Dr. Bradford Reaves
CrossWay Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We have all heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a beautiful story about an unlikely hero helping someone in need. At first glance, we would say this is a biblical case of social justice—a man in need helped by a man who crossed racial and ethnic boundaries to do the right thing. Honestly, you could extrapolate that lesson from the Parable, but it is not the lesson that Jesus was trying to teach.
As I have studied and researched the Parables of Jesus, I have discovered some key understandings that, when ignored, lead to erroneous interpretations. And I've told you that in studying the parables, the context is everything. In fact, anytime you approach the proper interpretation of Scripture, you must start with context. For instance, somebody looks at Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” And they try to apply that to playing sports, winning the lottery, whatever's on their hearts. But that's not the context that Paul was writing; this is where you must start. Paul was writing from jail about the strength to do the will of God, especially sharing the gospel in all circumstances.
Most people read the parable of the Good Samaritan and look at the inequalities and boundaries that were crossed for someone to be kind to another human. And while there are noble and good lessons behind that, that's not really the point of the parable. In the text surrounding the Parable, Jesus isn't Talking about social justice issues in the world or giving a lesson in morality. He is talking about evangelism.
Just before the Parable in verse 24, Jesus says to his disciples:
For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Luke 10:24)
Remember that Jesus used parables to teach a specific truth about the Kingdom of God. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is no exception. With that, we must first look at the context from which the Parable of the Good Samaritan emerged:
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25–29)
The whole question that prompted the teaching was rooted in a question about eternal life. If we continue using the typical interpretation of the parable in that context, we would have to assume that salvation is based on works; being a social justice warrior. That, however, does not fit the biblical definition of eternal life. Good works are the fruit of one who has been redeemed, not the means.
Using proper hermeneutics and given all that information, we have to throw out the social justice interpretation. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t fit the context, and it doesn’t fit any means of sound biblical interpretation.
A lawyer stands up. He was not a criminal lawyer or a civil lawyer. He was a lawyer of Scripture and an expert of Old Testament Law. He stands up and tries to trick Jesus into speaking some kind of heresy. He asks Jesus the same question the rich young ruler and Nicodemus asked Him: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus responds by turning the question back around on him. “You are the lawyer. You have the Old Testament. What does it say?” To which the Lawyer combines two scriptures, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. Likewise Jesus said the Law is summed up with these two commandments.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4–5)
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37–40)
Also, I noticed that the first half of the Ten Commandments deals with loving God. The second half of the Ten Commandments deals with loving others. Love God above all others and other things. Love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself. Look at Jesus’ response to the Lawyer:
And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live. (Luke 10:28)
But notice that the Lawyer doesn’t stop there. His next question is what leads Jesus to tell the parable. We’re still talking about eternal life. We’re still talking about fulfilling the Law. We’re still talking about being a citizen of the Kingdom. We’re still talking about evangelism. Not Social Justice. Not issues of race retaliations. Those things are woven into the idea of the Parable but the heart of the Parable is pertaining to eternal life. Now look at verse 29: But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)
Notice how Luke prefaces the question: He desires to justify himself. He is so self-righteous that he doesn’t even worry about how he loves God. All he thinks about is the definition of the neighbor. I think the reason is that the rabbis taught that it was okay to hate those who were considered sinners, gentiles, and the lost.
Remember that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:43–45)
The Jews, through self-righteousness, turned hatred into a virtue. So, the Lawyer is almost mocking Jesus. I love God, but who is my neighbor? This is a man damned in his own self-righteousness, and this is where we get the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The purpose of the parable is to crush this guy’s and every self-righteous hearing the parable. It is a wake-up call that should shatter pride and our imaginary spirituality.
Here’s the spiritual truth behind this parable: Your relationship with God (the vertical relationship) and with man (the horizontal relationship) is inextricably intertwined. You cannot hate another, withhold forgiveness, or look down on another for their sin or transgressions against you or God and be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Your eternity isn’t based on your self-righteousness. It is based on God’s grace received by faith, which goes for you and everyone out there.
So on the surface, the Parable of the Good Samaritan seems like a simple story about kindness and bridging prejudices. However, it is anything but a simple story. So with that, let us read the Parable together responsively:
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30–37)
Now, we most likely know the Parable very well. It is known by believers and non-believers alike.
The setting is a road that leads from Jerusalem to Jericho. I’ve been on the road. Jerusalem is 3,000 above sea level, and Jericho is about 1,000 feet below sea level. So you travel 4000 feel in elevation in just 17 miles of a winding road. It’s filled with steep drops off the side, and the large rocks provide hiding places for robbers. It was historically known as a highway full of robbers and bandits. Joshua 18:17 calls it “the Pass of Adummim” meaning “blood pass.” Jesus’ hearers would’ve known it well.
