…that we might be rich.” He gave up Heaven and His throne to save us!
4. And Jesus didn’t care for us just a short time, but from the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:20; Rev. 13:8). And He now lives to make intercession for us! (Heb. 7:25).
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Robert Wuthnow, a professor at Princeton University studied why some people are compassionate while others are not. He found out that many compassionate people had something happen to them earlier; someone had acted with compassion towards them. That experience had transformed their lives.
2. He told the story of a rescue paramedic, Jack Casey, who had little reason to be a Good Samaritan. Jack was raised in a home with an alcoholic & abusive father.
3. But something happened to Jack that changed his heart. As a child, he had to have surgery; he was frightened. A surgical nurse stood by his bed and compassionately reassured him. “Don’t worry,” she said to Jack. “I’ll be here right beside you no matter what happens.” And when Jack woke up, she was still there smiling comfortingly to him.
4. Years later, Jack Casey, now a paramedic, was sent to the scene of a highway accident. A man was pinned, upside down, in his pickup truck. As Jack tried to get him out of the vehicle, gasoline was dripping down on both of them. “Don’t worry,” Jack said, “I’m right here with you, I’m not going anywhere.”
5. Jack said, “When I heard myself saying that, I remembered how that nurse had said the same thing to me.” The same compassion she had released in Jack’s heart, he was now releasing in other’s hearts! Compassion is contagious!
B. THE CALL
1. Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” John 13:34.
2. Paul said, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion....” Col. 3:12.
3. How many want to say with me, “Lord, make me compassionate like the Samaritan!” Raise your hands.
4. How many would say, “Pastor, I feel more like the injured man. Please pray for my healing.” [Stand. People nearby, go over and pray for them.]
5. PRAYER
[The introduction and conclusion have quotes from Clarence Eisberg’s “Peeling the Onion” message.]