Jesus said in verse 30 that a man traveling on this road fell victim to the robbers. They didn’t just rob him. They stripped him, beat him, and left him for dead. He was left probably with just undergarments or completely naked. Everything he had was taken. When Jesus said they beat him, he used the active verb form, meaning they kept on beating him. The image Jesus wanted to convey was a dire situation, unable to save himself. Do you see where this is going?
Jesus goes on in verse 31 to provide a piece of hope to the man- a priest. Someone virtuous. He’s God-fearing and righteous. He knows Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 9. He’ll have compassion. But instead he goes to the other side of the road.
Some might say, “He didn’t want to go over there because he would be defiled, and he would have to go back to the temple later.” Others might say, “He didn’t go over there because he thought the robbers might get him.” Those points are irrelevant to what Jesus is teaching.
You would expect a priest who represents God to do what God said in the two laws the Lawyer gave Jesus. The truth is he didn’t love God or others. He represents the self-righteous system. Whatever the reason, he felt justified for not helping based on his moral virtues.
Then, a Levite connected to the priesthood comes by in verse 32, and he does the same as the priest. Again, this is not an indictment of the priests or the Levites; it is a matter of principle that two people connected to God’s people would do what is right.
Now, we come to the contrast. Jesus introduces a person hated by the Jews in verse 33, A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; when he saw him, he felt compassion.
The very existence of Samaritans was seen as an evil. They were the social outcasts of the Jews. They were considered evil because they intermarried with the Gentiles during the exile. If you wanted to say something bad about someone, you called them a Samaritan.
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (John 8:48)
And Jesus uses the antagonist to emphasize true righteousness. He bandaged up his wounds, probably having to shred some of his own clothes.
Then he took the oil and wine with which people always traveled for the preparation of their meals and poured them on him. The word poured means that it was done with lavishness. It was something that was soothing and worked as an antiseptic.
Then he put him on his own animal. He walked, and the man rode his donkey and brought him to an inn; imagine a hostile inn instead of the Hampton Inn.
He took him to the inn, put him down to rest, and stayed at his side all night. You say, “Well, how do you know he stayed all night?” In the next verse, verse 35, Jesus says, “On the next day,” which literally means an all-night vigil.
When he leaves the next day, he takes out two denarii, which is a day’s wage for him to stay at the inn. According to some estimates, that would be enough for him to stay for two months.
The point is this is lavish. He is not doing the minimum. He goes to the extreme and then some to care for this man, and he even says to the innkeeper: “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.”
What?! You’re telling the owner of a hostile, “Whatever you want to spend on the guy, spend on the guy, and I’ll pay you when I come back.” This is reckless! This is a generosity for a complete stranger - one who considered an enemy - beyond just giving a dollar to the guy on the street corner. This, according to the Word that Became Flesh, is the definition of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.
The people who think that by giving money to poor people or give a bowl of soup and they are justified compare the context of what Jesus just said to the extent this man went to care for a stranger. If you think sending some money somewhere or buying a few meals for somebody because they are different is what Jesus is talking about, you’ve missed the whole point.
The Samaritan said to the innkeeper, “Whatever you want to do, do it, and I’ll pay it when I return.” This is an example of God’s love, not man’s love. So the Good Samaritan loved the man as he loved himself. Do we do that all the time? You probably can’t even think of a time in your life when you did that, and that’s the whole point. And we haven’t even broached the idea of how we are to love God!
The point isn’t about how we can be social justice warriors. The point is the greatness of the measure of the law and our inability to fulfill it to its definition. That doesn’t mean we stop our generosity or our benevolence. It means we cannot measure our righteousness against it.
Who is your neighbor? Everyone in your path, including the one that offends you the most or whose sins are the most reviling to you.
So now Jesus asks the lawyer a question with which there is only one answer in line with the heart of the Law of God: Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Luke 10:36)
The man answered the question with the only viable answer: “The one who proved to be a neighbor was the one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus drove the whole point home, saying, “Go do the same.”
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
The issue is, Do you love like that? If you love God perfectly, you will love like that. We all have to say, “I don’t love like that. I can’t love like that.” We need forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:21–23)
The parable is not about going to the other side of the road, putting away your ‘white privilege’ and doing something nice. This is about salvation. You want eternal life? You know what God requires: perfection. You must love Him perfectly and love others as you love yourself.
You don’t do that. You need mercy. You need forgiveness. You need grace.
The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. (Romans 7:10)
